With a flurry of announcements in the last six months, the Doris Duke Foundation’s Building Bridges program has stepped squarely into the film funding space in a concerted effort to broaden the pipeline of Muslim-American filmmakers in media and entertainment. The program is partnering with a handful of film institutions, most notably the Islamic Scholarship Fund, the Center for Asian American Media, Sundance Institute, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s Hollywood Bureau, on a series of public activations, funds, and fellowships. The programs have taken place in a variety of spaces, from Sundance festival to IDA’s own Getting Real. The activities caught our attention.
Funding
Documentary speaks with director and producer Tim Moriarity about the aims, production and marketing strategy of his film “Jesus Thirsts.” As a film about the church’s official teachings on the Eucharist, it has grossed nearly $3 million at the box office since its release in June making it one of the few doc hits since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Islamic Scholarship Fund (ISF) has received $500,000 from the Doris Duke Foundation’s Building Bridges Program to provide multi-year support
Whether we are unemployed creatives, overwhelmed freelancers, or underpaid employees, it can often seem like everyone else has figured it out. Social media is a constant stream of people announcing new jobs, festival screenings, and prestigious grants and awards. Yet more often than not, the filmmaker who had the big premiere, received all the accolades, and even successfully sold their film is still struggling to get by, just like the rest of us. So how are filmmakers actually making a living?
The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) announced the launch of the Building Bridges Documentary Fund at IDA's Getting Real '24 conference on April 18, 2024, at the Japanese American National Museum Tateuchi Democracy Forum. This pioneering initiative, generously funded by the Doris Duke Foundation, is designed to support and elevate the voices of Muslim filmmakers across the United States, promoting a deeper understanding of the Muslim experience through the powerful medium of documentary film. Applications for the 2024 Building Bridges Documentary Fund are open now through June 17, 2024.
In the crowded landscape of UK documentary production, Grain Media is managing to steer a very difficult path. The company is completely independent and committed to making cinematic films about the issues of our day, films which they unabashedly hope will have an impact and improve the world. In a series of conversations with Documentary, von Einsiedel and his team candidly discussed the ways they work in a climate where budgets are getting much tighter and commissioners are increasingly risk-averse.
Black Public Media announced a new partnership with The Redford Center for its upcoming 2023 open call for production funding. BPM will award a total
IDA's Logan Elevate Grant, which is made possible through the generosity of the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, aims to uplift emerging filmmakers
The year 2020 was a pivotal one for Kenyan documentaries—and for Docubox, the East African film fund created by Kenyan filmmaker and administrator
BY Bedatri D. Choudhury & Tom White