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MIF Applications Due August 8
| | Image Description: Over a white background of interlocking shapes, text reads: Pre-production & Early Development Grant Applications due by August 8. | | |
LEF will be awarding a maximum of (6) Pre-production grants of $5,000 each and (6) Early Development grants of $2,500 each for the use of research, travel, location scouting, script or storyboard development, experimentation with shooting picture and sound, distribution planning, fundraising, creating a trailer, schedule and budget development, staffing (creative, technical, or otherwise).
Pre-production applications require a current work sample from the project you are proposing for funding. Early Development applications require two past work samples, and current work samples are not accepted.
For more information, watch a recording of the most recent info session on LEF's Youtube.
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Moving Image Fund Grantee News
| | Image Description: In this still image from Kathryn Ramey's film EL SIGNO VACÍO (THE EMPTY SIGN), a figure with a purse and sunglasses perched on their short dark hair holds a 16mm film camera in front of their face, pointing toward the viewer, with the words "The U.S. is killing us" spray-painted on a papered window behind them. | | |
LEF-supported project EL SIGNO VACÍO (dir. Kathryn Ramey) received the Richard Werbner Award for Visual Ethnography at the Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival in Bristol, UK last month. The “anthropological journey through the United States’ occupation of Puerto Rico" was commended for asking audiences to "sit with the complexity of colonization, its contemporary reiterations, and its durabilities." Special consideration for the award is given to films that highlight the unique ability of film to complement and enhance anthropological knowledge that is typically conveyed through text. “I am very proud of this acknowledgement of my work as anthropology by anthropologists," Ramey said to Emerson Today, "especially given that I am not housed in a conventional anthropology department.”
LEF-supported project THE RIDE AHEAD (dirs. Dan Habib, Samuel Habib; prods. Dan Habib, Erica Lupinacci) will be premiering on PBS's POV Season 38 tonight. Afterwards, the film will be free to stream on POV.org and the PBS app for 60 days. An expansion of the short film “My Disability Roadmap,” the film follows co-director Samuel as he itches to move out, start a career and find love all while navigating life with a disability. To celebrate their broadcast premiere day, the film team is hosting a virtual event with Tony Award-winning actor and The Ride Ahead cast member Ali Stroker in conversation with co-director Samuel Habib this evening at 4:30pm ET. Register here.
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Are you a LEF grantee or fellow with news to share about your film? | | | | Image description: A MASSCreative graphic with multicolored triangles over a grayscale image of the Capitol Building against a blue sky. | | |
On Tuesday, July 15 the House Committee on Federal Funding, Policy and Accountability hosted an informational, invite-only hearing on the effects of changing federal policies and funding cuts to the creative and tourism economies in Massachusetts. MASSCreative was invited to testify on the data and stories behind these federal cuts and how they will impact Massachusetts communities.
MASSCreative is encouraging members of the arts and culture sector who have lost federal funding, anticipate losing federal funding, or rely on arts and cultural programs that have been impacted by lost federal funding to submit written testimony to the committee before tomorrow, Tuesday, July 22nd at 5 PM.
Be sure to add your voice! It's important for Massachusetts legislators to know that federal cuts to nonprofit organizations also directly impact individual artists living and working in the state. Independent filmmakers are essential to the vibrancy and economic growth of the MA media sector.
On the webpage, you can find instructions for submitting your testimony, an optional template for doing so, a recording of last week's hearing, and results from a survey about finding cuts among those in New England creative sectors.
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Upcoming Film Opportunities
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Image Description: New England Foundation for the Arts logo.
Every month, the New England Foundation for the Arts posts a list of professional development opportunities, calls to artists, and cultural events.
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| | | Image Description: Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival Logo | |
MNFF Creative Distribution Mentorship (Deadline: July 20)
In a 12-week facilitated mentorship program, selected applicants will showcase their works-in-progress at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival in August, and then join an intimate cohort of emerging doc and feature filmmakers who will receive expert feedback and mentor support as they explore avenues for their film’s public distribution and exhibition.
Learn more
| | Image Description: AXS Film Fund Logo | |
AXS Film Fund (Deadline: July 31)
This program is for creators of color in documentary filmmaking or nonfiction new media who identify as living with a disability. The fund seeks to bring visibility to creators who are oftentimes overlooked. Each year up to five creators are awarded with grants of up to $10,000 each to assist them in finishing their projects in any stage of production.
Learn more
| | Image Description: POV Logo | |
PBS POV Call for Entries (Deadline: July 31)
For the 2026 broadcast season, POV will accept documentaries / non-fiction films in the following categories: Standard (for completed films & fine cuts; Short (for films 40 minutes or less; and Rough Cut (for invited feature rough cuts only).
