Sundance Institutes Documentary Fund will be supporting 23 selected independent documentary film projects this year through grants totaling over $1 million. This initiative has previously funded notable films including Oscar-nominated features Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, Minding the Gap and The Edge of Democracy.
In addition to shrinking budgets for commissioned docuseries and one-offs, there has been a dramatic decline in distribution deals for indie docs, making the Sundance Institute grant vital to the nonfiction community. Especially to those filmmakers in the docu space working on social issue documentaries.
This year, the documentaries awarded grants explore a large breadth subject matters from around the world, telling stories about Indigenous People and Native Americans, transgender youth, secrets of a familys lineage, people with disabilities and an untitled feature about Uvalde, Texas. Of the 23 films, six are in development, 14 are in production and three are in post-production.
The stories and themes explored by this incredibly talented group of artists beautifully embody Sundances spirit and the mission of our program today, said Paola Mottura, Documentary Film Fund director. These projects carry tremendous potential for narrative change and remind us of the vital importance of bold, risk-taking independent film for a healthy democracy and a thriving civil society.
The Documentary Fund grants are made possible by the Open Society Foundations, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Gucci, and the Kendeda Fund.
See below for the full list of 2023 Documentary Fund films.
The Beauty of the Donkey (Switzerland, France, Kosovo)
Director: Dea Gjinovci
Producers: Dea Gjinovci, Emma Lepers, Ilir Hasanaj
The Days I Would Like to Forget (Ukraine, France, Austria)
Directors: Alina Gorlova, Yelizaveta Smith, Simon Mozgovyi, Maksym Nakonechyi
Producers: Eugene Rachkovsky, Ralph Wieser, Nabil Bellahsene
Girl-Tubers (Brazil)
Director: Tali Yankelevich
Producer: Leonardo Mecchi
Looking at Ourselves (U.S.)
Director and Producer: Lourdes Portillo
My Mothers Tale (U.K.)
Director: Mizgin Arslan
Producers: Shirine Best, Avesta Kadire
Somebodys Gone (U.S.)
Directors: Cyrus Moussavi, Hubert Taylor
Producer: Brittany Nugent
In production:
The 3,000 Project (U.S.)
Director and Producer: Keith McQuirter
thats why He made momma (U.S.)
Directors: Lendl Tellington, Salome Sykes
Adams Apple (U.S.)
Director: Amy Jenkins
Producers: Brit Fryer, Amy Jenkins
Life After (U.S.)
Director: Reid Davenport
Producers: Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney
Listening to the World (Ukraine, Germany, Sweden)
Director: Yelizaveta Smith
Producers: Olga Beskhmelnytsina, Eugene Rachkovsky
Nixs (Mexico)
Director: Kani Lapuerta Laorden
Producer: Suleica Adriana Pineda Rodrguez
Our Seeds (Turkey, Germany)
Director: Erhan Ark
Producers: Meryem Yavuz, Manuel Rees, Frank Carsten Walter
Powwow People (U.S.)
Director: Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk/Pechanga)
Producers: John Cardellino, Adam Piron (Kiowa/Mohawk)
Redlight to Limelight (India)
Director: Bipuljit Basu
Producer: Nilotpal Majumdar
Remaining Native (U.S.)
Director: Paige Bethmann (Haudenosaunee)
Producers: Paige Bethmann, Jessica Epstein, Judd Erhlich
Untitled Yemen Project (Yemen, Netherlands, U.S.)
Directors and Producers: Sara Ishaq, Sonia Kennebeck
When They Were Here (U.S.)
Directors: Ivan MacDonald (Blackfeet), Ivy MacDonald (Blackfeet)
Producers: Ivan MacDonald, Mridu Chandra, Jessica Jane Hart
Widow Champion (Kenya)
Director: Zippy Kimundu
Producers: Zippy Kimundu, Heather Courtney
Will They Ever Come Back? (Colombia)
Director: ngela Carabal
Producers: Sandra Tabares-Duque, ngela Carabal
Post Production:
Ride with Delivery Workers (U.S.)
Director: Jing Wang
Producers: Jing Wang, Dr. Do Jun Lee, Annie Berman, Nicholas Wong
Untitled (Myanmar)
Director and Producer: Min Min Hein
Untitled Uvalde Documentary (U.S.)
Director: Anayansi Prado
Producers: Anayansi Prado, Mary Recine