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Exclusive: The Sundance Institute and Sandbox Films have announced the 10 projects and filmmaking teams selected as the latest recipients of grants from the Sundance Institute | Sandbox Fund.

Related Story Sundance Film Festival 2023 To Show 25th Anniversary Edition Of 'Slam', Uncensored Director's Cut Of 'The Doom Generation' Related Story Sundance Institute Unveils 35 Documentary Projects To Receive 1.4M In Grants; 2022 Marks 20th Anniversary Of Documentary Film Program Related Story Sundance Unveils Ticketing Details, On-Sale Dates & Venues For 2023 Film Festival As Online Platform Launches

The fund offers grants to projects in stages ranging from development to post-production, along with engagement events and other opportunities for independent artists seeking to explore the intrinsic link between science and culture through innovative nonfiction storytelling. The 10 selected project teams will receive non-recoupable grants totaling 300,000, also claiming bespoke film support and joining Sundance Institute’s year-round artist community, with opportunities to connect with Sundance’s network of alumni and creative advisors,...

Exclusive: Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios company, has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to The Accursed, the first feature from writer-directors Elizabeta Vidovic and Kathryn Michelle, which will be released in theaters and on demand November 12.

The horror film from Almost Normal Productions centers on Hana (Yancy Butler), who has spent 20 years suppressing a curse that was placed upon her bloodline, only to have a family member knowingly release it, forcing her to kill or to be killed.

Izabela Vidovic, Goran Visnjic, Maiara Walsh, George Harrison Xanthis, and Melora Walters also star.

“The Accursed sprouted out of our love of the horror genre. Imbued with rich Eastern European folklore, it explores our fear of all things lingering in dark corners and presses on our deep insecurity of being betrayed,” said Vidovic and Michelle. “Our characters have all become prisoners of their own device as they attempt to keep...

The Gotham Awards for the best in independent film kicked off this unusual awards season on Monday night, January 11. Presented by the Independent Filmmaker Project, these kudos are usually handed out in early December but were pushed back (as were many awards events) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. So who won? Scroll down for the complete list of winners, updated live as they were announced.

SEEGotham nominee John Magaro (‘First Cow’) on how Cookie and King-Lu are ‘almost soulmates’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

These awards are limited to American films (apart from Best International Feature ) made with an economy of means, which means no budgets higher than $35 million. Nominees and winners were decided by juries of film experts and insiders. And for the first time in the awards’ history, all five of the nominees for Best Feature were directed by women: “The Assistant” by Kitty Green, “First Cow” by Kelly Reichardt, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” by Eliza Hittman,...

The International Documentary Association (Ida) has announced the lineup and additional keynote presentations for Getting Real ‘16, its biennial filmmaker-to-filmmaker conference inaugurated by the Ida and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2014.

The three-day conference, which will be held September 27-29 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study and other locations in Hollywood, will include keynotes, conversations with filmmakers and interactive presentations exploring the art and craft of documentary, along with their exclusive “Here’s What Really Happened” sessions, which go behind the scenes into the making and distribution of recent documentaries.

Read More: ‘Cameraperson’ Trailer: Kirsten Johnson’s Acclaimed Documentary Is a Cinematic Self-Portrait

This year will also see a new focus on the evolution of documentary, including a Vr Doc Summit.

Keynote speakers for the latest incarnation of Getting Real include filmmakers Ava DuVernay, Shola Lynch, Ezra Edelman,...

Finding this a bit late in the game, but as we all know, every bit helps with crowdfunding...   Filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris, director of acclaimed PBS documentary "Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People," has launched an Indiegogo campaign to bring the film and associated transmedia project, "Digital Diaspora Family Reunion," to schools across the country.  The documentary is said to be the first to explore the role of photography in shaping the identity, aspirations and social emergence of African Americans from slavery to the present. Called the "1World1Family Tool Kit," Harris' new project will include...

Thomas Allen Harris' "Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People" made it broadcast premiere on Monday night, February 16, on PBS, as an Independent Lens selection. The network has now put the film online, providing an opportunity for those who missed the broadcast earlier this week, to watch it (for Free of course). But it's only for a limited time - through March 8. So take advantage while you can. PBS also has an app for those with iPads, set-top boxes like the Roku player, and others. So you're not confined to only watching it on your laptop/desktop screens. The full film is embedded at the bottom of this post, below the review that...

