Directory of Sponsored Projects

For nearly four decades, presidential candidates trailed by the media have flocked to Youngstown Ohio, a poster child of industrial decline to use as a political backdrop. Shots of shuttered factories and sagging porches tell the familiar tale of a once prosperous town struggling to survive. But dig deeper and another story emerges of a community in the throes of transformation. Filmed over the course of a year, this documentary follows a cast of young residents born and raised in Youngstown, in their struggle to shed the ghosts of the past and make a new life for themselves. Interwoven storylines capture structural change but also personal transformation: a drug dealer turned councilman, four young brothers on the brink of homelessness, a working mom trying to buy her first house, and the leaders of a non-profit who are trying to save their town, house by house. One main story arc follows the non-profit’s work to renovate an abandoned blighted house. We first see the house filled with trash and discarded personal belongings, remnants of love and loss, a symbol of the town itself. When the steel mills closed, Youngstown lost 40,000 jobs and over half the population left, destroying the social fabric of this tight-knit community. Over the course of the film, we watch this house transform back into a home. Despite the huge obstacles residents in Youngstown still face, this documentary is an inspiring portrait of local resilience and power, capturing a community on the cusp of change.

On August 23, 2007, Jennifer Magnano was murdered in front of her children by her newly divorced husband. He shot her in the face and chest on the front stoop of the family home. JENNIFER, 42 is not a whodunnit, it's not a mystery where we search for clues and evidence of guilt or innocence. We know who the murderer is. We know Scott Magnano pulled the trigger. But how did it get to this? After enduring 15 years of extreme coercive control and escalating violence at the hands of husband Scott, Jennifer made a clever plan, and with the help of her best friend, she and the children made a dramatic getaway. But their escape only marked the beginning of a bizarre and hair-raising journey through a system that could not...or WOULD not protect her. In a series of shocking events and baffling acts by various authorities, Jennifer’s life turned into a life-and-death game that she couldn't win. While the details of Jennifer’s twisty-turny story are unbelievable and devastating, they are anything but unique. Like clockwork, 16 hours from now there will be another domestic violence homicide. Another woman, somewhere in this country, will be killed by her partner. Jennifer may be gone, but her story lives on and the fight continues. We must do better for victims of domestic violence.

Homecoming, a character-driven documentary shot in verité style tells the intergenerational story of two women, Johnny Frisbie and Amelia Borofsky, as they cross the Pacific to return to their remote childhood home of Pukapuka. The film follows their riveting return to this spiritual, animistic atoll. Homecoming takes 86 year-old Johnny and 40 year-old Amelia not only on a physical voyage across the Pacific, but also on a spiritual journey to find what is most true in their lives in the land itself and the Pacific ocean that unites them. In Pukapuka, the film shows them walking barefoot on the sunken reef, trolling for diminishing tuna, sinking their feet in the taro patches, and reconciling time with memories. Located in the Cook Islands, Pukapuka follows a Polynesian way of life lost to other Pacific islands. Pukapukans here have survived with nature for centuries despite the threat of sea level rising. The community has little contact with outsiders or tourists. Homecoming tells the viewer to a unique place where time is circular. The past and present collide. Dreamtime and reality intersect. The quest of each character – to reconcile different worlds and cross spiritual dimensions – binds them together, and provides the dramatic arc of the film. Interwoven in visual metaphor the film follows Johnny and Amelia’s journey over three acts – the film opens with both women already landed on their magical childhood atoll, both in their element tracing the past. The beginning of Homecoming dives into the personal journeys of

Hyde Park is a groundbreaking documentary spotlighting the deadly, but often ignored, problem of environmental racism. Of all racial inequalities in the U.S. today, one that is often overlooked, but is perhaps most insidious, is environmental injustice—the fact that blacks are more than twice as likely as whites to live in neighborhoods with uncontrolled toxic waste. Throughout the last twenty-five years, study after study has confirmed this statistic. Environmental racism is pervasive. In Hyde Park, an African American community in Augusta, Georgia, residents fall ill from industrial contaminants. Surrounded by seven industrial facilities and without funds to relocate, citizens-turned-activists pursue justice with a grit that will inspire thousands of U.S. communities facing environmental racism.

