November 2021 Newsletter
LEF Moving Image Fund Grantee News
Image Description: In this still image from Angelo Madsen Minax's "North by Current", two faces, an adult's and a child's with a pacifier, are lit by warm yellow light in grainy analog video documentation. (Learn more about image descriptions)
NORTH BY CURRENT (85 min), directed by Angelo Madsen Minax and produced by Felix Endara, has been nominated for Best Feature and Best Writing at the IDA Documentary Awards. Minax's film, which had its world premiere at Berlinale earlier this year, is a visual rumination on the understated relationships between mothers and children, truths and myths, losses and gains. The IDA Award winners will be announced on February 5. Take a look at the other nominees.

In September, ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES (73 min), directed by Abigail Child and produced by Jennifer Burton won Best Documentary at the 9th Philip K Dick Film Festival in New York City. Child's film about tech ethics, robotics, and the future impacts of AI has shown previously at Sydney Underground Film Festival in Australia, Portland Film Festival in Oregon, and the LA Femmes Film Festival in Los Angeles. Its European premiere will be at Ji.hlava IDFF in Czechoslovakia. The film has bee translated into seven languages and is available now on Apple TV and iTunes. Watch it here.
Child will also be delivering a free, virtual lecture *tonight at 7pm* for NYU's 11th Annual Experimental Lecture series called Where is Your Rupture?.

POWER & LIGHT (work-in-progress), directed by Marion Lipschutz and Rose Rosenblatt, and produced by Rosenblatt, Sabrina Avilés and Jesse Epstein, was selected for the inaugural creative story workshop organized by Fork Films and Chicken & Egg Pictures. During the workshop, which focuses on under-represented stories, six filmmakers will share feedback on in-production feature-length documentaries. Power & Light is about the Latinx spiritual leaders of Lawrence, MA who are fighting for climate justice. Read more about the story workshop and the selected films.

Silvia Castanos, one of this year's LEF/CIFF Fellows, has been awarded a Threshold Fund Grant from Doc Society for her film, HUMMINGBIRDS. The collaborative coming-of-age film, which is in post-production, was one of five films receiving funds totaling $165,000 through Doc Society's partnership with Threshold Foundation’s High Impact Documentary Circle. See the full press release.

Prior LEF grantee Cristina Kotz Cornejo's short 360º documentary film, THE ROOT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE FLOWER, is screening at the Aesthetica Short Film & Media Festival in York, England in November as part of their immersive media program. Kotz Cornejo’s film about the descendants of the Huarpe people in South America will show November 2-7, and will be available to view online November 2-30. Check out the festival program.

LEF-supported project ZEKI MÜREN HOTLINE, created by Beyza Boyacioglu, has launched a Kickstarter to finalize the interactive web documentary that collects everyday people's messages to Zeki Müren, Turkey's first pop star and gender-bending icon. If the crowdfunding campaign is successful, the participatory project will launch on December 6 (what would have been Müren's 90th birthday!). See how you can support here.

LEF's former Program Director Sara Archambault recently joined the board of trustees for the Flaherty! Additionally, A DECENT HOME (2021, 90 min), a new film directed by Sara Terry, produced by Alysa Nahmias and Sara Terry, and co-produced by Sara Archambault, just premiered at the Denver Film Festival. Congratulations, Sara!
Meet LEF's New Program Officer
Image Description: Headshot of Matthew LaPaglia in front of some fall foliage
We are excited to welcome Matthew LaPaglia as our new Program Officer!
 
Matthew comes to LEF having recently completed his graduate studies at Emerson College, where he served as a teaching assistant and worked closely with numerous faculty members on their projects and his own. A native of Central New York, Matthew studied history and film at Colgate University and attended the Flaherty Film Seminar. Matthew is a scholar and filmmaker whose work centers on conceptual nuances of queer art-making and where memory coalesces with larger historical narratives.
 
Matthew brings experience working in film production, marketing, and higher education to the role of Program Officer, where he’ll be working closely with Gen Carmel, our Program Director. He lives in Somerville, and is active in the local arts community through his involvement with the Boston LGBTQIA+ Artist Alliance (BLAA) and the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards in Massachusetts.
Are you a LEF grantee with news to share about your film?
Upcoming Film Opportunities
Image Description: The Firelight Media Logo, reading: Changing the Story
The Spark Fund (Open Call: November 1 - December 29)
The Spark Fund offers support to established independent documentary filmmakers who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color. This one-time opportunity will provide 36 stipends of $50,000 to selected filmmakers over the period of one year, for their use in alleviating financial hardship and disruptions of humanities-themed projects by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Image Description: The Creative Capital Logo
Inside a Grant or Residency Panel Process
(Recorded November 4)
In this free online event hosted by Creative Capital, get an inside look at what reviewers and panelists often look for and consider when reviewing grant applications by sitting in on a mock panel-room conversation led by Creative Capital Awardee James Scruggs, and featuring awardee and filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes, and Joan Mitchell Center Director, Toccarra Thomas, all of whom will offer their perspectives and panel experience.

