Our declaration of Independence
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Hanna Atallah of Filmlab Palestine at CPH:DOX
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Dear friends,
Last week at CPH:DOX, alongside D.I.S.C.O. members Jad Abi-Khalil (from AFLAMUNA) and Judy Kibinge (from Docubox), we released the first volume of the Independence Project and hosted a live reading amongst gathered filmmakers and cultural organisers.
The purpose of the Independence Project is to encourage a new ground swell of conversation amongst documentary filmmakers in every region. In a time when public interest media is in jeopardy from market forces, from big tech, from political pressures - we need to organise. To reclaim our identity. To name and describe our craft and why it matters. Only then and only together will we be able to make the case for the resources that this field needs and deserves in creating engaged and informed citizens, for its role in underpinning pluralistic democracies. To imagine and design a new infrastructure for public interest media that will allow citizens everywhere to access this critical form of storytelling.
In volume one, we have pulled together the responses relating to just one theme; what does independent documentary mean to you and why does it matter? These are taken from interviews conducted in eight languages with 51 documentary filmmakers from 34+ countries - each describing their understanding of the practice of independent filmmaking and its significance to their lives, cultures, societies. In one of the only research projects of it's kind, that centres the voices of global majority makers.
We invite you to log onto Independence-project.org and download the first manuscript. Take it, share it, read it together and then talk it out. Our aim is to provide a richer and a more diverse set of perspectives on the state of the field and hear where filmmakers are aligned, what they want to see changed and what we might build together. Write us an email to build on what you have heard or you can add your testimony, your questions directly onto the Independence Project website.
To academics, festival and conference organisers - there is much more to share and collaborate over. We will be publishing additional volumes over the next year which explore sustainability and funding models, the future of public and corporate distribution, assessment of media industry festivals and markets, how to build better communities and networks, and other subjects. Stand by…
Come and join the next collective performance of volume one of the manuscript at IDA’s Getting Real Conference on Wednesday, 17 April 2024 at 7pm PT. And then please don’t wait for us - just grab the script and host your own.
With love + rockets from Team Doc Society
P.S. You’ll read below about the Democracy Story Lab that recently wrapped in Rio, where we were delving into all things independence. If you really want to be transported while you read, please listen here to the all-female samba group which performed at the Lab.
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A Story of Bones short ‘Buried’ is out on the Guardian Now
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BFI Doc Society Fund backed feature A Story of Bones (dirs. Joseph Curran & Dominic de Vere, prods. Mike Brett & Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo) is out on the Guardian now in a short doc version entitled Buried. The film is accompanied by several articles on Saint Helena for the Guardian’s Cotton Capital Project. One by film protagonist Annina Van Neel on her journey fighting to properly memorialise the formerly enslaved Africans burial ground, and one from Legal correspondent Haroon Siddique on potential legal actions taken by the State of the African Diaspora for the remains of 325 formerly enslaved people to be returned to their ancestral kingdoms in Africa. A Story of Bones contributor Peggy King Jorde also writes on threatened African burial grounds around the world and writer Ella Sinclair’s piece on Britain’s relationship to the slave trade is also included.
Have a watch and read on this urgently important story, and keep an eye out for A Story of Bones forthcoming release in UK cinemas in May.
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BFI Made of Truth Short Film Fund Open Now
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The Made of Truth: BFI Doc Society Short Film Fund is open now until 15 April. Made of Truth is part of BFI NETWORK and uses National Lottery funds to support all forms of short form non-fiction, including personal stories, hybrid work, artist films, essays, observational and social issue projects. The fund also considers VR and immersive projects which are firmly rooted in non-fiction. The fund can support up to 15 individual short documentaries each year with a maximum of £25,000 of grant funding. Films can be between 5-40 minutes in length. Learn more and apply on our website.
The next BFI Doc Society Made of Truth Fund - Online Roundtable will take place on Monday, 8 April from 12pm - 1pm BST. You can sign up here.There are several other events coming up where you can learn more about the fund, head to our Talent Support page to find an event near you.
Our BFI Doc Society Feature Fund is open now on a rolling basis, and the Research & Development Fund (RAD) is also open now.
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Our Democracy Story Lab: Rio Edition
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The team has just returned from the second Democracy Story Lab - this time hosted in Rio by our amazing colleagues at Peri Productions. A gathering of journalists, filmmakers, colleagues working in strategic communications and in campaigns together reflecting on the kinds of narratives which are needed in this age of democratic, climatic and economic polycrisis. How as storytellers and media makers, we can help imagine more just, more equitable societies.
But it's not just what we make, it's how we move it. Which is why we also made space to think about the public interest media infrastructure - one which is so beleaguered by the effects of unregulated markets, big tech, and political interests. How can it be shored up, made manifestly more robust? How can we ensure that independent media keeps getting made but is also universally accessible?
These are the questions we are taking forward into 2024 and Doc Society will keep creating the space for imaginative and ambitious conversations about the future.
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DISCO’s Declaration of Independence at IDA’s Getting Real
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The DISCO Network (Ambulante, AFLAMUNA, DocsMX, Doc Society, DocSP, Docubox, In-Docs, and India Docs) will be presenting and workshopping the Independence Project at IDA’s Getting Real in Los Angeles, 17 April at 7pm. 'Our Declaration of Independence’ will be led by Maxyne Franklin (Doc Society) and Michelle Plascencia (GIPA), invites storytellers attending Getting Real to take part in an interactive performance of The Declaration - drawn from interviews with 51 filmmakers from 34 countries describing the significance of independent documentaries to their lives, to culture, society, and democracy. You can now register for tickets here.