PICTURE CHARACTER explores the complex, conflict-prone, and often hilarious world of the creators, lovers, and arbiters of emoji, our world’s newest pictorial language. How do you create a global language on the fly? This film charts the evolution of emoji and investigates what they may reveal about our increasingly technological world.

At the southern edge of Japan, the construction of a new U.S. military base has sharply divided the residents of Okinawa Island, an island dominated by 32 U.S. military facilities. In 2016, a local woman is brutally murdered by an American contractor, igniting tensions that have been brewing since the U.S. occupation began in 1945. In late-2016, Okinawan anti-base activist Hiroji Yamashiro is arrested and thrown into solitary confinement on charges related to protest activities. An indigenous shaman continues to breathe life into the dying traditions of the Ryukyu era, while supporting the conservative, pro-military government. More divided than ever, Okinawans must choose sides during a critical gubernatorial election that will determine the future of the island. A meditation on nature, history and the deep insidious effects of imperialism, Okinawa Documentary carefully examines the complexities of a little-known island that is vital to regional politics.

Marlise Muñoz was 33 years old and 14 weeks pregnant with her second child when she died. She suffered a pulmonary embolism and was pronounced brain-dead in a hospital in Fort Worth, TX. Marlise had told her family that she never wanted to be on life support, under any circumstances. And since a brain-dead patient is in fact legally dead, that should have been the end of this sad story. But the Muñoz family was forced to keep Marlise on mechanical support against their will for 62 days, because of a little known law that states “a person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment… from a pregnant patient.” What followed was a painful ordeal, with critical implications about bodily integrity, rights and liberty. The media picked up the story and the press wildly debated what choice the family should make. But the bottom line was: the family didn’t have a choice. The case ignited polarizing opinions; one side argued that if anything could be done to save this fetus, it should. The other claimed that the State was imposing a ghoulish and cruel mandate on the family, using a dead woman’s body to incubate a fetus. The film reveals that this is not an anomaly: there are currently 32 states (and counting) with similar or identical pregnancy exclusion policies. The Muñoz’ personal journey is the jumping-off point for a timely examination of a growing trend of laws that seek to control a pregnant woman’s body. Even her dead body.

Spanning seven years of cinema vérité surveillance, ANYTHING YOU LOSE is a feature documentary focusing on a little known and fast growing sector of society - those who are trying to conceive with the aid of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART). A personal exploration, it studies the psychological effects of prolonged exposure to the treatments and the innate human need to connect through time and generations. 7.5 million people domestically struggle to conceive through ART. Odds are, you know someone who’s going through the treatments. And odds are, they haven’t told you. Gutsy and original, the hybrid documentary ANYTHING YOU LOSE takes on the unconventional subject of infertility and elevates it to the heights of cinema vérité drama. The informational field we live in is abundant with stories of scientific breakthroughs and babies born to women in their fifties. But the reality of the experience is frequently quite different. For every miracle announcement there are decades of trial and failure. What’s kept behind the scenes in most scenarios becomes the precious bloodline of this story. For the late bloomers Eddie and Irina, to have a child means to seal their union and to join in the ranks of the responsible adults, somewhat reluctantly, to the delight of their families. But when Assisted Reproductive Technologies do not deliver as surely as advertised, the quest becomes a matter of importance; demanding time, emotional maturity, stealthy focus and resources. ANYTHING YOU LOSE speaks volumes about reaching into the depths of self for added strength.

Send Us Your Brother is a feature-length documentary about Masculinity in India. It weaves together three, interconnected storylines: Nikhil, a young 14 year old who dreams of becoming a soldier; Mahendra, an activist challenging men and boys across India to rethink masculinity; and Ranjit, a determined father combating social pressure and death threats as he seeks justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a violent gang rape. Filmed over two and a half years, the documentary is a rich, and deeply intimate look at what it means to be male in India today. It’s a confusing time to be a man in most parts of the world, especially after the avalanche of #MeToo (which has just recently gripped India). In spite of the triumph of Trump, or the grim victory of Kavanagh, the deep and sustained rage of millions around the world has ushered in a new cultural moment and it feels like we’re witnessing the last, desperate gasps of patriarchy. Whether they verbally acknowledge it or not, men simply cannot ignore that the tides have turned and there are seismic changes afoot. In India, these fault lines emerged six years ago after a young, female student was gang raped and murdered on a bus driving through Delhi. The brutality of the incident stunned the country and within hours India erupted in protests. No longer could the system deny India’s deep, entrenched culture of toxic masculinity. Something had to change—primarily, men. Send Us Your Brother is a film that captures that change, as imperfect and fraught as it is.

