Hot Docs is North America’s largest documentary festival, conference, and market, and embodies a deep commitment to gender parity, with 54% female directors in this year’s official selection, according to their press release. Two of our staff members will be in attendance so be sure to stay in touch via our social media channels for some exclusive content at the festival!

Farming the Revolution

dir. & prod. Nishtha Jain

prod. Valérie Montmartin

Farming the Revolution was supported through Nishtha Jain’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its World Premiere in the International Competition

7 Beats Per Minute

dir. Yuqi Kang

prod. Ina Fichman, Anita Lee

7 Beats Per Minute was a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its Canadian Premiere in the Canadian Spectrum Competition.

A Photographic Memory

dir. & prod. Rachel Elizabeth Seed

prods. Sigrid Dyekjær, Beth Levison, Matt Perniciaro, Michael Sherman, Danielle Varga

A Photographic Memory was a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its International Premiere in the Persister section.

Intercepted

dir. Oksana Karpovych 

prods. Giacomo Nudi, Rocío Barba Fuentes, Pauline Tran Van Lieu, Lucie Rego, Darya Bassel

Intercepted is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee having its Canadian Premiere in the Festival Favorites section.

Look Into My Eyes

dir. & prod. Lana Wilson

prod. Kyle Martin

Look Into My Eyes was supported through Lana Wilson’s 2019 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its Canadian Premiere in the Special Presentations section.

Spotlight on Brett Story

2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Brett Story will be engaging in an illuminating conversation with author and organizer Astra Taylor. Learn more about Astra Taylor in Conversation with Brett Story here.

From the AlumNest

• Adrianne & the Castle – Canadian Premiere
  dir. Shannon Walsh
  prod. Ina Fichman

• Power
  dir. & prod. Yance Ford
  prods. Sweta Vohra, Jess Devaney, Netsanet Negussie

• We Did Not Consent
  dir. Dorothy Allen-Pickard
  prods. Rosa Harris Edmonds, Lindsay Poulton

• Xixi – World Premiere
  dir. & prod. Fan Wu
  prods. Sona Jo, Venice De Castro Atienza, Yoonsoo Her

• Yintah – Canadian Premiere
  dirs. & prods. Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell, Michael Toledano
  prods. Bob Moore, Katie McKay, Mila Aung-Thwin

Meet Our Team at Hot Docs

We are exhilarated that our Senior Program Manager Elaisha Stokes and Program Assistant Will Tamura will be in attendance at the festival. They will be attending Chicken & Egg Pictures-supported screenings and industry events. Make sure to say hi!

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited seven C&E-supported filmmakers to their esteemed Documentary branch. We’re delighted to uplift this wonderful acknowledgment of their talent and significant impact on the filmmaking community. 

Jeanie Finlay, Rachel Lears, Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Mila Aung-Thwin, Keith Wilson, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, and Hemal Trivedi will become voting members able to participate in the Oscar nomination process and nominate new filmmakers to join the branch. 

At Chicken & Egg Pictures, our mission is to shape a more equitable and just world with the catalytic power of documentary films by providing funding, mentorship and industry access to a global community of women and gender-expansive filmmakers. 

As a result, let’s take a closer look at the diversity of the Oscars’ newest members. Of the entire 2024 class across all 17 branches, 44% identify as women, 41% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 56% represent 56 countries and territories outside the United States. According to IndieWire, 20% of the voting members will now be international. The Documentary branch is one of the most diverse of the 17 Academy branches, representing 52 countries. We applaud AMPAS’s ongoing evolution to better reflect and represent the world we live in. 

We can’t wait to see how our supported filmmakers, and indeed the whole class of 2024, will wield this extraordinary privilege and honor. Knowing their commitment to stories and perspectives that make our world a better place, we can bet it will be powerful. 

Chicken & Egg Pictures founders Judith Helfand, Julie Parker Benello, Wendy Ettinger,  and CEO Jenni Wolfson are also AMPAS members.

Hot Docs is North America’s largest documentary festival, conference, and market, and embodies a deep commitment to gender parity, with 54% female directors in this year’s official selection, according to their press release. Two of our staff members will be in attendance so be sure to stay in touch via our social media channels for some exclusive content at the festival!

Farming the Revolution

dir. & prod. Nishtha Jain

prod. Valérie Montmartin

Farming the Revolution was supported through Nishtha Jain’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its World Premiere in the International Competition

7 Beats Per Minute

dir. Yuqi Kang

prod. Ina Fichman, Anita Lee

7 Beats Per Minute was a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its Canadian Premiere in the Canadian Spectrum Competition.

