Cinereach Winter Cycle 2010 Grants Announced
[Source: Cinereach, by Reva Goldberg, March 24, 2010]
Each year Cinereach grants over $500,000 to well-crafted feature-length films that depict underrepresented perspectives, resonate across international boundaries, and spark dialogue.
Cinereach is excited to announce $250,000 in grants to 15 feature-length films in their Winter 2010 cycle!
They received a record-setting 900 letters of inquiry this cycle (up from 636 last cycle). Seventy-seven fiction and nonfiction projects were invited to submit full proposals. After an extensive internal staff review, an external committee (Laurie Collyer, Dan Nuxoll, Karin Chien, Mike Tully and Ingrid Kopp) weighed in on finalists.
Selections range widely in subject matter and cinematic style and are set all over the globe. The common thread is strong complex characters and artful storytelling. Each project will receive between $10,000 and $25,000.
Aqui y Alli (Here and There) (Fiction)
Dir. Antonio Mendez Esparza | Mexico | In Production
Pedro, husband, father and musician, struggles to make a living in Copanatoyac, Mexico. He hopes to avoid crossing the US border for the third time.
Burma Soldier (Nonfiction)
Dir. Nic Dunlop, Annie Sundberg & Ricki Stern | Burma/Thailand/USA | In Post-Production
Burma Soldier tells the powerful story of a Burmese soldier who swapped sides to join Aung San Suu Kyi’s struggle for a democratic Burma.
Charge (Nonfiction)
Dir. Michael Plunkett | Bolivia/USA | In Production
Charge uncovers the human stories behind the current energy revolution, and the race to develop what is arguably this century’s most important resource: lithium.
Donor 150 (Nonfiction)
Dir. Jerry Rothwell | USA | In Production
A generation born through artificial insemination is now old enough to search for its biological fathers, and the children of Donor 150 have a dad who is willing and ready to be found.
Dragonslayer (Nonfiction)
Dir. Tristan Patterson | USA | In Post-Production
A self-destructive young man spends an endless California summer breaking into foreclosed homes to skate empty swimming pools. A punk rock girl from the suburbs may be his salvation.
Gardens of Paradise (Nonfiction)
Dir. Bernardo Ruiz | Mexico/USA | In Production
A series of interconnected stories, told over the course of one day, illuminate the challenges facing residents of California’s Imperial Valley along the U.S./Mexico border.
Laura (Nonfiction)
Dir. Fellipe Barbosa | USA/Brazil | In Post-Production
A Brazilian immigrant in New York City lives two contradictory lives. At night she crashes the most glamorous and exclusive parties, while each day she struggles to cheat poverty and eviction.
Moving (working title) (Nonfiction)
Dir. Hamid Rahmanian | USA | In Research & Development
Moving explores something all humans do in some form: jump the fence to see if the grass really is greener on the other side.
On the Ice (Fiction)
Dir. Andrew MacLean | USA | In Pre-Production
On the snow-covered Arctic tundra, at the top of the world in Barrow, Alaska, two Inuit teenagers try to get away with murder.
Pariah (Fiction)
Dir. Dee Rees | USA | In Post-Production
A Bronx teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
Return (Fiction)
Dir. Liza Johnson | USA | In Pre-Production
Back from a tour of duty, Kelli slowly realizes that her everyday life doesn’t resemble the one she left. Can she regain her place in the kind of life she’s been fighting to protect?
Tchoupitoulas (Nonfiction)
Dir. Bill Ross & Turner Ross | USA | In Post-Production
Three young brothers explore the New Orleans night.
The Boy Mir (Nonfiction)
Dir. Phil Grabsky | UK/Afghanistan | In Post-Production
The Boy Mir covers ten years in the life of the irrepressible and lovable Mir, as he comes of age in one of the toughest places on earth. His life reflects a vital portrait of modern Afghanistan.
What Tomorrow Brings (Nonfiction)
Dir. Beth Murphy | Afghanistan/USA | In Production
A year in the life of the students of a new Afghan girls’ school provides a rare glimpse into a community torn between two radically different destinies.
The World Before Her (Nonfiction)
Dir. Nisha Pahuja | India/Canada | In Production
Two competitors in the Miss India Contest show an India divided along many fault lines—political, religious, economic and cultural.
The LOI form for the Summer 2010 cycle goes online April 13th and is due June 1st.
