Press Release: Announcing the 2022 Grant Recipients
NEWS
Media Contact:
Andrew Neilly, Nancy Amaral
925.930.9848
andrew@a2n2pr.com nancy@a2n2pr.com
Isabella Miller, BFF Program Director
isabella@berkeleyfilmfoundation.org
510.705.1481
For Immediate Release
BERKELEY FILM FOUNDATION
2022 GRANT AWARDS
BERKELEY, Calif., August 2, 2022 – The Berkeley FILM Foundation (BFF) is proud to announce that it has awarded $207,000 to 20 independent filmmakers who reside or work in the cities of Berkeley, Emeryville, El Cerrito, Albany, and Oakland in its 2022 grant cycle.
Since its founding in 2009, BFF has awarded more than $2.3 million to 222 film projects that continuously push boundaries and inspire change. In its effort to encourage the next generation of local filmmakers, BFF has awarded $202,000 to 59 student filmmakers.
This year’s Saul Zaentz Award for $25,000, given each year to honor the legacy of renowned filmmaker and a BFF founder, Saul Zaentz, goes to Deborah Craig for Sally, a portrait of feminist firebrand, writer and teacher, Sally Gearhart. Sally collaborated with Harvey Milk in the fight for gay rights, was the first out lesbian to obtain tenure, co-founded one of the first ever women's studies programs, co-created a women’s land community, and wrote The Wanderground, which inspired a generation of lesbian separatists. But somehow, Sally has been written out of history. This film explores: how did this happen? To learn more about the film, visit their website here.
The $20,000 Al Bendich Award is granted to What We Carry, directed and co-produced by Cady Voge. It is an intimate character-driven film about a family on an extraordinary journey as they escape persecution in Honduras and search not only for a new home, but a way to heal from a traumatic past. While the family awaits asylum in Seattle, the audience is witness to the family’s sorrow as well as their joy as these two emotions co-exist over three years while they wait for the verdict that will determine their future. Other collaborators on the project are Rachel Clara Reed (editor and co-producer) Laura Pilloni (producer) and Laura Tatham (producer). This Award is given in honor of civil rights attorney, social justice advocate and BFF founding member, Al Bendich. Visit their website here.
We are also happy to announce the 3rd annual Jonathan Logan Family Foundation Elevate Award for $25,000 in partnership with the Berkeley-based Jonathan Logan Family Foundation (JLFF). This award supports one emerging filmmaker each year for five years and will reflect JLFF's mission: to advance social justice by empowering world-changing work in documentary, investigative journalism, and arts and culture. This year’s Elevate Award is granted to The Long Rescue directed by Jennifer Huang. The Long Rescue follows Filipina teen sex trafficking survivors for six years for a film that elucidates the perpetuation of poverty, violence, and shame. Each girl’s story is told through four acts and we learn of their dark pasts through brief flashbacks that reveal the cyclical nature of exploitation that haunts women and their children for generations. Each story sheds light on the intersection of personal trauma with societal factors like misogyny, homophobia, and light-skin supremacy. These girls reveal the lifelong nature of recovery, centering the messy, lived experiences of survivors. Can they overcome intergenerational violence and learn to truly thrive? Visit the film’s website here for more.
Other films receiving 2022 grants are:
To Be – director Tony Nguyen.
Get Your 10s – director and producer Rashaad Newsome. Website.
Like Heaven Without God – director Luca Capponi. Website.
Between the Sun and the Sidewalk – writer, director and producer Helen de Michiel. Website.
Black Mothers – director and producer Débora Souza Silva. Website.
Stripped for Parts: American Journalism at the Crossroads – director, producer Rick Goldsmith. Website.
Sansón and Me – director Rodrigo Reyes. Website.
The Lost – director, writer, producer and editor Vincent Cortez. Website.
The Movement and the Madman – producer and editor Stephanie Mechura. Website.
Jack Has a Plan – director Bradley Berman. Website.
Standing Above the Clouds – director Jalena Keane-Lee. Website.
Driver – producer Ines Hofmann Kanna. Website.
Water for Life – producer Rick Tejada-Flores. Website.
Student Films
Washed Ashore – co-director, co-producer Cameron Nielsen (UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism) and co-director, co-producer Ley Heimgartner.
Raspberry Jam – writer and director Sepideh Khosrowjah (San Francisco State University).
The Safest Place – co-director, co-producer In Jeong Kim (UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism) and co-director, co-producer Michaela Vatcheva.
“This group of projects proves that documentary filmmaking is artistic activism. From a quiet contemplation on a group of people soon to be forced out of their Berkeley marina trailer park (“Like Heaven Without God”), to an inspirational account of a multi-generational protest movement to preserve Hawaii’s Mauna Kea from development (“Standing Above the Clouds”), the Berkeley FILM Foundation’s 2022 grantees are doing the hard work to shed light on dynamic stories necessary to spark lasting social change. These films are further testament that the East Bay is filled with rich talent.” – Abby Ginzberg, President and Board Chair of the Berkeley FILM Foundation
Mission:
The Berkeley FILM Foundation is a 501(c)(3) grant organization for independent filmmakers founded by the City of Berkeley, Wareham Development, and the Saul Zaentz Company with a mission to nurture, sustain and preserve the thriving local film community while attracting the next generation of filmmakers. The BFF focuses on supporting the ideals reflected in Berkeley culture: social, historical and innovative documentary and dramatic works. Many of the BFF grant winners have gone on to screen at U.S. and international film festivals, been recognized with prestigious awards, received television broadcasts, and are making a difference around the world.
BFF Diversity:
Although BFF does not collect demographic information from all of its applicants, we know that at least one third of our grantees are filmmakers from under-represented communities, including LGBTQ, people with disabilities, senior citizens, people of color, and immigrants, and that well over half of our grantees are women. We believe that our audiences reflect similar demographics.
Please visit our website for announcements of upcoming events: www.berkeleyfilmfoundation.org, www.twitter.com/BerkeleyFilmFdn and www.facebook.com/BerkeleyFilmFoundation.
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