Tribeca Enterprises partnered with Chanel for the second iteration of Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program and the winning project and recipient have been announced: A.V. Rockwell was selected by the jury for her original short film “Feathers.” Rockwell will receive a production grant along with production support from Pulse Films and Tribeca Studios.
The jury included producer Anne Carey (“20th Century Women,” “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”), actor Dakota Fanning (“American Pastoral,” “Night Moves”), writer-director Tamara Jenkins (“The Savages,” “Slums of Beverly Hills”), writer-director-producer So Yong Kim (“Lovesong,” “Treeless Mountain”), and actor-director-writer Jennifer Westfeldt (“Kissing Jessica Stein,” “Friends With Kids”). The selection was made after an intense, three-day workshop.
Rockwell is a Jamaican-American film, television, and video director from Queens, New York. Her most recent work, “The Gospel,” a short film commissioned by singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, premiered at a special event during the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016.
“Getting into Through Her Lens was already an honor,” said Rockwell. “I’m very grateful that the jury has given me the opportunity to see ‘Feathers’ come to life.”
“Feathers,” written by Rockwell, follows a character named Eli, “a volatile inner-city youth, who creates havoc in his attempts to re-escape from the mysterious and crumbling juvenile detention center known as ‘The Mill.’ When the repercussions become more dire than he can handle, Eli gains purpose and introspection on his troubled life.”
“It has been a remarkable three days working with these exciting new filmmakers,” said Paula Weinstein, EVP of Tribeca Enterprises. “We congratulate A.V. and thank all the filmmakers and industry advisors who gave their time to support the projects and creators selected for our program and put a spotlight on these essential female voices.”
The jury added: “It was a great privilege to read and watch the work of these five filmmaking teams. We selected the filmmaker who we felt had a singular voice and are excited to support her development as an artist.”
The four other writer-directors who participated in the program each received a development grant to continue their work on their prospective projects and bring them closer to production. $100,000 in filmmaker grants were awarded between the five projects.
