Concussion director Stacie Passon, TV writer Colette Burson, and documentarians Heather Courtney and Anayansi Prado were among the filmmakers chosen to participate in the Tribeca Film Institute’s All Access (TAA) program. For the last eleven years, TAA has supported ten film projects in the U.S. and Puerto Rico whose helmers come from typically underrepresented communities with grants of $15,000.
This year, six of the ten selected projects are directed or co-directed by women. There is also an eleventh project, Stella Maghie’s Jean of the Joneses, that will receive mentorship and support.
The three women-directed documentary projects to receive funding are:
“Clearwater,” Directed and Produced by Tracy Rector and Lou Karsen. Over a 650 mile canoe journey, “Clearwater” will explore the Coast Salish people’s intimate relationship to the Salish Sea.
“Out of State,” Directed and Produced by Ciara L. Lacy; Produced by Beau J.K. Bassett. The film follows a group of roughly 100 native Hawaiian inmates practicing hula, a native Hawaiian dance form, as a means of maintaining their cultural heritage and working to rehabilitate themselves and their relationships with their families.
“The Unafraid,” Directed and Produced by Heather Courtney and Anayansi Prado. In a conference room in an Atlanta office building, a quiet revolution takes place every Sunday when a group of teenagers and 20-somethings gather to do something Georgia has banned them from doing — attend a college class.
The three women-directed narrative projects to receive funding are:
“Falcon Lake,” Written by Sara Seligman and Thomas Bond; Directed by Sara Seligman; Produced by Christopher Mack and Van Johnson. Ester runs a bed-and-breakfast near the USA/Mexico border with her overbearing mother, Teresa. They save the money they earn, hoping to leave this town that is filled with memories of violence and fallen family members. One day, two drug runners invade their home. The women are faced with a choice, one that is further complicated by a terrifying secret the women share.
“Permanent,” Written and Directed by Colette Burson; Produced by Haroula Rose. A comedy about bad hair, adolescence, and socially awkward family members. It involves life-altering permanents and poorly-made toupees. Obstacles to daily survival ensue.
“Strange Things Are Happening,” Written and Directed by Stacie Passon; Produced by Rose Troche. A woman who has agreed to take in her grandson in his last year of high school becomes increasingly worried that the boy poses a threat to her and her elderly husband.
A partnership with the Canadian Film Centre will provide mentorship and marketplace support for:
“Jean of the Joneses,” Written and Directed by Stella Meghie; Produced by Amos Adetuyi. Jean is a girl from a dysfunctional family of Jamaican women who have happily sent all the men in their lives running for the past 30 years. She’s on the brink of following in the family tradition until the day her estranged grandfather dies on her doorstep.
Descriptions above are courtesy of the Tribeca Film Institute.
[h/t Thompson on Hollywood]
