EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent on Wednesday named the filmmakers and projects selected for its 12th annual Documentary Lab, rolling out a list that includes Alina Simone & Kirstine Barfod (Black Snow), Chris Coats (Flamingo Camp), Sisa Bueno (For Venida, For Kalief), Gabriela Díaz Arp (Matininó), Amanda Erickson (She Cried That Day) and Adina Luo (You Have the Floor).
The nonprofit behind the Independent Spirit Awards also announced Black Snow‘s Simone as the recipient of its latest Cayton-Goldrich Family Foundation Fellowship, an unrestricted $10,000 cash grant awarded to a Jewish filmmaker participating in one of its Artist Development Programs.
An intensive program providing creative feedback to filmmakers who are currently in post-production on feature-length docs, The Lab also advances their careers by introducing them to mentors, advisors and guest speakers who can advise on both the craft and business of documentary filmmaking. Chris Shellen (Mickey: The Story of a Mouse) and Ivete Lucas (Naked Gardens) will serve as Lead Creative Mentors this time around, with Bo Mehrad (Call Me Miss Cleo) and Amy Foote (All the Beauty and the Bloodshed) as Editing Mentors.
Guest Speakers set for the 2023 Lab include Isabel Castro (Mija), Keetin Mayakara (Free Solo), Larissa Rhodes (The Social Dilemma), Diane Quon (Bad Axe), Alysa Nahmias (Wildcat) and Alece Oxendine of Columbia University, along with industry partner the UCLA Doc Law Clinic.
“Documentary filmmakers remain at the forefront of innovative cinema, telling real stories with urgency and accessibility,” said Film Independent’s Manager of Nonfiction Programs, Daniel Cardone. “Our selections for the Film Independent 2023 Documentary Lab emphatically demonstrate this, tackling important cultural issues and events with compassion and limitless creativity.”
Film Independent also supports up-and-coming filmmakers via its Project Involve program, additional Filmmaker Labs on Directing, Episodic, Producing and Screenwriting, its Fast Track Finance Market and fiscal sponsorship, as well as through over $1M annually in grants and awards. Notable past Documentary Lab-supported projects include the Academy Award-nominated features Ascension by Jessica Kingdon and Minding the Gap from Bing Liu and Quon, Sara Dosa and Shane Boris’ The Seer and the Unseen, Sarita Khurana and Smriti Mundhra’s A Suitable Girl, Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown’s United Skates, and Kit Vincent and Ed Owles’ Red Herring, which recently premiered at True/False.
More information on the 2023 Fellows’ projects can be found below.
Black Snow
Director: Alina Simone
Producer: Kirstine Barfod
Cayton-Goldrich Family Foundation Fellowship Recipient
Logline: When residents of a remote Siberian coal mining settlement discover an old Soviet mine has caught fire beneath their neighborhood, they turn to homemaker-turned-journalist Natalia Zubkova for help. But after Natalia’s independent news coverage goes viral, she finds herself the target of a massive government disinformation campaign.
Flamingo Camp
Director: Chris Coats
Logline: Set in the off-grid squatter town known as Slab City, Flamingo Camp documents the thriving golden days of a queer and trans community on the fringe of society and its tragic collapse after one of its members is brutally murdered.
For Venida, For Kalief
Director/Producer/Cinematographer: Sisa Bueno
Logline: A late mother’s poetry echoes a New York movement for criminal justice reform. This lyrical film is an intentional departure from current storytelling approaches, and will instead focus on his impact and the potential closing of Rikers Island to inspire us to reimagine a new legacy for Kalief Browder.
Matininó
Director: Gabriela Diaz Arp
Logline: Matininó tells the story of the Villanueva family, a multi-generational family of Puerto Rican women transforming their experience of violence into a science fiction film.
She Cried That Day
Director: Amanda Erickson
Logline: She Cried That Day investigates the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s crisis through the lens of one woman haunted by her sister’s unsolved murder. We bear witness as she battles police and societal apathy towards MMIW thus laying bare the complex story of America’s treatment of Indigenous peoples.
You Have the Floor
Director: Adina Luo
Logline: You Have the Floor follows a nationally-ranked high school Model United Nations team, where aspiring ambassadors debate the world’s most pressing issues. As diplomatic strategies collide and social tensions mount, each of our students discovers what victory truly means to them.