Learn more
| | Image Description: Queer|Art Logo | |
Queer|Art|Mentorship Program (Deadline: July 31)
The Queer|Art|Mentorship program nurtures exchange between LGBTQ+ artists at all levels of their careers and works against a natural division between generations and disciplines. The program is a year in length (January–October). Fellows in Film, Performance, Literature, and Visual Art apply with a specific project they would like to work on during the program, and meet with their mentors and the other fellows each month.
Learn more
| | Image Description: New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Logo | |
Artist Entrepreneurial Grants (Deadline: August 1)
Artist Entrepreneurial Grants recognize the importance of the creative workforce to New Hampshire’s economy. Artist Entrepreneurial Grants support opportunities that will benefit artists’ careers, including the development of business skills, participation in programs to raise the level and quality of their art, and participation in programs that will bring their art to the widest possible markets.
Learn more
| | Image Description: Yaddo Logo | |
Yaddo Residency (Deadline: August 1)
Yaddo is the leading nonprofit retreat for artists and writers, who come from all nations and backgrounds to live and work in a supportive community in Saratoga Springs, NY. Residencies include room, board, a studio and more, granting the opportunity to work without interruption in a supportive environment.
Learn more
| | Image Description: IDFA Logo | |
IDFAcademy (Deadline: August 1)
Taking place every November during IDFA, IDFAcademy gives emerging international filmmakers the opportunity to meet a broad spectrum of highly esteemed documentary professionals willing to share their knowledge of the industry.
Learn more
| | Image Description: Arts Action Consortium Logo | |
Arts Action Consortium Capacity-Building Cohort (Deadline: August 14)
The 2025 Capacity-Building Cohort is a new 6-month opportunity from Assets for Artists offering $2,000 grants and individualized professional development and capacity-building support for Boston-area artists. This opportunity is one of many resources offered in conjunction with the Arts Action Consortium a newly-launched initiative from six Boston-area arts/culture organizations seeking to strengthen and support Boston's creative workforce.
Learn more
| | Image Description: Interlace Logo | |
Interlace Fund Project Grant (Deadline: August 17)
Interlace Project Grants range from $5000 to $6000 and support artist-driven projects in the Providence area. Interlace prioritizes the making of new visual artworks that expand the public’s understanding of the visual arts.The intended outcome of Interlace Project Grants is to make visible often unseen and under-supported artistic activity (from artists at all career stages) and to cultivate engaged communities around this work, via collaborations in process and/or presentation.
Info sessions are being held virtually and in person throughout July and August.
Learn more
| | Image Description: The FilmStream Collective Graphic with Tubi and Kickstarter Logos | |
Interlace Fund Project Grant (Deadline: August 31)
The fund is designed to support filmmakers with final or near-final cuts, helping them cover critical post-production costs such as editing, sound, marketing, and other finish expenses to prepare their films for release. Their final film will then stream on Tubi, providing guaranteed distribution and visibility on a platform where viewers watched more than 10 billion hours in 2024.
Learn more
| | Image Description: Vermont Arts Council Logo | |
Artist Development Grants (Deadline: September 7)
Artist Development Grants support Vermont artists at all stages of their careers. Grants can fund activities that enhance mastery of an artist’s craft or skills or that increase the viability of an artist’s business. Funding may also support aspects of the creation of new work when the activity allows the grantee to accept a rare and important opportunity.
Learn more
| | Image Description: Assets for Artists Logo | | |
Assets for Artists Professional Development Workshops
Free online and in-person professional development workshops through September are available to artists of all disciplines in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine.
Learn more
| | Image Description: Perspective Fund Logo | |
Perspective Fund (Deadline: Rolling)
The Perspective Fund supports filmmakers and strategists for whom entrenched forces and systems are most apparent in their lives and communities, who can most acutely construct films and campaigns to respond. Areas of funding include production, impact planning and campaigns, and participant compensation.
Learn more
| | Image Description: Artist Communities Alliance Logo | |
Artist Residency Open Calls (Deadline: Rolling)
Artist Communities Alliance (ACA) provides two types of lists to help with the residency search process.
Learn more
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Thanks for reading,
The LEF New England team
Lyda, Gen, & Matthew
LEF Foundation
PO Box 382066
Cambridge, MA 02238
617.492.5333
lef-foundation.org
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A private family foundation dedicated to the support of contemporary arts, LEF was established in 1985 with offices in Massachusetts and California. The Moving Image Fund was launched in 2001 through the LEF office in Cambridge, MA to support independent film and video artists. Since its inception, the Moving Image Fund has awarded over 500 grants to New England-based independent filmmakers with over $5.5 million in funding. The goal of LEF New England is to fund the work of independent documentary film and video artists in the region and to broaden recognition and support for their work locally and nationally. It also supports programs that highlight the rich history and ongoing legacy of innovation within New England's independent film community. The overarching goal of LEF New England's philanthropic investment is to help build a sustainable and strong community of support for artists and their work.
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