Dear Friends,

Fork Films is pleased to share with you the ten documentary films that were grant recipients, chosen from our Winter/Spring 2015 Open Call. We are incredibly excited to support each of these films!

This diverse collection of projects, helmed by both established filmmakers and first-time feature directors, includes stories about women in the construction trades; Bassem Youssef, the man often called the Egyptian Jon Stewart; and a world-renowned female squash player in Pakistan. To learn more about the films listed below and our previously funded films, please visit the Fork Films website.

The following projects were chosen for funding:

DRAWING THE TIGER (Director/Producers, Amy Benson and Scott Squire; Co-Director, Ramyata Limbu) - Hot Docs Film Festival 2015 - Filmed over seven years, DRAWING THE TIGER is an intimate portrait of a family in Nepal who get a chance to break their cycle of poverty: Their brightest child is awarded a scholarship to attend school in the city. When her life ends tragically, the family is forced to survive without her and her education—the opportunity they believed would change their fate. It is the story of the power of girls’ education from the perspective of its absence.

THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL (Director, Holly Morris; Producer, Anne Bogart) - In the radioactive Dead Zone surrounding Chernobyl's Reactor No. 4, a defiant community of women scratch out an existence on some of the most toxic land on Earth. They share this hauntingly beautiful but lethal landscape with an assortment of visitors-- scientists, soldiers, and even 'stalkers' -- young thrill-seekers who sneak in to pursue post-apocalyptic video game-inspired fantasies. Why the film's central characters, Hanna, Maria and Valentyna, chose to return after the disaster - defying the authorities and endangering their health - is a remarkable tale about the pull of home, the healing power of shaping one's destiny, and the subjective nature of risk.

TICKLING GIANTS (Director, Sara Taksler; Producer, Maziar Bahari) - Production - The true story of Bassem Youssef, a heart surgeon, who launches a satirical news program amidst the chaos of the Egyptian Revolution. Under constant threat of arrest by the Egyptian government, Bassem and his staff manage to transform “Al Bernameg” into one of the most popular comedy shows in the world. This is a film about free speech, non-violent action, and the power of satire.

THE ARRIVALS (Director, Heidi Ewing) - Production - On a search to escape poverty and homophobia in Mexico, two men leave home and make the dangerous journey to New York City. But social and economic freedom costs them more than they ever imagined.

TRAPPED (Director/Producer, Dawn Porter; Producer, Marilyn Ness) - Production - U.S. abortion clinics are fighting to survive. Since 2010, hundreds of pro-life bills have been enacted. TRAPPED follows the clinic workers, women, and lawyers on the frontlines of the battle to keep abortion safe and legal for the millions of poor and uninsured women caught in a political quagmire.

THE WAR TO BE HER (Director, Erin Heidenreich; Producer, Cassandra Sanford-Rosenthal) - Production - Her home is “the most dangerous place on earth,” where sports are decried as un-Islamic, and girls rarely leave their homes. But she did. She’s a world-renowned athlete and a flashpoint in her country’s battle over feminine identity. She is Maria Toorpakai Wazir, the young woman known as Genghis Khan.

ROLL RED ROLL (Director, Nancy Schwartzman; Producer, Jessica Devaney and Steven Lake) - Production - The story of a football town divided, ROLL RED ROLL is an immersive mystery thriller examining rape culture in small town America.

HARD HATTED WOMAN (Director, Lorien Barlow) - Production - A feature documentary film about women breaking down gender barriers in blue-collar construction trades.

FORGING THE FRONTIER (Director, Cynthia Lowen) - Development - What happens when the place where you work, socialize, love and play becomes toxic? FORGING THE FRONTIER chronicles the proliferation of online harassment and abuse women journalists, technologists, game developers and others face as it spills from the web to the most intimate corners of their lives.

DOLLY (Director, Jamie Dobie) - Development - Shivani “Dolly” Cherukuri is one of the best archers India has ever seen. In the shadow of her deceased brother (famed Indian archer Lenin Cherukuri), and on the banks of the sacred Krishna River, in March 2015 Dolly set a national record and made headlines across the globe. It was nine days before her third birthday.