Chicken & Egg Pictures has added seven projects to its 2021 slate of Project: Hatched grantees. Women and Hollywood can exclusively announce that the org, which supports women and gender nonconforming filmmakers, will present $140,000 in grants to the directors behind five feature-length documentaries and two short docs. Each filmmaker/filmmaking team will receive $20,000 to go toward completing their project and impact campaigns as well as six months of tailored mentorship.
The latest round of Project: Hatched grantees includes Maya Cueva and Leah Galant’s timely feature “On the Divide,” which follows three very different people who are connected by the last abortion clinic on the U.S./Mexico border. “And So I Stayed,” Natalie Pattillo and Daniel A. Nelson’s look at domestic violence survivors who are imprisoned for killing their abusers, is also among the awarded feature docs, as are Brooke Pepion Swaney’s “Daughter of a Lost Bird,” Ann Kaneko’s “Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust,” and Beth Levison and Jerry Risius’ “Storm Lake.” “Daughter of a Lost Bird” reckons with the legacy of the United States’ Indian Child Welfare Act and Indian Adoption Project; “Manzanar, Diverted” sees Native American, Japanese-American, and environmental activists defending water justice in Los Angeles; and “Storm Lake” follows a family fighting to protect Iowan farming via a biweekly newspaper.
Project: Hatched’s short doc grantees are “I’m Free Now, You Are Free,” from Ash Goh Hua, and “Change the Name,” from Cai Thomas. The former focuses on the relationship between former political prisoner Debbie Africa and her son, Mike Africa, Jr., and the latter sees student activists organizing to change the name of a Chicago park from that of a slaveholder to abolitionists.
“From water rights to reproductive health, the subjects of Chicken & Egg Pictures’ newest grantees are ones that come up constantly in our cultural and political conversations. These seven films push past the headlines to reveal intimate character studies that investigate how social issues impact everyday lives,” said Program Director Lucila Moctezuma. “For the first time in our Project: Hatched program, two short films were selected alongside features. Not only can shorts act as critical stepping stones to help emerging filmmakers build careers, but they also have strong potential to create impact and engage broader audiences.”
Earlier this year, Chicken & Egg presented Project: Hatched grants to Ursula Liang’s “Down a Dark Stairwell,” Emily Cohen Ibañez’s “Fruits of Labor,” Mia Donovan’s “Dope Is Death,” Ashley O’Shay’s “Unapologetic,” and Gilda Sheppard’s “Since I Been Down.”
Check out more information about the latest Project: Hatched grantees below.
And So I Stayed
Directors: Natalie Pattillo, Daniel A. Nelson (SINGAPORE/UNITED STATES)
Producers: Natalie Pattillo, Daniel A. Nelson
“And So I Stayed” is a documentary about survivors of domestic violence who are unjustly incarcerated for killing their abusers in self-defense.
Daughter of a Lost Bird
Director: Brooke Pepion Swaney (UNITED STATES)
Producers: Jeri Rafter, Kendra Mylnechuk Potter, Brooke Pepion Swaney
Impact Producer: Colleen Thurston
A Native adoptee reconnects with her birth family and her Lummi heritage — confronting her identity. Her singular story represents many affected by the Indian Child Welfare Act and Indian Adoption Project in the US.
Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust
Director: Ann Kaneko (UNITED STATES)
Producers: Ann Kaneko, Jin Yoo-Kim
Impact Producer: Jin Yoo-Kim
This film poetically weaves together memories of Payahuunadü, “the land of flowing water,” where Native Americans, Japanese-Americans, and environmentalists defend land and water from Los Angeles.
I’m Free Now, You Are Free
Director: Ash Goh Hua (SINGAPORE)
Producer: Arielle Knight
“I’m Free Now, You Are Free” is a short documentary about the reunion and repair between Mike Africa Jr. and his mother Debbie Africa — a formerly incarcerated political prisoner of the MOVE 9.
On The Divide
Directors: Maya Cueva, Leah Galant (UNITED STATES)
Producers: Melanie Miller, Diane Becker, Amanda Spain, Elizabeth Woodward
“On The Divide” follows the story of three Latinx people living in McAllen, Texas who, despite their views, are connected by the most unexpected of places: the last abortion clinic on the US/Mexico border. As threats to the clinic and their personal safety mount, these three are forced to make decisions they never could have imagined.
Change The Name
Director: Cai Thomas (UNITED STATES)
Producers: Cai Thomas, Donald Conley
Student activists and educators from Village Leadership Academy campaign to change the name of a park from a slaveholder to abolitionists Anna Murray and Frederick Douglass in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.
Storm Lake
Directors: Beth Levison, Jerry Risius (UNITED STATES)
Producer: Beth Levison
Impact Producer: Alice Quinlan, Eliza Licht
Pulitzer Prize-winner Art Cullen and his family fight to protect their Iowan farming community through their biweekly newspaper, The Storm Lake Times—come hell or pandemic.
Note: The parentheses next to the directors’ names indicate the filmmakers’ nationalities and/or countries of origin.