The Super d! Show videos are short form narratives and all the actors are kids with learning disabilities. The style is relatable, the themes are universal, and the kids are instantly likable and seriously funny. The narrative skits “trigger’ discussions about sensitive subjects. Digital & hands-on activities extend learning through participation. The Super d! Show web series target audience is kids age 7-12 years old and supports the growth of essential traits for achievement and well-being of LD kids in this age group.

As a child of a military family, I am fascinated with military parachutes—a seemingly fragile material that holds the weight of a human body in mid-air. The beauty and the draw of the parachute is the beginning of a look into its creation, its use, and its cultural meaning. It leads me to ask, “Whose hands made this object?” My question sends me on a journey through Ireland and Northern Ireland, unfolding a much larger story than my original inquiry. My search leads me to Margaret, a Northern Irish Protestant who sewed the seams of linen parachutes during the Second World War. I also meet Ruby, a Protestant linen mill worker from Belfast, and then Joan, Elsie, and Eileen, three Irish Catholic soldiers in the British Army (ATS) from Co. Cork, and finally Jane, an Irish Catholic nurse in London from Co. Clare. A story about borders, identity, and cultures in transition, Seams is a complex look at the Anglo-Irish definition of “enemy” and the deep-seated religious, national, and economic divides of two fledgling societies at odds with each other during a global war. The women’s testimonies of the horrors of the Second World War, of the tragedy of the Northern Irish Troubles, and of the slow progression of peace over decades visually unfold through portraiture, archival footage, poetic live-action shots of landscapes and buildings, and hand-drawn stop-motion animation made with tea and ink on Irish linen.

Driven to Abstraction unravels a mutating tale of self-delusion, greed, and fraud-- the $80 million forgery scandal that rocked the art world and brought down Knoedler, New York City’s oldest and most venerable gallery. Was the gallery’s esteemed director the victim of a con artist who showed up with an endless treasure trove of previously unseen abstract expressionist masterpieces? Or did she eventually suspect they were fakes, yet continue to sell them for many millions of dollars for fifteen years? Whatever the truth, two women from very different worlds were, wittingly or not, caught up in the greatest hoax ever of Modern American Art.

AFTERMATH revisits the scene of a wrenching, highly-publicized hate crime 25 years later. When Brandon Teena arrived in Falls City, Nebraska, in November of 1993, the 20-year-old’s handsome looks swiftly won him friends and a pretty girlfriend. Three weeks later, on Christmas Eve, Brandon was brutally raped and beaten by two new-found “friends,” enraged when they discovered that he was transgender, presenting as male, but assigned female by birth. The two men came to murder him that New Year’s. Critically-acclaimed and Emmy-nominated, THE BRANDON TEENA STORY drew global attention, exposing the roots of violence, hatred, and transphobia in America. It was the first documentary to investigate violence against transgender people in the US, leading to hate crime laws and changes in policing practices. AFTERMATH, a follow-up to THE BRANDON TEENA STORY, builds on the filmmakers’ 25 years of relationships in Nebraska. Through the eyes of a community still grappling with the impact of Brandon’s life and death, the film explores the changes – or lack thereof – when it comes to perceptions, behavior, laws, and understanding of LGBTQ community members in heartland America. Weaving archival Super-8, VHS and contemporary HD verité footage of people in their surroundings, AFTERMATH revisits characters from THE BRANDON TEENA STORY and introduces new ones.