Thomas Allen Harris' "Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People" makes it broadcast premiere tonight, Monday, February 16, on PBS, from 10pm - 11:30pm Et, as an Independent Lens selection. This is the story of the pioneering African-American photographers — men and women, celebrated and anonymous — who have recorded the lives and aspirations of generations, from slavery to the present. By Thomas Allen Harris. The documentary begins with a memory. It’s the kind of memory that most black people, in one way or another, can recall: the moment when we realized we were black, and that, somehow, being black was...

Thomas Allen Harris' "Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People" screens at the Toronto Black Film Festival's 3rd edition, which kicked off yesterday, and will run through February 15th. The documentary begins with a memory. It’s the kind of memory that most black people, in one way or another, can recall: the moment when we realized we were black, and that, somehow, being black was something to be ashamed of. For director Thomas Allen Harris, that moment came early in his boyhood, when his father snapped at him for having too much Vaseline on his face. His father’s words, seemingly innocuous, ...

It’s been almost 60 years since 14-year-old African American Emmett Till was beaten, tortured, and murdered by white men for having allegedly spoken to a white woman. His mother’s decision to hold an open-casket funeral so that the world could see -- and photographers could document -- the brutality inflicted on her son marked a turning point in the civil rights struggle. Images of the gruesomely disfigured child underscored black American realities for the world in a way that encapsulated past, present, and, seemingly, future.

When those images are shown in Thomas Allen Harris’s rich, moving documentary Through a Lens Dark...

Thomas Allen Harris' "Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People," a Sundance Film Festival 2014 selection, made its Us theatrical premiere on Wednesday, August 27, presented by Film Forum (NYC), where it'll enjoy a 2-week engagement. Here's our review... The documentary begins with a memory. It’s the kind of memory that most black people, in one way or another, can recall: the moment when we realized we were black, and that, somehow, being black was something to be ashamed of. For director Thomas Allen Harris, that moment came early in his boyhood, when his father snapped at him for having too much Vaseline on...

Thomas Allen Harris' "Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People," a Sundance Film Festival 2014 selection, will make its Us theatrical premiere beginning this Wednesday, August 27, presented by Film Forum (NYC), where it'll enjoy a 2-week engagement. The documentary begins with a memory. It’s the kind of memory that most black people, in one way or another, can recall: the moment when we realized we were black, and that, somehow, being black was something to be ashamed of. For director Thomas Allen Harris, that moment came early in his boyhood, when his father snapped at him for having too much Vaseline on his...

No doubt, one of the most important and necessary documentaries of the year - and a film that we have kept a close watch on - Thomas Allen Harris’ "Through A lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People," begins its long awaited Us theatrical run, beginning Wednesday, August 27, at the Film Forum in New York, for a 2 week engagement. The film, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, "explores how African Americans have used photography as a tool for social change, illuminating the hidden, little known and under-appreciated stories of African Americans transforming themselves and the nation through the power of the camera...

Thomas Allen Harris' "Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People," a Sundance Film Festival 2014 selection, will make its Us theatrical premiere beginning Wednesday, August 27, presented by Film Forum (NYC), where it'll enjoy a 2-week engagement. The documentary explores how African Americans have used photography as a tool for social change, illuminating the hidden, little known and under-appreciated stories of African Americans transforming themselves and the nation through the power of the camera lens. The film also explores how contemporary photographers and artists like Deborah Willis, Carrie Mae Weems,...

Thomas Allen Harris' "Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People," a Sundance Film Festival 2014 selection, will make its Us theatrical premiere beginning Wednesday, August 27, presented by Film Forum (NYC), where it'll enjoy a 2-week engagement. The documentary explores how African Americans have used photography as a tool for social change, illuminating the hidden, little known and under-appreciated stories of African Americans transforming themselves and the nation through the power of the camera lens. The film also explores how contemporary photographers and artists like Deborah Willis, Carrie Mae Weems,...

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has announced its “Invited Program” and “New Docs” lineup of new feature and short films today. Titles of note, with respect to this blog's interest (projects previously highlighted on this blog) include: Stanley Nelson's Freedom Summer, Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa from director Abby Ginzberg, Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People directed by Thomas Allen Harris , Ana Ana from directors Corinne van Egeraat & Petr Lom, The Case of the Three Sided Dream directed by Adam Kahan, Darius Clark Monroe's Evolution of...

Earlier this week, John Singleton signed up to act as Executive Producer on Thomas Allen Harris' Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People, post its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month, as a New Frontiers pick.  The documentary explores how African Americans have used photography as a tool for social change, illuminating the hidden, little known and under-appreciated stories of African Americans transforming themselves and the nation through the power of the camera lens. The film also explores how contemporary photographers and artists like Deborah Willis, Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson,...

