AXS Film Fund is for creators of color in documentary filmmaking or nonfiction new media who identify as having a disability. Up to five creators will be awarded with grants of up to $10,000 each to assist them in finishing their projects in any stage of production.

The IF/Then Shorts and The Redford Center Nature Access Pitch is an open call for short docs featuring stories of people, places and paths to accessing the outdoors.

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles has partnered with WarnerMedia OneFifty to launch NewNarratives! The goal of this initiative is to discover original and authentic work with a strong point of view, and to advance, fund, and amplify emerging innovative global creators. To support the development of a new project, NewNarratives will award one grant ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, depending on the needs of the project.

THIS IS JESSICA, a film by Andrea Meyerson, will have its world premiere at Outfest on August 15th at 6:45pm at the Harmony Gold Theater. Tickets can be purchased here.

THIS IS JESSICA tells the story of Jessica Bair, a longtime LGBTQIA+ rights advocate with Human Rights Campaign, who shares her struggle to remain in her Mormon faith despite coming out as transgender.

THE FAITHFUL, a film by Annie Berman, will have its live theatrical premiere in Memphis during Elvis Week! The film will be shown at the Crosstown Theatre on Saturday, August 14th at 7pm. Get your tickets now.

The Faithful explores the deep veneration and legacies of the Pope, the Princess, and the King. Over the course of 20 years, Berman profiles these figures’ biggest fans and makes numerous pilgrimages to Vatican City, Graceland, and Kensington Palace. As the years go by, the film itself becomes increasingly entwined with Berman’s daily life and identity, much like how these officially-licensed knick-knacks define the fans she filmed.

The Sundance Institute held its Producers Lab from July 25th- 29th. Five fiction and five non-fiction producers were invited to participate. Included in the group of Producing Fellows was Ann Bennett with her film RAZING LIBERTY SQUARE.

The Producers Summit was held from August 2nd - 5th and invited projects included CID films HIGHER 15 and UNTITLED PRISON HUNGER STRIKE FILM.

Two young parents reframe their experience of homelessness in a raw love letter to their children in WHAT YOU'LL REMEMBER, now streaming on New York Times Op-Docs.  Marcia Jarmel produced, with Erika Cohn directing and Elizabeth Herrera filming her own family in an intimate and evocative short film about making a home without a house.

WHERE THE PAVEMENT ENDS, a film by Jane Gillooly, Khary Saeed Jones, and Aparna Agrawal is now streaming on demand. For years the all-Black town of Kinloch was isolated from surrounding white towns. Although physical barriers have been removed, tensions still remain. Watch @AmericaReFramed.

Leona Gordon, the woman who inspired Jane Gillooly’s film LEONA'S SISTER GERRI, died peacefully on July 12. She was 92. Leona broke the silence surrounding an infamous photograph of a woman who had died of an illegal abortion. That woman was her sister Gerri Santoro. Gerri’s identity had been shrouded in secrecy and the photograph was used as an icon for reproductive rights. Leona’s selfless revelation of a private family tragedy allowed thousands of people to reckon with the hidden trauma of unsafe, illegal abortions. Leona’s telling of Gerri’s story broadcast in 1995 and provoked a national conversation about reproductive rights. Prompting two follow up programs, and regional audience feedback sessions and an outpouring of letters, phone calls and faxes after each screening. The impact of Leona’s testimony is hard to measure. She lived in power.

Ken Schneider is deep into the edit of CID project WATER FOR LIFE, the powerful story of three South American indigenous leaders fighting for their community's water rights, produced and directed by some of PatchWorks Film's nearest and dearest film pals—WIll Parrinello, Rick Tejada-Flores, Vicente Franco, and Majo Calderón—in partnership with Amnesty International.

Jen Kaplan's 30-minute documentary A FATHER'S KADDISH tells the story of how Steven Branfman used the art of pottery to help him work through his grief after the death of his 23-year old son. The film is a potent and moving journey through the universal experience of loss, mourning and rebuilding a life. The film will be screening virtually in August at the Rochester Jewish Film Festival, the Berkshires Jewish Film Festival and the Kehillah of Chester Country Summer Shorts Festival. For more information, visit www.afatherskaddish.com/screenings

76 DAYS will be featured at the 29th Wooden Boat Show in Mystic CT. It is one of the largest boat shows in the US with an expected 13,000 people set to attend this year. A rough cut of the film's first act will be included as part of their speakers series which will be held at the Mystic Seaport Museum on Saturday, August 21 at 3:30 PM.

76 Days is based on Steven Callahan's classic story of survival, Adrift: 76 Days Lost At Sea. The presentation will be followed by a 15-minute live Zoom Q&A session with Callahan.

This spring, LIFE INTERRUPTED partnered with the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) to offer a series of eight virtual film screenings and panel discussions to increase awareness and understanding of the broad impact of breast cancer on communities who are underrepresented.

Additionally, Life Interrupted is in the process of being licensed to GLOBO COMMUNICATIONS, the largest media group in Brazil, for a two year exclusive Brazilian broadcast in Portuguese and Spanish.

FROM BAGHDAD TO THE BAY is now streaming and available on DVD!

