Eleven documentary projects from six countries were selected to participate in the international exhibition. The Documentary Foundation Documentary Fund Production Grant.
Selected from among 248 applicants, the 15 directors behind 11 music programs will receive a total of $600,000 in production grants.
Founded in 2017, the IDA Documentary Fund supports in-depth explorations of original and contemporary stories that integrate journalistic practice into the filmmaking process. The fund is financially supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur, with additional support from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation. In its six-year history, the fund has provided more than $4.5 million in grant money to non-fiction filmmakers.
The 11 selected projects are currently in production in six countries: Armenia, Ethiopia, India, Japan, Russia and the United States. Of the 15 directors behind The Documents, 70% are filmmakers of color, 70% are women or gender-nonconforming filmmakers, and 40% are considered members of the LGBTQ community.
The center explores various themes, including the climate crisis, Japan’s ancient rape laws and institutions, and Hoolock Gibbons, a rapidly vanishing Indian species of monkey.
“These films show that journalism is not a ‘look,’ but rather a methodology, a rigorous, ethical and deliberate practice of searching for the truth,” says Keisha Knight, fund manager at IDA. “These films have a strong journalistic approach that supports their storytelling while showing distinct and varied visual aesthetics.”
This year’s selection panel included Robert Chang (“POV” coordinating producer), Andre Garry (Director of Documentary Films at National Geographic), Martin Granby (Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Connecticut), and Christine Kesher (Senior Commissioning Editor, Op- Docs at the New York Times), Rodrigo Reyes (documentary filmmaker), and Rento Thomas (documentary filmmaker).
“As we face a restructured world, the jurors were impressed by the documentary filmmakers’ deep commitment to telling stories of resistance and resilience while maintaining an interest in relationships with participants and the communities focused on their work,” the panel noted in a collective statement. The projects collectively push the boundaries of journalistic engagement with the art of fiction as they create compelling and starkly unique narratives. We hope they will inspire the field as a whole.”
2022 IDA Production Grant Winners
Baseline: Part 1
Director/Producer: John D Producer: Soo Kim | Country: United States of America
“Baseline: Part 1” tells the story of a year on earth through four communities on the front lines of the climate crisis.
“black box”
Director: Shiori Ito | Producer: Eric Niari | Co-Producer: Hanna Aquilin | Country: Japan
From cult-style iPhones and secret recordings mixed with real gunfire, “Black Box” is Shiori Ito’s stunning account of her unlikely battle as a victim and journalist against Japan’s ancient rape laws and institutions.
“life + life”
Director/Producer: Contessa Giles | Producers: Richie Reseda, David Felix Sutcliffe | Country: United States of America
An imprisoned musician fights for recovery and peace as he comes of age in this epic musical documentary saga behind bars.
Made in Ethiopia
Director: Xinyan Yu | Director/Co-Producer: Max Duncan | Co-Producer: Tamara Dawitt | Country: Ethiopia
Three women navigate the rugged expansion of Ethiopia’s largest Chinese industrial zone. Ethiopia hopes Chinese investment will help make it the world’s next factory, but will the spreading civil war and other challenges spoil its plans?
“midwife”
Director/Producer: Elaine Epstein | Country: United States of America
The arrest of three home midwives serving Amish and Mennonite communities in upstate New York has sparked a legislative battle for free choice in birth rights. Through the lens of a modern witch hunt, the film examines the battle between medicine and midwifery and its impact on maternal and child health.
“Our Demons”
Director: Ragini Nath | Co-Director: Chinmoy Sonwal | Producer: Gary Byung-seok KAM | Co-Production: Kweighbaye Kotee | Country: India
Siddhanta, a hunter, fights to protect the Hoolock Gibbons, a rapidly vanishing Indian monkey species, in his village. However, this endearing tale of human-animal coexistence is threatened when a catastrophic oilfield explosion disrupts the delicate ecosystem and its relationship with the Hulk Gibbons.
“There was, there was no”
Director: Emily Mkrtchyan | Producer: Mara Adina | Country: Armenia
The first line of every Armenian fairy tale tells, “There was, there was not,” the collective legend of a homeland nearly lost in the war—and four women who resist that loss.
Untitled Documentary Trade Union
Director: Brett Storey | Co-Director: Stephen Meng | Producer: Samantha Curley | Co-producer: Mars Verrone | Country: United States of America
An intimate portrait of the Amazon Workers’ Union (ALU), a group of current and former Amazon workers who engage with one of the world’s largest and most powerful companies in the struggle to form unions.
“sugar cane”
Director: Julian Brave Noyskat | Director/Co-Producer: Emily Casey | Producer: Keilin Quinn | Co-Producer: Christopher Lamarca | Country: United States of America
The search for children’s remains at an Indian residential school in Canada takes a turn when the film’s director discovers that his father was born – and nearly buried – at the school.
Untitled Press Freedom Project
Director: Unknown | Product: Unknown
The names are kept anonymous for the safety of the filmmakers.
“Quindom”
Director: Agniia Galdanova | Producer: Igor Miyakutin | Country: Russia
Gina, an eccentric artist from a small town in Russia, wears otherworldly costumes and marches around Moscow to protest the government. She became a movement with a million followers she calls “drag activity” until she is caught and threatened with escape.
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