Image Description: The Flaherty Film Seminar Logo
2023 Flaherty Film Seminar Programming Opportunity (EXTENDED Deadline: November 25)
The Flaherty Seminar is now accepting Letters of Intent (and nominations!) for its 2023 seminar. Programmers can be individuals or small teams, and all programmers need to have attended the Flaherty Seminar in the past prior to submitting.

Image Description: The Interbay Cinema Society Logo
ICS Lightpress Grants (Deadline: November 30)
Every six months, in January and July, the Interbay Cinema Society gives grants to 10 filmmakers working with 16mm or 35mm film to have 2 and 4K high resolution scans of their work made through Lightpress, a transfer house in Seattle. ICS gives grants to established and emerging filmmakers in the US, and are given for 3 hours of scanning, around a $1200 value.

Image Description: ITVS Logo
ITVS Humanities Documentary Development Fellowship (Deadline: December 1)
The ITVS Humanities Documentary Development Fellowship will help pandemic-affected independent documentary filmmakers develop projects that align with the National Endowment for the Humanities' “A More Perfect Union” initiative. Support will be awarded in the form of 12-month stipends to independent documentary filmmakers as well as advisors strengthening filmmaking humanities practices.

Image Description: New England Foundation for the Arts Logo
New Work New England Grant (Deadline: December 6)
New Work New England provides grants of $7,500-$15,000 directly to New England artists in dance, film, interdisciplinary work, music, musical theater, opera, poetry, storytelling, and theater to support creating and producing new work that the artist intends to share with multiple New England communities. The focus of this pilot program is on artists and the creative process and projects that further equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.

Image Description: The Assets for Artists / Mass Moca Logo
MASS MoCA Residency Fellowships (Deadline: January 8)
Applications are now open for The Studios at MASS MoCA's Summer-Fall 2022 residency season. Selected residency fellows will receive studio space, housing, meals, and access to MASS MoCA's facilities and workshops through the Assets for Artists program. The A4A online workshops are free to artists who currently live in the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or Connecticut, and are being offered November 29 to February 16.

Image Description: Points North Institute Logo
TV5MONDE Maine Heritage Film Grant
(Deadline: January 10)
The TV5MONDE Maine Heritage Film Grant is a $15,000 grant supporting the production of a documentary short filmed in Maine and to premiere at the Camden International Film Festival. Preference is given to projects highlighting Francophone culture in Maine and/or French-speaking populations, but all Maine heritage-focused projects will be considered.

Image Description: MacDowell Logo
MacDowell Fall 2022 - Winter 2023 Fellowships (Deadline: February 10)
MacDowell provides time, space, and an inspiring environment to over 300 artists of exceptional talent each year. A MacDowell Fellowship, or residency, consists of exclusive use of a studio, accommodations, and three prepared meals a day for up to six weeks at its location in Peterborough, NH. MacDowell encourages artists from all backgrounds and all countries in the following disciplines: architecture, film/video arts, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theatre, and visual arts. There are no residency fees. Travel grants as well as need-based stipends are available. Reference letters are also no longer required for this round.

Image Description: Sundance Institute Logo
Sundance Documentary Producers Lab and Fellowship (Deadline: February 10)
The Documentary Film Program’s Producers Lab and Fellowship is a yearlong program designed to nurture emerging producers with project-specific support, Producers Summit attendance, industry mentorship, and ongoing support from Sundance Institute staff. Documentary Film Producing Fellows each receive a grant that may be applied to personal expenses and unsupported costs for project advancement.

Image Description: Osmosis Films Logo
Osmosis Films Open Call for Submissions (Rolling deadline: February 28)
Osmosis Films is looking to collaborate with documentary filmmakers and producers on creative development, production services, further financing, and the distribution of projects in development or early stages of production. In 2022, they will set aside up to $100,000 to be distributed across 2-3 selected projects that feature artist-led stories with a strong creative vision, character-driven documentaries with access to rarely seen worlds, and approaches in non-traditional storytelling with a strong point of view. Osmosis is open to features, docuseries, and projects that challenge form.


What We're Reading/Listening To
Earlier this month, the Alliance for Documentary Editors (ADE) released a Guide for Documentary Edit Schedules. The guide was created with the input of hundreds of professional editors and assistant editors currently working in documentary film and television. It is not meant to replace union guidelines, but to help producers, directors, and distributors plan a realistic documentary schedule that ensures an efficient, cost-effective, and ethical edit while maximizing the creative contributions of the edit team. Learn more.

Dear Producer, in collaboration with Film Festival Alliance, published a Film Festivals and Filmmaker Sustainability Survey Report to assess how film festivals contributed to filmmaker sustainability in 2020. Developed in May 2021, this first-of-its-kind survey aims to allow festivals to quantify financial impact on filmmakers, compare to other organizations, and identify national trends and patterns in the industry, paying particular attention to financial compensation in an unprecedented year. Read more.

Thanks for reading and till next time,

The LEF New England team
Lyda, Gen, & Matthew

LEF Foundation
PO Box 382066
Cambridge, MA 02238
t.617.492.5333
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 400 grants to New England-based independent filmmakers with approximately $4.2 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.