This award-winning feature length documentary shares the epic journey of Ghazwan Alsharif, an Iraqi refugee and former translator for the US military. Wrongfully accused of being a double agent, imprisoned and tortured by those he risked his life to protect, and ostracized from family and country, we follow Ghazwan as he struggles to rebuild his life in the United States while coming out as an openly gay activist.

THREE OCEAN ADVOCATES was a recipient of an Emmy in the 50^th Northern California Area Emmy Awards in the Environment/Science-Long Form Content. In December the film was screened on KRCB-Northern California Public Media and is scheduled to repeat in August.

Three Ocean Advocates will be screened at the Caribbean Tales International Film Festival beginning September 18^th as part of the Politically Environmental program. In addition, the producers Cynthia and Andrea were included in a half hour "Behind the Lens" online video as part of the film festival. 

BARBARA CRITES: SNORKELING ST JOHN won Best Documentary at the Global Short Film Awards held in Cannes, France. The film was submitted by the Blue Water Film Festival. The festival in Cannes notes: “Recognizing excellence in highly creative and imaginative films under 15 minutes long. " Directed by Andrea Leland and co-produced by Cynthia Abbott and Andrea E. Leland.

Through demonstrations and hands-on exercises, students will learn the post-production process, storytelling, and editing techniques. Equipment Requirements: Free access to Adobe Premiere editing software is provided with enrollment. Students must have a laptop computer that meets the minimum specifications required by Adobe Premiere Pro 2020. (Contact the instructor if you do not have a computer). Footage will be provided for the editing exercises or students can work with their own material.

Six sessions will be held from August 5-19, Mondays and Thursdays 6-9pm, online via Zoom. Classes will be taught by Michael Sheridan, filmmaker and educator, director of Community Supported Film and SheridanWorks. Sign up at MassArt Continuing Education ($480). Examples of student work can be seen here. Send any questions here.

Ken Paul Rosenthal's in-progress feature documentary, JULIA VINOGRAD: BETWEEN SPIRIT AND STONE, received a $12,000 grant from the Berkeley Film Foundation. The film also has a new dedicated website.

UNHEARD STORIES, directed by David Wells, was featured in a CID rough cut screening earlier this year. In May, the filmmakers took the revised version (based on feedback they received from the CID community) to a June community feedback session with the D-Word. They were thrilled that the D-Word moderators accepted the film, and they gathered very useful feedback from the D-Word community. Now, they are working on incorporating everyone's suggestions so that they can continue to submit for funding.

BORDERLAND: THE LIFE & TIMES OF BLANCHE AMES AMES chronicles the remarkable life of a society woman who was determined to change American society. Blanche Ames wrote, marched, and organized. A talented artist and birth control maverick, she drew political cartoons in support of women’s suffrage that both inspired and enraged. 

The film will be screening in August, September and October. See a full list of upcoming screenings here.

Walking Cinema's project Free & Equal has launched! Free & Equal is an audio and augmented reality journey that guides you through the National Reconstruction Era Historical Park in Beaufort, SC. This was home to the Port Royal Experiment, in which 8000 formerly enslaved people were armed, funded, trained, and empowered to build their own society three years before the end of the Civil War. The story follows Darius Brown, a 22-year-old genealogist, and his research process into discovering more about his third-great grandfather, Isaiah Brown, a freed slave who became a sergeant for the Union Army and whose life was dramatically changed by the Port Royal Experiment. You can download the app at freeandequalproject.com to explore the story in person or remotely!  The project was produced with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and created in partnership with local musicians, including Grammy winners Ranky Tanky. Walking Cinema is now working on another NEH-funded project in Boston (through CID) and a project for the Smithsonian in DC. They are excited to collaborate with filmmakers and media makers on immersive media projects involving mobile media and augmented reality. Write to the team at alexa@walkingcinema.org if you'd like to talk. 

THE LONGEST INTERMISSION addresses the devastating effects the pandemic has had on Broadway and live entertainment. For a host of performers, crew, and area businesses that are dependent on the massive revenue live theater brings, the extended shutdown during the pandemic put them in a new place of uncertainty. 

The filmmakers behind The Longest Intermission are excited to announce that they have been interviewing many artists from Broadway's best and most cherished shows and will be with some of them as they all return back to work this fall! You can watch the film's trailer here.

Talented artists (Hadestown, Hamilton, Wicked etc.), producers (Kevin McCollum, SIX etc.), multiple crew members and front of house, are all

sitting down to speak about the hit that Broadway has taken during the pandemic, and what will the new Broadway look like.

This film is still graciously accepting tax deductible donations to finish this very timely documentary that is encapsulating this unprecedented time in the history of the theatre. 

When Veronica Selver and Sharon Wood set out to shoot the first interview for their new documentary, THE TRANSLATION FILM PROJECT, this past month, it made sense to start with the most translated book in history, the Bible. UC Berkeley scholar Robert Alter spent two decades translating the Hebrew Bible but his goal was not theological. It was to emphasize the literary quality of the original authors. Beautifully filmed by John Haptas, the interview was a revelation – and a great beginning for Selver and Wood’s filmmaking journey. 

Check out the guide here.