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Our TikTok MicroDoc Challenge is still open
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We’ve teamed up with IDA in the US, Docubox in Kenya, DocsMX in Mexico, and In-Docs in Indonesia to launch the TikTok #MicroDocChallenge on Democracy. Born from our first Democracy Story Lab in London, we are taking to Tiktok to reach new audiences in conversations about democracy.
What is a #MicroDoc? We want you to experiment: interviews, experimental concepts, popular TikTok backgrounds, and archival footage are all welcome - focus on a specific matter or keep it artsy inspired by your favourite documentaries. Learn more about the challenge here.
Open to everyone globally. Post your video by 15 April 2024 and use the #microdocchallenge hashtag and at the end of the experiment, we will select 20 TikTok videos to receive a $250 USD cash prize!
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Greener Pastures on PBS Independent Lens
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Climate Story Fund backed Greener Pastures (dir. Sam Mirpoorian, prod. Ian Kibbe) had its broadcast premiere on PBS’s Independent Lens on Monday. If you’re in the US, you can stream this not-to-miss gem on PBS. And be sure to check out their website as the film continues to travel across the country. Congrats to the team!
There is a mental health crisis happening for many American farmers. A combination of climate change and the pandemic have contributed to increasing economic uncertainty and isolation. Following four family farms in the Midwest over several years, the documentary Greener Pastures is a story of perseverance and survival within the farming industry in the heartland.
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unseen (dir. Set Hernandez Rongkilyo, prods. Set, Félix Endara, Day Al-Mohamed) is a New Perspectives supported film and it celebrated its broadcast on POV on PBS on 18 March. You can stream the film on POV until 16 June. Get the popcorn ready and settle into this beautiful journey.
As a blind, undocumented immigrant, Pedro faces uncertainty to obtain his college degree, become a social worker, and support his family. Through experimental cinematography and sound, unseen reimagines the accessibility of cinema, while exploring the intersections of immigration, disability, and mental health.
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If you’re in the UK, on Monday 1 April at 9pm tune into BBC 4 to watch the broadcast premiere of BFI Doc Society Fund backed feature Tish (dir. Paul Sng, prod. Jennifer Corcoran.) Tish is a moving portrait of social documentary photographer and trailblazer Tish Murtha, who dedicated her life to documenting the lives of working-class communities in 1980s North East England. See more info on the broadcast here.
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CONGRATULATIONS ALL AROUND
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The Flats wins DOX:AWARD at CPH:DOX
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Our biggest congratulations to the team behind The Flats (dir. Alessandra Celesia, prods. Genevièvre De Bauw, John McIlduff, Jean-Laurent Csinidis & Jeremiah Cullinane) for winning the main award at the coveted CPH:DOX this year - the 2024 DOX:AWARD! You can read more about the film here and the magnitude of UK co-productions that were at the Danish festival this year. The Flats is a BFI Doc Society Fund supported feature. Congrats!
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Grand Theft Hamlet wins Doc Feature Award at SXSW
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Another BFI Doc Society funded film that made a big buzz coming out of its World Premiere at SXSW was Grand Theft Hamlet (dirs. Sam Crane & Pinny Grylls, prods. Julia Ton & Rebecca Wolff) which went on to win the 2024 SXSW Doc Feature Award. Huge congrats to the team!
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White Nanny, Black Child wins RTS History Award and is nominated for BAFTA TV Specialist Factual
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White Nanny, Black Child (dir. Andy Mundy-Castle, prod. Natasha Dack-Ojumu & Rochelle Newman) has taken home the 2024 Royal Television Society History Award! Huge congrats to the team. They have also been nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in the Specialist Factual Category. White Nanny, Black Child is a poignant and moving story told by a brilliant team - such well-deserved honours!
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Tish wins Award for Broadcast Non-Fiction from RTS North East
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Big congrats again to the team behind Tish (dir. Paul Sng, prod. Jennifer Corcoran) for winning Best Non-Broadcast Factual award at the Royal Television Society Awards!
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Inaugural Unquiet Distribution Lab seeking applications
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Our friends at Unquiet in Australia are launching their first impact distribution lab, supported by Screenrights Cultural Fund. They are inviting three teams - with films that are aiming to be released in 2025 - to apply to become part of the Unquiet Distribution Lab. They are primarily considering documentary projects, however teams who have a different kind of screen project are encouraged to reach out to discuss the possibility of participating. The lab will include a one-on-one session with Unquiet and three group sessions with all three film teams between July - November 2024. Participating teams will each be paid a stipend of $4000. Applications are now open and close 15 April. Apply here.
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Sheffield DocFest Talent Initiatives
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Sheffield DocFest has recently announced two talent initiatives, open now for applications. Amplify: Production Talent, is supported by BBC and Channel 4, is open for UK-based production professionals looking to elevate their careers. Alternate Realities Talent, supported by Arts Council England, is open for creatives focused on using digital technologies to experiment and play with non-fiction boundaries. Applications for both programmes are due Thursday 9 April 2024, 12pm BST.
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Ford Foundation JustFilms Grants Open Now
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JustFilms Grants are now accepting LOIs. They support artist-driven, non-fiction film and new media storytelling projects that explore aspects of inequality and the organisations and networks supporting these projects. Submissions for documentary film production grants are currently open and will close at 11:59pm ET on Monday, 1 April 2024. More info here.
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Chicken & Egg (Egg)Celerator Lab Open for Applications
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The (Egg)celerator Lab from Chicken & Egg is focused on identifying and supporting nonfiction directors working on their first or second feature-length documentary. This program brings together ten projects, with a special focus on women and gender-expansive directors. The application deadline is Wednesday, 22 May 2024 at 3:00pm ET. Learn more and apply here.
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That’s all for now, folks.
Love,
Doc Society
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