A Photographic Memory

dir. & prod. Rachel Elizabeth Seed

prods. Sigrid Dyekjær, Beth Levison, Matt Perniciaro, Michael Sherman, Danielle Varga

A Photographic Memory was a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its International Premiere in the Persister section.

Intercepted

dir. Oksana Karpovych 

prods. Giacomo Nudi, Rocío Barba Fuentes, Pauline Tran Van Lieu, Lucie Rego, Darya Bassel

Intercepted is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee having its Canadian Premiere in the Festival Favorites section.

Look Into My Eyes

dir. & prod. Lana Wilson

prod. Kyle Martin

Look Into My Eyes was supported through Lana Wilson’s 2019 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its Canadian Premiere in the Special Presentations section.

Wilfred Buck

dir. & prod. Lisa Jackson

prod. Alicia Smith, Lauren Grant

Wilfred Buck was supported through Lisa Jackson’s 2023 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its North American Premiere in the Canadian Spectrum Competition.

Spotlight on Brett Story

2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Brett Story will be engaging in an illuminating conversation with author and organizer Astra Taylor. Learn more about Astra Taylor in Conversation with Brett Story here.

From the AlumNest

• Adrianne & the Castle – Canadian Premiere
  dir. Shannon Walsh
  prod. Ina Fichman

• Power
  dir. & prod. Yance Ford
  prods. Sweta Vohra, Jess Devaney, Netsanet Negussie

• We Did Not Consent
  dir. Dorothy Allen-Pickard
  prods. Rosa Harris Edmonds, Lindsay Poulton

• Xixi – World Premiere
  dir. & prod. Fan Wu
  prods. Sona Jo, Venice De Castro Atienza, Yoonsoo Her

• Yintah – Canadian Premiere
  dirs. & prods. Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell, Michael Toledano
  prods. Bob Moore, Katie McKay, Mila Aung-Thwin

Meet Our Team at Hot Docs

We are exhilarated that our Senior Program Manager Elaisha Stokes and Program Assistant Will Tamura will be in attendance at the festival. They will be attending Chicken & Egg Pictures-supported screenings and industry events. Make sure to say hi!

The 21st edition of CPH:DOX took place from Wednesday, March 13 to Sunday, March 24 in Copenhagen, Denmark. We are proud to see that 3 supported films and 13 supported filmmakers were part of the lineup and that many of our supported filmmakers also participated in the CPH:CONFERENCE and CPH: FORUM. Some of our team was also there to participate in person to support our filmmakers. See below for more details.

• 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Brett Story’s Union | International Premiere | F:act Award & Nine to Five sections | dirs. Brett Story, Stephen Maing | prods. Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone

• 2019 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Lana Wilson’s  Look Into My Eyes | International Premiere | Special Premieres & Stranger Than Fiction sections | dir. Lana Wilson | prod. Kyle Martin

• 2022 Critical Issues Fund Grantee Intercepted | Urgent Matters & Battlefields sections | dir. Oksana Karpovych | prods. Rocío B. Fuentes, Giacomo Nudi

From the AlumNest

• And So It Begins
  dir. & prod. Ramona Diaz
  
  
• Bottlemen 
  dir. & prod. Nemanja Vojinovic
  prod. Marija Stojnic 
  
  
• La Base | International Premiere
  dir. Vadim Dumesh
  prod. Quentin Laurent
   
  
• Night of Nights | World Premiere
  dir. Truman
  prod. Violet Feng
  
  
• Marching in the Dark | World Premiere
  dir. Kinshuk Surjan
  prods. Evelien De Graef, Hanne Phlypo, Digna Sinke, Arya Rothe
  
  
• Phantoms of the Sierra Madre | World Premiere
  dir. & prod. Håvard Bustnes
  prod. Christian Aune Falch, Bird Runningwater
  
  
• Power | International Premiere
  dir. & prod. Yance Ford
  prods. Netsanet Negussie, Sweta Vohra, Jess Devaney
  
  
• Silent Trees | World Premiere
  dir. & prod. Agnieszka Zwiefka
  prods. Heino Deckert, Sigrid Dyekjaer, Zofia Kujawska
  
  
• Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story | European Premiere
  dirs. Peter Ettedgui & Ian Bonhôte
  prods. Lizzie Gillett, Ian Bonhôte, Robert Ford
  
