The IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund is now accepting applications! Production funds are provided to feature-length documentary films taking on in-depth explorations of original, contemporary stories and integrating journalistic practice into the filmmaking process. In addition to funds, grantees will receive additional resources and expertise tailored to the needs of the project. Inclusion and diversity, both in terms of the filmmaking team and subject matter, are a priority of the fund.

Firelight Media has announced an open call for the William Greaves Fund‘s second year. Founded in 2020 to support documentary filmmakers from racially and ethnically underrepresented communities, the Fund is designed to address structural challenges filmmakers face after producing their first films so that they are able to continue creating stories focused on underrepresented people and topics.

The call for proposals runs through May 1, 2021.

Doc Society's New Perspective Fellowship is a two year artist development opportunity supporting daring new works by US-based directors, including Puerto Rico and US territories, who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and/or as members of historically underrepresented communities including race, religion, geographic region, physical ability or citizenship status who are dedicated to the art and craft of creative nonfiction.

U.S. based emerging artists of color whose creative and/or professional development was negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic are invited to apply for the 2021 Sundance Institute Uprise Grant Fund. This is a need-based grant for artists looking to sustain their creative practice that ensures critical stories and voices are supported.

CRIP CAMP has been nominated for the Academy Award for "Best Documentary Feature". Congratulations go out to the entire team behind the film including producers Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder!

Watch the film on Netflix. Read the full list of Academy Award nominees here.

CID is thrilled to announce that we are the new fiscal sponsor for Independent Documentary Directors (IDD). Independent Documentary Directors was established in March 2020 by eight filmmakers in response to the pandemic, widespread precarity, and ongoing systemic racism in the independent documentary ecosystem. Many of these filmmakers had films that were affected by COVID but what united them was the desire to dream up new futures based in community, collective power, and support. Today, IDD is a volunteer-led, US-based, non-hierarchical, and growing group of nearly 200 members who are collectively advocating for structural change in their lives, their industry, and their society. CID and IDD are united in their deeply felt commitment to independent documentary filmmakers and we look forward to working together.

If you'd like to support IDD's mission and vision, you can make a donation via CID here.

Chicken & Egg Pictures has selected the grantees for its 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab. The program awards a total of $400,000 to first- and second-time women and nonbinary documentary filmmakers.

The grantees include CID sponsored "Q", directed by Jude Chehab! Through an intergenerational lens, the filmmaker goes deep into her mother and grandmother's lives to reveal their attachment to a secret Muslim women's cult.

After a successful virtual premiere weekend, THE FAITHFUL Annie Berman's 20-year magnus opus about the fans and followers of Elvis Presley, Pope John Paul II, and Princess Diana is now available to rent from home.

“I was both fascinated and very moved by the human spirit evident in the film, the contemplation of connection, imagery, love and loss. An epic journey, both intimate and global. A work of art.” -Anne Flatté, filmmaker 

“Deeply thoughtful - like a Ross McElwee film with a hint of Jewish sensibility” - Amy Geller and Gerald Peary, filmmakers, curators, educators 

PBS' American Experience presents AMERICAN OZ on Monday, April 19th at 9pm ET, written, directed and produced by Randall MacLowry and Tracy Heather Strain. Explore the life and times of author L. Frank Baum, the creator of one of the most beloved, enduring and classic American narratives.

On Monday April 26th from 7pm - 8pm ET, GBH will hold an online public conversation about WBCN AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. Guests will have the opportunity to hear firsthand recollections from WBCN staff who worked at the station in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s and interviewed a legendary list of who’s who in the world of rock ‘n’ roll, including The Who, The Velvet Underground, Muddy Waters, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith and many more. Panelists include Bill Lichtenstein, director of WBCN and The American Revolution. This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Secure your seat now.

The documentary WBCN and The American Revolution, will air on GBH on Thu, 5/6 at 9pm on GBH 2.

Ted Reed, a documentary filmmaker from Gloucester, MA, just announced the exciting news that his film THE BLUES TRAIL REVISITED, a memoir 50 years in the making, was just released. Viewers may rent the film at www.bluestrailrevisited.com.

Reed once again rattles back through time and the deep south, brushing the dust off the towns, tunes, and sweat-soaked juke joints where the blues bloomed-- and still do. The movie is a sweet sad song of praise for those unsung, who wove their troubles and dreams into the original fabric of American music."

Said Reed, "I'm astounded by the positive feedback and fantastic reviews I've received so far." The Blues Trail Revisited was just selected by the New York City International Film Festival which starts streaming on March 31st.

The team behind SALLY is delighted to share that just 48 hours after launch, their Kickstarter campaign reached its initial $30,000 goal. They are now at $40,000! They’re deeply grateful to everyone who made this possible and are using this opportunity and momentum to think big and increase the goal to $50,000! This will help them start financing not just production (filming) but post production (editing, music, etc.) too!

Read more about SALLY in this recent article in the Bay Times. Register to attend Sally's 90th birthday bash on April 4th via Crowdcast here!

FROM BAGHDAD TO THE BAY screens virtually this month with 4 other important films at the IRC's Refugee Film Festival:

Live online Q&A on April 21, at 6 pm with Ghazwan Alsharif and director Erin Palmquist.

SPACE TORAH has won the Audience Best Award for Short Documentary at Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. The film will also be shown at 14 other festivals, including in Russia, Istanbul, and New York.

For decades, state child welfare authorities have been removing Native American children from their families to "save them from being Indian." In Maine, the first official “truth and reconciliation commission” in the United States begins an investigation. DAWNLAND goes behind-the-scenes as this historic body grapples with difficult truths, reveals pathways to healing, redefines reconciliation, and charts a new course for state and tribal relations.

On Tuesday, April 27th at 7pm ET/4pm PT, join filmmaker and Upstander Project director Adam Mazo and Upstander Project learning director Dr. Mishy Lesser for a screening of their Emmy award-winning film, DAWNLAND, and a conversation about the film. Lesser and Mazo first met at a GBIO meeting 12 years ago and this event is a celebration of that anniversary and the founding of their nonprofit, Upstander Project. This is a special event for those involved with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) and is open to the public! Register here.

Learn more about the film and watch the trailer at upstanderproject.org.

In DEAR GEORGINA a Passamaquoddy elder journeys into an unclear past to better understand herself and her cultural heritage.

On Wednesday April 28th at 7pm ET/4pm PT, join Penobscot Nation Tribal Ambassador Maulian Dana and filmmaker & Upstander Project director Adam Mazo for a Q&A after the film moderated by Portland Press Herald Arts Reporter Bob Keyes. Register here.

Learn more about the film and watch the trailer at upstanderproject.org 

Tom Garber of Third Wave Films has recently received a Development Grant from the Rhode Island Council for The Humanities for his film, RUM: AMERICA'S SPIRIT FOR LIBERTY. At a time when Americans are polarized over racial injustice, understanding the cultural and political landscape surrounding our nation’s founding ideology and practices, reveals a path for critical insight. Colonial America's desire for rum drove a quest for inalienable human rights while simultaneously enslaving a race. Its taxation bolstered rum’s image as the American Colonist’s drink for freedom, while simultaneously acting as a cause and currency of the slave trade. Rum embodies many of the moral and political conflicts wrestled within the forming of the United States.

The grant will be used to conduct research in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. More information on the project and Mr. Garber is available at www.thirdwavefilms.com

A thought provoking piece from Karin Chien of Distribution Advocates that serves as a conversation-starter around new modes of exhibition that could be sustainable for indie film.

Check it out here.