Black Public Media invites independent producers of broadcast and digital projects centered on the Black experience to apply to its 360 Incubator+ program. The intensive 3-month incubator provides fellows with workshops, network building, tools for a successful pitch, and one-on-one mentoring from seasoned media makers.

Applications are due Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. Learn more and apply here.

From Tuesday, September 29th through Saturday, October 3rd, 2020 the International Documentary Association (IDA) will offer their biennial Getting Real conference as a FREE digital 5-day mini-conference.

In the month leading up to the conference, they will be holding a series of virtual conversations with members of the documentary ecosystem who are engaging with the conference themes of Access, Power and Possibility in their daily work:

PBS is developing a two hour presentation of shorts that explore Latino/a/x identity in the contemporary United States. They are soliciting concepts, as well as finished shorts or shorts in progress, to be collected into 2 one-hour Primetime specials to be broadcast on PBS stations nationwide in summer 2021.

Judged by a jury of experienced filmmakers, the best submissions are eligible for support grants between $5,000 and $25,000. Final judging will select between 8-12 shorts for national broadcast in June 2021, with additional films selected by the jury to appear online as part of the PBS Short Film Festival.

Deadline for submissions is Monday, September 14, 2020 at 5pm PT. Learn more here.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced their Media Projects and Short Documentaries grantees. Special congratulations go out to CID sponsored filmmakers Marco Williams (EYES ON THE PRIZE RECLAIMED) and Tracie Holder (THE PEOPLE'S WILL).

Full list of grantees here.

ERNIE & JOE: CRISIS COPS, directed by Jenifer McShane, has received two News & Documentary Emmy Nominations - "Outstanding Social Issue Documentary" and "Outstanding Editing"!

Ernie & Joe follows two police officers with the San Antonio Texas Police Department who are diverting people away from jail and into mental health treatment, one 911 call at a time.

See the full list of nominees here.

CURED, a new documentary by Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer, had its world premiere in August at Outfest, the Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival. Described by The Hollywood Reporter as a "fascinating doc" with a "fresh slant that scintillates," the film tells the David-vs.-Goliath story of the LGBTQ activists who challenged psychiatry's mental-illness label — and won. Cured will be screened at dozens of virtual film festivals this fall and broadcast nationally on PBS' Independent Lens series in 2021. The film has been optioned as the basis for a scripted series, to be created by Steven Canals, the co-creator of POSE; Patrick and Bennett will serve as producers on that project. Deadline Hollywood featured the trailer in an August post, which can be viewed here. Learn more at www.curedfilm.com.

We are excited to share that ROBIN'S WISH premieres on VOD and digital September 1st!

An intimate portrait of Robin Williams and his invulnerable spirit, Robin's Wish is the story of what really happened to one of the greatest entertainers of all time - and what he was fighting.

Watch the film today!

BLACK MOTHERS, directed by Débora Souza Silva, has received a grant from Catapult Film Fund. Black Mothers follows the journey of two women working to disrupt the cycle of racist police violence within our country's judicial system. As one mother investigates her son's attack by local police, the other channels her grief into organizing mothers to fight for justice.

We're proud to announce that the 2019 season of American Masters — featuring CID film WORLDS OF URSULA K. LE GUIN as well as Terrence McNally: Every Act of Life, Raúl Juliá: The World’s a Stage, Rothko: Pictures Must be Miraculous, and N. Scott Momaday: Words from a Bear, has received the Emmy® nomination for “Outstanding Nonfiction or Documentary series,” beating competition like Ken Burns’ Country Music and other strong contenders. All of the eligible episodes will be streaming on the American Masters website and the PBS app through August.

ACTIVIZED impact campaign continues with a fall Virtual Tour focused on film festivals. With the Colorado premiere of the film at Crested Butte Film Festival, (September 15 to October 4) they're celebrating their 55th screening and continuing to spark provocative conversations around democracy and civic engagement with wide audiences engaging from home. The film is also an official selection at the Harlem International Film Festival (September 10-13), Golden Door International Film Festival (September 17-22), Boston Latino International Film festival (September 25-27), Roxbury International Film Festival (October 5th), and Chagrin Documentary Film Festival (October 7th), and Free Speech Film Festival (October 18th). A special educational screening will take place at the University of Mary Washington Social Justice Summit October 10th. Check out www.activizedfilm.org and follow @ActivizedFilm for more details about these events and updates on upcoming online conversations with director Eric Stange and subjects. 

Before Covid, LIFE INTERRUPTED screened in January at Flathead Lake International Cinemafest in Montana and was honored with Best Documentary Feature Film Award.

On September 22, Life Interrupted will screen LIVE at the Courage Film Festival in Berlin.

Life Interrupted, a film of great intimacy, features empowering stories of breast cancer survivors told from the survivor’s perspective. These women are confronting a life-altering diagnosis, responding to their disease process and the rebuilding of their lives with honesty, dignity, humor and grace. 

Universities, libraries, and community organizations can order Life Interrupted at

The twenty-five minute film, which includes stunning 4K NASA footage has now been completed and is being submitted to film festivals, nationally and internationally. To learn more, go to www.spacetorahproject.com

Join the Emmy winning team behind DAWNLAND for a special digital screening of FIRST LIGHT and DEAR GEORGINA presented by Upstander in partnership with Fruitlands Museum and The Trustees.

For centuries, the United States government has taken Native American children away from their tribes, devastating parents and denying children their traditions, culture, and identity. First Light documents these practices from the 1800s to today and tells the story of an unprecedented experiment in truth-telling and healing for Wabanaki people and child welfare workers in Maine. As revealed in First Light in 2015 the Maine Wabanaki-State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that Native people in Maine continue to be targets of "cultural genocide."

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

RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/first-light-and-dear-georgina-online-film-screening-live-filmmaker-q-a-tickets-116646744553?aff=cid

WE WANT THE AIRWAVES, Scott Ryan's debut feature documentary has completed it's edit. The film centers around a trio of first time TV makers who set out to change television by creating a citizens platform on network TV. The activist focused docuseries born from their efforts, Manifesto!, was the first show of it's kind. We Want the Airwaves is currently seeking a sales agent in the lead up to a festival run. 

CID filmmaker, Christopher Dawes, is a producer on a live theatrical play, performed by actors in headsets for a virtual audience of participants in four linked virtual reality storyworlds where a modern take on an ancient myth reinvents the story of Pandora. Performances will take place September 2-12, 2020. He invites you to join him. Details here.

BronxNet (NY) public access television will broadcast four of Mitchell Teplitsky's films on Saturday nights (8:30 pm ET) during Hispanic Heritage Month this fall. The films will also stream worldwide at Bronxnet.tv:

Find the list of resources here.