  
• The Black Garden | World Premiere
  dir. Alexis Pazoumian
  prod. Clara Vuillermoz
  
  
• The Bones | World Premiere
  dir. Jeremy Xido
  prod. Ina Fichman
  
  
• The Stimming Pool | World Premiere
  dirs. The Neurocultures Collective, Benjamin Brown, Georgia Bradburn, Sam Chown-Ahern, Robin Elliott-Knowles, Lucy Walker, Steven Eastwood
  prod. Chloe White, Steven Eastwood
  
  
• Your Fat Friend
  dir. & prod. Jeanie Finlay
  prod. Suzanne Alizart

CPH: FORUM

At CPH:FORUM, top producers and highly acknowledged directors from all over the world take the stage to pitch 30 carefully selected projects of documentary features and series in the intersection of nonfiction, fiction, visual art, journalism, and science. Six films from our community of filmmakers were presented.

2023 Research & Development Grant recipient Cinderella Unbound, UK/RO
dir. & prod Ilinca Calugareanu | prod. Anamaria Antoci

Freedom (WT), DK
dir. Camilla Nielsson | prod. Signe Byrge Sørensen

In Praise of Invasive Species, CA
dir. Mila Aung-Thwin | prod. Bob Moore

The Dirty Dream, IN
dirs. & prods. Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh

The Listeners, UK/US/FR
dir. & prod. Lindsey Dryden | prod. Samantha Steele

Victor, US
dir. Stephani Victor | prods. Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Matt Radecki

CPH: CONFERENCE

A 4-day industry event offering a range of inspiring talks with visionary thinkers, investigating current themes in documentary filmmaking, and creating an interactive and hands-on platform for exchange with other professionals of our documentary community. The theme this year was Re:Building Narratives – Accessibility And Equity In Documentary. Our filmmakers were well represented across the different activities from Tuesday, March 19 to Friday, March 22.

SOCIETY: STORIES OF OUR LIFETIMES

Tuesday, March 19

With Lizzie Gillett and Sigrid Dyekjær, producers of supported film Merkel, as keynote speakers for the Viva Independent Feature Docs section. Clara Vuillermoz, producer of 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Polaris was a speaker in the A Conflict of Interest or an Interest in Conflict? section. Lindsey Dryden, supported through the QUEER FUTURES program, also participated in the LGBTQIA panel. Curated by 2023 Development grant recipient Derren Lawford. 

FILM:MAKERS IN DIALOGUE

Wednesday, March 20

With 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Brett Story, Stephen Maing, producer of supported film Union, and Yance Ford, director of supported film Strong Island.

SCIENCE: WAYS OF KNOWING AND SEEING

Thursday, March 21

With 2023 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Lisa Jackson as a keynote speaker in the Stars: Indigenous Ways of Knowing section, and Mila Aung-Thwin, producer of 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab participant Midwives, as a speaker in the Action: Legacies of science, cinematic justice section.

2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Margreth Olin is also considered an expert at the conference.

Meet our Team at CPH:DOX

Our Senior Program Manager Elaisha Stokes and Program Director Kiyoko McCrae attended and took 1:1 meetings with filmmakers.

We are proud to congratulate a longtime collaborator and advisor in our labs, Carla Gutierrez, for the international premiere of her new documentary, Frida.

Post written by Communications Assistant Tess Caldwell

• 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab Participant Against The Tide | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests | dir. & prod. Sarvnik Kaur | prod. Koval Bhatia

• 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Finalist Alis | Online Program | dirs. & prods. Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck

• Project: Hatched 2023 Participant Bad Press | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests | dir. & prod. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler | prods. Conrad Beilharz, Garrett Baker, Tyler Graim

• Nest-supported film Blue ID | School Program | dirs. & prods. Burcu Melekoglu, Vuslat Karan

• 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Machtat | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests | dir. Sonia Ben Slama | prods. Tania el Khoury, Elise Hug, Cécile Lestrade

• 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantee Milisuthando | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests | dir. & prod. Milisuthando Bongela | prod. Marion Isaacs
• Our Land, Our Freedom  | World Premiere | dirs. & prods. Meena Nanji, Zippy Kumundu |
  prod. Eliane Ferreira

• 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Margreth Olin’s Songs of Earth | Dutch Premiere | Signed | dir. & prod. Margreth Olin | prod. Lena Faye-Lund Sandvik 