American filmmaker Heather Tenzer embarks on a journey to find out why a group of devout New York and Jerusalem rabbis are engaged in an intifada (Arabic for ‘uprising’) against Israel and in support of Palestinians. Founded 80 years ago in Jerusalem, Neturei Karta is the only religious Jewish group publicly speaking out in support of Palestinian rights. As a result of their activism, they’re regularly beaten on the streets. This feature-length documentary, equal parts memoir, investigative, and historical, combines narration, home movies, interviews, and archival films to tell the story of Tenzer’s journey into Neturei Karta’s community. Tenzer first encounters Neturei Karta when she is a teen marching in New York’s Israel Parade. “Free Palestine!” they chant. “Just ignore them!” the rabbi of her school urges. For many years, she does. Tenzer reunites with Neturei Karta years later in Jerusalem. What’s motivating these socially conservative Yiddish-speaking religious men to protest Israel’s bombing of Gaza?” she wonders. Intrigued, she attempts to unravel the mystery of their activism, where it comes from – a story she never learned in religious school. She follows four activists inside their Jerusalem and New York communities and on their travels to Gaza. Through the lens of their diverse, intergenerational voices, the rabbis share compelling stories, offering a nuanced narrative about their unique history.

Zelma, a free-spirited young girl, bonds with wild cats in the forest, but three Mythology Sirens disapprove and sing a beautiful song instructing her to find a Soul Mate and marry. In school, Zelma's feral nature does not sit well with her classmates: "She is not a girl," they chant. Zelma feels a zap and has an instant crush on one of them - her Soul Mate. But the boy ignores her. Under the Sirens' guidance, Zelma transforms herself into a kind of girl that boys like: cute, weak, demurring. But there's a price to pay, so says spunky Biology, who chronicles the neurochemical changes in Zelma's brain as she falls in and out of love. Through her many marriages - both real and imagined - Zelma evolves from fiery girl to domestic abuse victim to a discovery of gender fluidity and self-acceptance. This personal story, set mostly in the Soviet Union, explores how love and gender roles are shaped by the clash of an individual's biology with the stereotypes and mythologies of their cultures.

SEEDS is a documentary that takes a sensitive exploration of an African-American family that has owned their farm since 1883. This film will examine the plight of black farmers and the historical importance of land ownership and generational wealth. As one of the few African-American centennial farms left in the nation, “Seeds” hones onto this notion of reconciling an identity within a place through poetic visual symbolism.

In the ADIOS AMOR, the discovery of forgotten photographs taken over fifty years ago sparks the search for an unsung hero: Maria Moreno, a migrant mother who sacrificed everything but her twelve kids in the passionate pursuit of justice for farmworkers. Haunted by personal tragedy and blessed with a gift for oratory, Maria rolled up her sleeves, collected signatures, and electrified audiences. Chosen by her fellow Mexican American, Okie, Filipino and Black field workers to represent them, Maria became the first farm worker woman in America to be hired as a union organizer. Years before Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta launched the UFW, Maria’s charisma drew crowds, but her outspokenness got her into trouble with labor bosses, who fired her and erased her legacy. The search for Maria guides this documentary, where ghosts fade in and out and magic underpins a rawboned reality. In the end, whose stories get told may hinge on memories, coincidence and—in Maria’s case—an insistence on pursuing a path that touches the lives of others. From California’s great Central Valley, to the Arizona desert and US-Mexico border, the journey yields buried treasure…and stories told with passion and humor. A deeply human drama also comes to life of farmworkers living in dire poverty whose family, faith and working class culture sustained them. ADIOS AMOR—THE SEARCH FOR MARIA MORENO revives the epic saga of a trailblazing woman, while inspiring us to launch our own journeys of discovery into a provocative past.

Girls of Tomorrow is an ambitious series of documentary films which intimately follows five diverse women from their twenties to their fifties. From the all-female Barnard College in New York City to the life they will shape in their adulthood, "Girls of Tomorrow" pays tribute to their contagious sense of immediacy and their unique sense of purpose. The series started in January 2016.The dramaturgy of the first film unfold throughout the College years, being naturally driven by the goals the young women pursue, the obstacles they encounter, the questions they ask about themselves and about society in their pursuit of a more just world. The project will follow them throughout their personal lives, careers, political engagements, wherever they chose to settle in the world - likely China, Senegal, the United States...