April 2024 Newsletter

Image Description: Independent Film Festival Boston graphic featuring dark red text reading "1–8 May 2024" and three illustrated figures expressively dancing on a soft textured light orange background.

From May 1–8, International Film Festival Boston (IFFB) returns for its 21st edition with screenings at the Somerville, Brattle, and Coolidge Corner Theatres. The program boasts an exciting array of fiction and nonfiction films, including two LEF-supported projects:

EL SIGNO VACÍO (the empty sign) (dir. Kathryn A. Ramey), a film about the ongoing U.S. occupation of Puerto Rico. The film screens on Sunday, May 5 at 3:30pm at the Brattle Theatre.

THE RIDE AHEAD (dirs. Dan Habib, Samuel Habib: prods. Dan Habib, Erica Lupinacci), an expansion of the short film “My Disability Roadmap” which follows co-director Samuel as he itches to move out, start a career and find love all while navigating life with a disability. The film screens on Sunday, May 5 at 4:00pm at the Somerville Theatre.

IFFBoston will also be the North American premiere of RECIPROCITY PROJECT SEASON 2 (produced by prior LEF grantees Adam Mazo and Kavita Pillay), a package of shorts made by indigenous filmmakers from around the world that ask the question: “What does a ‘return’ to land, language, and reciprocal practices mean to you and your community?” The project screens on Sunday, May 5 at 12:00pm.

The selected Documentary Features also includes RICHLAND, directed by Irene Lustzig and produced by former LEF Program Director Sara Archambault, screening on Saturday, May 4 at 12:00pm at the Brattle Theatre.

Included in the Shorts Dartmouth Narrative program is THE RED SEA MAKES ME WANNA CRY, directed by Faris Alrjoob and co-written by LEF Program Officer Matthew LaPaglia, screening on Friday, May 3 at 8:30pm at the Somerville Theatre, and on Monday, May 6 at 9:00pm at the Somerville Theatre.

You can view the entire IFFB schedule and purchase tickets online.

Image descriptions: (Left/Top) In this still from Raúl O. Paz-Pastrana's work-in-progress BACKSIDE, a man with a dark mustache and wearing a cowboy hat looks amusedly at a brown bridled horse reaching its head over his shoulder; (Right/Bottom) In this still from Jennifer Redfearn's APART, two women, one with dark skin and dark hair and one with light skin and light hair, look past the camera while wearing the same blue sweatshirts, a barbed wire fence bordering the yard behind them.

The list of 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship recipients includes prior LEF grantees Raúl O. Paz-Pastrana (BACKSIDE) and Jennifer Redfearn (APART). Chosen through a rigorous application and peer review process from a pool of almost 3,000 applicants, each fellow receives a monetary stipend to pursue independent work at the highest level under “the freest possible conditions.”

Prior LEF grantee Tracy Heather Strain (SIGHTED EYES/FEELING HEART: LORRAINE HANSBERRY; JOHN HENRY: UNMASKING AMERICA'S FIRST REAL BLACK SUPERHERO (wt)) has been selected as one of five documentary filmmakers receiving Catapult Film Fund's Research Grant. Each recipient will receive $10,000 in direct support and six months of mentorship from industry advisors to support new nonfiction projects.

Prior LEF grantee Amber Bay Bemak was awarded a $4,500 Local Cultural Council grant from Cambridge Arts to work on the LEF-supported project COSMIC MOOSE AND GIZZLY BEARS VILLE about the life, work, and house of late Cambridge, MA artist Peter Valentine— who was also Bemak's uncle.

Image Descriptions: (Left/Top): The ten 2023 LEF/CIFF Fellows sit on a grassy slope in front of some trees in full leaf. (Right/Bottom): Points North Institute Logo

LEF/CIFF Fellowship

The LEF/CIFF Fellowship creates a cohort of five New England-based filmmaker teams for a week of mentorship, peer-to-peer professional development, and workshops designed to strengthen their feature documentary projects. In-person and virtual 1:1 meetings connect these filmmakers with industry decision makers, building filmmaker’s networks in the global non-fiction ecosystem.

The fellowship workshops will take place in conjunction with the Camden International Film Festival, September 12–15, 2024.

The fellowship is open to projects in production or post-production with New England-based directors. Prior LEF/CIFF Fellows are not eligible to participate in the program again with the same project. However, prior LEF/CIFF Fellows may apply with a new project.



Image Description: An orange graphic with the blue Distribution Advocates logo and white text that reads: "Distribution Advocates presents."

A recent supplement to the Distribution Advocates podcast centers an interview with producer Pulkit Datta about outreach, partnerships, and developing audiences, titled "There Is an Audience for Every Film." Datta's fifteen years of experience producing independent projects has revealed to him the importance of considering what a project's success means for those who participate in its making, however vague that notion might initially be. Further, through the discussion, Datta makes clear that what is just as crucial as the making a film is its distribution: what is done with the film; how it finds audiences; which communities the film takes shape around, and which communities might take shape around it.

Notably, Datta is a co-producer of the LEF-supported film, ISRAELISM (dirs. Erin Axelman, Sam Eilertsen; prods. Axelman, Daniel J. Chalfen, Nadia Saah), which is, in Datta's words, "from the perspective of young American Jews challenging the narratives of the Israeli state." Through the process of this film's distribution, which suddenly coincided with the events and subsequent actions of October 7th of last year, Datta and the ISRAELISM team realized that customary distribution timelines are inadequate when faced with the demand and the readiness of audiences. The interview leverages the particularity of ISRAELISM to summate the strengths and weaknesses of a number of distribution pathways, strategies, and outcomes.

Thanks for reading,

The LEF New England team

Lyda, Gen, & Matthew

LEF Foundation

PO Box 382066

Cambridge, MA 02238

617.492.5333

lef-foundation.org

A private family foundation dedicated to the support of contemporary arts, LEF was established in 1985 with offices in Massachusetts and California. The Moving Image Fund was launched in 2001 through the LEF office in Cambridge, MA to support independent film and video artists. Since its inception, the Moving Image Fund has awarded over 450 grants to New England-based independent filmmakers with over $5 million in funding. The goal of LEF New England is to fund the work of independent documentary film and video artists in the region and to broaden recognition and support for their work locally and nationally. It also supports programs that highlight the rich history and ongoing legacy of innovation within New England's independent film community. The overarching goal of LEF New England's philanthropic investment is to help build a sustainable and strong community of support for artists and their work.