• 2021 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Tatiana Huezo’s The Echo | Dutch Premiere | Signed | dir. & prod. Tatiana Huezo Sánchez | prods. Dalia Rocío Reyes Campos, Viviana Zuñiga

• 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Maite Alberdi’s The Eternal Memory | Dutch Premiere | Signed | dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi | prods. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue

• 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee The Tuba Thieves | Dutch Premiere | Best of Fests |  dir. & prod. Alison O’Daniel | prods. Su Kim, Maya E. Rudolph

IDFA Forum

At the IDFA Forum, innovators, including filmmakers, creators, producers, and industry professionals, unite to present their pioneering creative feature documentaries and new media projects. Over its 30-year history, this event has evolved into a global hub for discussing co-production, co-financing, and distribution strategies. The IDFA Forum offers backing to film and XR production teams at various production stages across four presentation categories. We take pride in having Chicken & Egg Pictures Supported films featured in three out of these four categories.

• 2023 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Jeanie Finlay’s All Rivers Spill Their Secrets (to the Sea) | Pitch Project | In Production | dir. & prod. Jeanie Finlay | prod. Charlie Phillips

• 2022 Critical Issue Fund Grantee Displaced (working title) | Rough Cut Project | In Production | dir. Olha Zhurba | prods. Darya Bassel, Anne Köhncke, Kerstin Übelacker

• 2022 Critical Issue Fund Grantee Red Zone | Producers Connection Project | Development | dir. Darya Bassel | prod. Iryna Tsilyk

• 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Finalist There Was, There Was Not | Rough Cut Project | In Post-Production | dir. & prod. Emily Mkrtichian | prod. Brock Williams

From the AlumNest

In the program: 

• (this conversation is) Off the Record | World Premiere
  dirs. Nirit Peled, Anne Maike Mertens
  prod. Nienke Huitenga, Titus Nouwens

• Another Body | Dutch Premiere
  dirs. & prods. Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn
  prod. Elizabeth Woodward 

• The Burden | World Premiere
  dir. Elvis Ngaibino Sabin
  prod. Quentin Laurent, Makongo Films

• Facing Darkness | Dutch Premiere
  dir. Jean-Gabriel Périot 
  prod. Cécile Lestrade

• Four Holes | World Premiere
  dir. & prod. Daniela Muñoz Barroso
  prod. Boris Prieto

• Girl Away from Home | World Premiere 
  dirs. Alisa Kovalenko, Simon Lereng Wilmont
  prod. Maria Westergren, Knut Skoglund, Karl Emil Rikardsen

• We Will Not Fade Away | Dutch Premiere 
  dir. Alisa Kovalenko
  prods. Valery Kalmykov, Yana Kalmykova, Oleksiy Kobelev

• Last Train Home
  dir. Lixin Fan
  prod. Mila Aung-Thwin, Daniel Cross

• Nieuw
  dir. Eefje Blankevoort
  prod. Iris Lammertsma

• Our Land, Our Freedom  | World Premiere 
  dirs. & prods. Meena Nanji, Zippy Kumundu
  prod. Eliane Ferreira

• Zinder 
  dir. Aicha Mackyprod. Clara Vuillermoz, Ousmane Samassekou, Erik Winker

In the forum:

• Coexistence My Ass | Rough Cut Project 
  dir. & prod. Amber Fares
  prod. Rachel Leah Jones

• The Long Cuban Night | Pitch Project
  dir. Sergio Fernández Borrás
  prods. Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck, Sergio Fernández Borrás

• Shadows of the Forest | Pitch Project
  dirs. Akash Basumatari, Shrutiman Deori
  prod. Nishtha Jain

• To Use a Mountain | Rough Cut Project
  dir. Casey Carter
  prod. Colleen Cassingham, Brett Story 

• Queens Ballroom | Producers Connection Project
  dir. Siyi Chen, Hansen Lin 
  prod. Siyi Chen, Violet Feng

Meet our Team at IDFA

Our Program Director Kiyoko McCrae and Senior Program Manager Elaisha Stokes will be in attendance at the festival. They will be speaking at the IDFA academy (a training program for 110 selected emerging filmmakers coming to IDFA), taking 1:1 meetings and giving presentations on our programs and funding opportunities at the Industry Hub. They will also be hosting an IDFA industry lunch as an opportunity for us to celebrate our 2023 Chicken & Egg Award recipients.