John Singleton has signed up to act as Executive Producer on Thomas Allen Harris' acclaimed documentary, Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People, which world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last month.Harris' production company, Chimpanzee Productions, made the announcement last week via press release.“I was moved by the film, these artists and what their work means to me and to the world at large,” said Singleton. "This documentary highlights the ongoing battle that black people face defining themselves image-wise. I am proud to be a part of this project.”"We are pleased to have John Singleton on board the project as one of our...

The documentary begins with a memory. It’s the kind of memory that most black people, in one way or another, can recall: the moment when we realized we were black, and that, somehow, being black was something to be ashamed of. For director Thomas Allen Harris, that moment came early in his boyhood, when his father snapped at him for having too much Vaseline on his face. His father’s words, seemingly innocuous, stung. “Do you want people out there to think you’re a greasy monkey?” It’s that memory and the residual pain it caused for Harris that serves as the catalyst for Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People. Juxtaposing...

2014 Sundance Film Festival Coverage: El: Eric Lavallee. Nb: Nicholas Bell. Cc: Caitlin Coder. Js: Jordan M. Smith

Special Screening (1)

Nympho Vol. I – (El: ✮✮✮✮)

U.S. Dramatic Competition (16)

Camp X-Ray – (Nb: ✮✮✮)

Cold in July – (Nb: ✮✮✮ 1/2)

Dear White People – (Nb: ✮✮✮)

Fishing Without Nets – (El: ✮✮✮) + (Js: ✮✮✮) + (Nb: ✮✮✮)

God’s Pocket – (Cc: ✮✮ 1/2)

Happy Christmas – (Cc: ✮✮✮ 1/2) + (Js: ✮✮✮ 1/2) + (Nb: ✮✮ 1/2)

Hellion – (El: ✮✮) + (Jm: ✮✮✮1/2)

Infinitely Polar Bear – (El: ✮✮✮)

Jamie Marks Is Dead – (El: ✮✮✮) + (Js: ✮1/2) + (Nb: ✮✮ 1/2)

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter – (Js: ✮✮✮ 1/2)

Life After Beth – (El: ✮ 1/2) + (Nb: ✮ )

Low Down – (Cc: ✮✮✮) + (Js: ✮✮✮)

The Skeleton Twins - (Nb: ✮✮✮1/2) + (El: ✮✮✮1/2) + (Cc: ✮✮✮1/2) (Review)

The Sleepwalker – (El: ✮✮✮ 1/2) + (Js: ✮✮✮1/2) + (Cc: ✮✮✮✮) + (Nb: ✮✮✮)

Song One – (El: ✮✮) + (Js: ✮✮1/2)

Wish I Was Here – (Cc: ✮✮)

U.S. Docu Competition (16)

Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory (Js: ✮✮✮)

All the Beautiful Things

Captivated The Trials of Pamela Smart: (El: ✮✮✮)

The Case Against 8

Cesar’s Last Fast

Dinosaur 13 – (El: ✮✮) + (Js: ✮✮) (Review)

E-team (Js: ✮✮✮)

Fed Up

The Internet’s Own Boy:...

Mainly tailed to function for educational purposes, Thomas Allen Harris' “Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People” contains a collage of images that tell the story of African Americans’ photographic representation within the context of the country's broader history. Extremely ambitious in scope and meticulously assembled, the movie is undeniably a passion project sporting the filmmaker's investment in its themes. A photographer himself, Harris combines his fascination with the way African Americans have been depicted in the visual arts with his own experience as a black man not living in the public eye. Exploring how racially demeaning caricatures defined the black experience in American history books for centuries, he dug into his own and numerous other family photo albums to uncover the real, unpublished, lives of black families over the course of several eras. One of Harris’ most influential mentors is Deborah Willis, curator and author of.

Selection opens with a documentary about what motivates Somali pirates and includes the European premiere of 20,000 Days on Earth, starring Nick Cave, and 10 world premieres.Scroll down for full list

The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 6-16) has unveiled the 16 films that will make up the documentary section of its Panorama strand.

This year’s Panorama Dokumente comprises 16 films, including ten world premieres, and will open on Feb 7 with the world premiere of Dutch co-production The Last Hijack by Tommy Pallotta and Femke Wolting. The film depicts what motivates piracy in Somalia.

