Still I Rise Films has announced the recipients of their inaugural Still I Rise Films Fellowship. The documentary film series and platform has chosen eleven women — from more than 90 submissions — to “receive a total of $55,000 in fellowship support, offering both financial support as well as mentorship to complete their 15-30 minute short films,” a press release announced.
The Still I Rise Film Fellowship program will offer its 2021 cohort an online rough-cut lab with peer feedback and one-on-one mentorship with Chakarova and Hélène Goupil, 2020-2021 SIR Fellow and Producer for the series. Fellows will also “be able to participate in a MasterClass on Distribution and Impact led by Liz Manashil, former Manager at Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Initiative, and Kristen Fitzpatrick, Managing Director at Field of Vision and former Director of Acquisition & Exhibition at Women Make Movies.”
Projects selected for the fellowship include Arielle Knight’s “Quiet As She Is” and Khai Thu Nguyen’s “Memoirs of May.” The former explores themes of loss, motherhood, and silence among immigrant women, and the latter is a portrait of a 66-year-old woman who is tired of living in her famous husband’s shadow and determined to make her own creative mark.
“Still I Rise Films exists to provide a platform and support for visual storytellers who take risks and challenge the norm. Each of the 11 women filmmakers chosen for this year’s fellowship understood how important it is to create documentary work that changes perceptions through personal, intimate narratives,” said Mimi Chakarova, Founder and Creative Director of Still I Rise Films.
You can find out more about the projects and directors below, courtesy of Still I Rise.
The 11 projects selected for the fellowship include (in alphabetical order):
CHANTE MANMAN MWEN (MY MOTHER’S SONG) (Dir. Fedna Jacquet) – Chante Manman Mwen (My Mother’s Song) follows the journey of Raymonde Jacquet, a Haitian woman who survived being born into the poorest class of the Haitian social system and reinvented herself as an essential medical worker in Boston, Mass. We hear her harrowing story of strength and survival intermixed with a powerful musical performance sung by the heroine herself.
FREED (Dir. Annie Leclair) – As women with a disability, their lives have been indelibly impacted by circumstances beyond their control, but for them, motherhood has spurred the desire to rewrite their own narrative. Documented over several years, FREED is a rare and deeply moving immersion where strength and vulnerability lock horns, and where these women strive for healing and fulfillment.
IF YOU DON’T ACT AS ADULTS, WE WILL (Dir. Flavia Romani) – Grit, persistence, and tenacity drive activists to change the world, with kids in Latin America leading the way.
LIFE HAPPENS (Dir. Dean Radcliffe-Lynes) – Nicole made a decision that resulted in her being arrested and taken away from her family, however, it awakened a desire and lifetime commitment to advocate for individuals directly impacted by an unjust criminal justice system.
MEMOIRS OF MAY (Dir. Khai Thu Nguyen) – After living her whole life in the shadow of her famous painter husband in Saigon, at 66 years old, May takes life into her own creative hands by writing a memoir.
MY BROTHER’S KEEPER (Dir. Mariah Barrera) – A lyrical meditation on Barrera’s father’s and uncle’s experiences with brotherhood, incarceration, and the relationship between the two.
QUIET AS SHE IS (Dir. Arielle Knight) – Filmmaker Arielle Knight interviews members of her family matriarchy around the themes of loss, motherhood, and silence in an effort to shed light on the invisible trials that immigrant women bear.
STILL SEARCHING (Dir. Latoya Flowers) – In 2020 Damon Lamar Reed, a Chicago hip-hop artist and muralist, started painting a vivid series of portraits titled “The Still Searching Project” of missing Black women and girls in the Chicagoland area for the past two decades. Due to their lack of local, national, and global media coverage, he is utilizing his artistry as social justice.
TAMGLISH LORE (Dir. Amrita Singh) – A mixed-media character portrait of Shanti Nelson, a grandmother with a special sense of humor and inspiring resilience that speaks to her unique perspective as a woman shaped by her experiences living in Nagercoil, India.
UNTITLED (Dir. Alexandra Roca) – Hope is what Diane has been holding on to since addiction took over her son’s life but how much is too much?
UNTITLED MUGENI FILM (Dir. Amy Bench) – One night at her home in southeastern Congo, 14-year-old Mugeni awakes to the sounds of bombs. As her family scatters to the surrounding forests to save themselves, Mugeni finds herself completely alone. From there, she sets out on a remarkable solo journey across the globe, determined to reunite with her lost loved ones and lift up the Banyamulenge people.
The 11 filmmakers selected for the fellowship include (in alphabetical order):
Alexandra Roca – a hands-on, award-winning documentary director, producer, and correspondent. Driven by human stories, Alexandra has covered stories in over 14 countries. You can see her work on National Geographic, Amazon Prime, the United Nations, and Discovery Channel.
Amrita Singh – Born in Tamil Nadu, India, and raised in Hyde Park, Chicago, Amrita is Writer/Director with her M.F.A. in Filmmaking from NYU Tisch School of the Arts where she was a Willard T.C. Johnson Fellow, an NYWIFT Ha Phuong Scholar, and later served as Adjunct Faculty. Amrita currently works for Syrn Media, a company that utilizes a multifaceted approach to support women and BIPOC artists.
Amy Bench – a Texas-based filmmaker and visual artist who aims to tell stories of community and resilience. Trained as a cinematographer, Amy’s camera work has screened at festivals including Berlin, SXSW, Sundance, The New York Film Festival, and at MOMA/PS1. Amy’s animated documentary A Line Birds Cannot See won Special Jury Recognition at SXSW, Best Animation at Bend Film Festival, and the 2020 Ellie Award in video for excellence in digital magazine journalism.
Anne Leclair – a French Canadian award-winning editor and now filmmaker, Annie believes that choosing a story is choosing to have a closer look at yourself in the mirror and the possibility of self-transformation.
Arielle Knight – a New York-based documentary filmmaker and creative producer, Arielle’s work centers around the municipality of Black experiences and the narrative possibilities within. Arielle is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the New School for Public Engagement, where she received an MA in Media Studies & Documentary Filmmaking.
Dean Radcliffe Lynes – for more than 30 years, Dean has produced Emmy Award-winning television programs and television specials for national distribution as well as videos for grassroots and non-profit organizations. Her mission is to educate, encourage, enlighten and empower, and to provide a voice for the unheard and a forum for the unseen.
Fedna Jacquet – a full-time writer and actor born in Boston to Haitian parents, Fedna is a 2020-2022 National Black Theatre Playwright in Residence, 2019-2021 Huntington Theatre Playwriting Fellow, and a 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Playwriting/Screenwriting.
Flavia Romani – a Venezuelan editor, graphic designer, and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY, Flavia co-founded the Latinx publication ViceVersa Magazine, where she’s the Creative Director. Flavia is passionate about projects that change the world, one pixel at a time.
Khai Thu Nguyen – a San Francisco Bay Area-based Vietnamese filmmaker, Khai draws from her experience producing and directing for the theater to shine a light on inspiring people whose stories are not traditionally told. Khai graduated from Stanford University in Humanities and received a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from UC Berkeley.
Latoya Flowers – Latoya is an Exhibition Media Producer at the Field Museum in Chicago, where she creates documentaries and immersive media experiences for permanent and traveling exhibitions. Latoya graduated from the School of Visual Arts and received an MFA in Social Documentary Film.
Mariah Barrera – a Mexican-American filmmaker born and raised in Michigan, Mariah is currently based in New York City where she’s a sophomore at Columbia University. Mariah’s films aim to contextualize themes of social justice and equity through the lens of her family’s experiences in the urban midwest.