The topic of Africa, which is also reflected in the Ethiopian fictional feature Difret, is also central to Swedish filmmaker Göran Hugo Olsson in Concerning Violence. This commentary on Africa’s decolonisation, cites Frantz Fanon’s “The Wretched of the Earth” - and Us singer Lauryn Hill lends these texts her voice.

Olsson previously presented The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 about the Afro-American civil rights...

It’s that time again. The biggest American film festival is upon us, and this year the Ioncinema crew will be descending on Park City with eight feet on the ground and eight eyes on Park City’s various and plentiful screens. Eric Lavallee, Nicholas Bell, Caitlin Coder and I will be covering just about every inch of this year’s festival here at Ioncinema.com, as well as on that ever increasingly vibrant instanews network – Twitter. Be sure to follow @ioncinema and, as stated above, my personal handle @Rectangular_Eye, as we’ll be tweeting throughout the festival with breaking news, reviews, and sightings, all the while trying to keep up with the massive amount of content sure to be coming from this year’s Sundance filmmakers themselves, most of which have their own Twitter accounts and are listed at length below (minus the world & short programs). Whether you...

The last of our Twitterverse series, these are the films pushing the boundaries of independent cinema while keeping a pulse on cyber happenings. It seems most of Drunktown’s (@drunktown_movie) population is, if nothing else, keeping up with the times. Follow away! Full Twitterverse run-down to follow.

Next

Appropriate Behavior – @AppropriateFilm

Writer/Director/Actress Desiree Akhavan – @DesiMakesMovies

Composer Josephine Wiggs – @josephinewiggs

Actress Halley Feiffer – @HalleyFeiffer

Drunktown’s Finest – @drunktown_movie

Writer/Director Sydney Freeland – @sydneyfreeland

Producer Mateo Frazier – @nuevosoul

Actress Carmen Moore – @Carmen_Moore

Actress Morningstar Wilson – @starshinegypsy

Actor Kiowa Gordon – @CircaKiGordon

Actress Shauna Baker – @ShaunaBaker

Actress Elizabeth Francis – @efrances03

The Foxy Merkins – @FoxyMerkins

Writer/Actress Jackie Monahan – @jackiemonahan

Writer/Actress Lisa Haas – @lisahaas

Actor Alex Karpovsky – @alexkarpovsky

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night – @AGirlWalksHome

Writer/Director Ana Lily Amirpour – @Lilyinapad

Producer Sina Sayyah – @sinasayyah

Co-producer Sheri Davani – @Sheri_The_AD

Cinematographer Lyle Vincent – @lylevincent

Actor Arash Marandi...

I honestly had very little to go one when I added A.J. Edwards’ The Better Angels to my predictions list and the fact that it has been included among the New Frontier offerings means that we’re in for something out of the ordinary, as the section has often challenged conventional form. Produced by Terrence Malick, and filmed in B&W, it features Jason Clarke, Diane Kruger, Brit Marling, Wes Bentley and a newbie actor taking on the role of a young Lincoln. Here is the entire listing of five (plus installation projects), which will include Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s on-going Hit Record project.

The Better Angels / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: A.J. Edwards) — Set in the harsh wilderness of Indiana, this is the story of Abraham Lincoln’s youth. It tells of the hardships that shaped him, the tragedy that marked him forever, and the two women who guided him to immortality.

Yesterday, the Sundance Film Festival, which runs from January 16-26, announced the films selected for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions as well as the out-of-competition Next <=> section. Today, the festival has revealed the titles selected for it New Frontier, Spotlight, Park City at Midnight and the new ‘Sundance Kids’ sections of films for its 2014 edition. Scanning the lists, of most interest to us here at S&A is Thomas Allen Harris' Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People, which is a New Frontiers pick. The documentary...

When Sundance announced the films in competition for the 2014 festival yesterday, its organizers noted that they were impressed by the caliber of cinematic artistry — mostly due to technology — that freed up filmmakers to experiment with different genres. No category of the festival is more rooted in genre than Park City at Midnight, the late-night section that specializes in horror and the supernatural, and this year’s slate has several potential breakouts. “The Midnight lineup came together in a way that is about the strongest group we’ve ever had, top to bottom,” says Trevor Groth, Sundance’s director of programming.

Sundance Institute executives announced on December 5 that the festival will feature new work from artist Doug Aitken as well as Klip Collective’s external projections on the Egyptian Theatre.

An expanded New Frontier will showcase installations, performance, transmedia and panel discussion section. Most of the installations will be housed at a new, 5,000-square-foot location at the Gateway in Park City adjacent to Main Street.

Doug Aitken’s The Source (Evolving) will occur at a nearby location along Main Street.

“As human and machine, biological and media experiences blur and hybridise, the distinctions between them are also becoming irrelevant,” said curator of the exhibition and Sundance Film Festival senior programmer Shari Frilot.

“The digital and the organic integrally constitute a new primordial pool. What does creativity and storytelling look like if we revel in this new way of being?”

“This year’s expanded New Frontier allows artists to continue pushing the boundaries in telling their stories,” said Sundance...

Tribeca’s 12th annual festival, running from April 17-28, recently announced that their festival awards, including the top juried world competitions going to The Rocket, The Kill Team, Whitewash and Oxyana. See below for the official press release.

2013 Tribeca Film Festival Announces Awards

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The Rocket, The Kill Team, Whitewash And Oxyana

Win Top Awards In Juried World Competitions

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Sandy Storylines Wins First-ever Bombay Sapphire Award For Transmedia

* * *

Festival Awards $155,000 In Cash Prizes

[April 25, 2013 – New York, NY] – The 12th annual Tribeca Film Festival, co-founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, and presented by founding sponsor American Express, announced the winners of its competition categories tonight at a ceremony hosted at the Conrad New York in New York City. The Festival runs through April 28, 2013.

The world competition winners for narrative and documentary films were chosen from 12 narrative and 12 documentary features from 14 countries. Best New Director prizes were awarded to a first-time director for both narrative and documentary films,...

A week ago when I first profiled this project, it had raised just over $34,000 of its $100,000 goal. Today, with just 2 days to go in the campaign, that figure is now at $62,514 - not quite double last week's number, but close. But, it's still shy of its goal - about $38,000 shy. Can it get there by 11:59pm on July 27th? With your help it can! So do something about it...  the project will only be funded if it reaches its $100,000 goal. Contribute by clicking Here, and/or pass it along to others! A recap... a documentary project from Thomas Allen Harris that's more than worthy of your support. If the fimmaker's name, and the title of...

A documentary project from Thomas Allen Harris that's more than worthy of yor support. If the fimmaker's name, and the title of the project don't already have your attention, read on for more details below (or watch the video pitch underneath): Please consider supporting Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People, a PBS documentary that explores how African Americans have used photography as a tool for social change. Since the birth of photography in 1840s, African Americans rejected what they saw about themselves in the dominant culture and took ownership of their own cultural image. Empowered through photography, Black people began to...

I will be a panelist on today’s 1Pm panel titled Who gets to tell the story? Representation, appropriation and distribution of the Black Image. And I’ll be joined by… scholars Tracyann Williams (moderator), Pearl Bowser, Fabio Parasecoli, and Raquel Gates, as well as director, producer and writer Frances Anne Solomon.

All part of a conference here in NYC, taking place on April 8th and 9th, presented by the New School Media Studies and Film faculty, organized by New School faculty and media distribution consultant, Michelle Materre, titled Remixed And Remastered: Defining And Distributing the Black Image In An Era Of Globalization.

Other notables include author and cultural critic Jill Nelson; filmmakers Ava DuVernay, Charles Officer, Thomas Allen Harris, and Regi Allen; scholars Sean Jacobs, and key industry notables including Focus Features’ Africa First Shorts’ Kisha Cameron-Dingle, HBO’s Greg Rhem and National Black Programming Consortium’s Leslie Fields Cruz.

In this week's in-production column, "Vamps," from "Fast Times at Ridgemont Hight" director Amy Heckerling, a group of vampires indulges in New York nightlife. Also in the works this week, a stylized story of a desecrated village, a comedic take on cancer, and documentarian Thomas Allen Harris's short about the intersection of civil rights and gay rights in the contemporary marriage movement. Editors Note: “In the Works” is a weekly column ...

John Hillcoat's The Proposition received the Mary-Jean Mitchell Green Award for best narrative feature at the ninth annual Bermuda International Film Festival, which concluded Saturday. Pippa Scott's King Leopold's Ghost was named best documentary feature, and Lluis Quilez's short film Avatar won the M3 Wireless Bermuda Shorts Award. Miramax Films' Kinky Boots, directed by Julian Jarrold, took honors as the Audience Choice Award winner. The runners-up were Lucinda Spurling's Rare Bird and Thomas Allen Harris' Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela.