Eat Bitter

dirs. Ningyi Sun, Pascale Appora-Gnekindy

prod. Mathieu Faure

Eat Bitter is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist who won the award for Best Cinematography.

PAY OR DIE

dirs. & prods. Rachael Dyer, Scott Alexander Ruderman 

prod. Yael Melamede

PAY OR DIE is a Project: Hatched 2023 grantee and won the Systemic Change Award (Sponsored by the Foundation for Systemic Change (FSC)).

The Eternal Memory

dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi

prod. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue

The Eternal Memory was supported through Maite Alberdi’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and won the award for Best Director.

The Script

dir. Brit Fryer, Noah Schamus

prod. Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney

The Script was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES series and won the Creative Activism Award.

Twice Colonized

dir. Lin Alluna

prods. Emile Hertling Péronard, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Stacey Aglok, Bob Moore

Twice Colonized is a Project: Hatched 2023 grantee who won the Transparency Jury Prize.

Special Mentions

How to Carry Water

dir. Sasha Wortzel

prod. Jess Devaney, Anya Rous, Colleen Cassingham

How to Carry Water was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES (2022) series.

Suddenly TV

dir. & prod. Roopa Gogineni 

prods. Reem Haddad, Trevor Snapp, Fiona Lawson-Baker

Suddenly TV is a Project: Hatched 2023 grantee.

From the AlumNest

• Mourning in lod – Ethos Jury Prize
  dir. Hilla Medalia
  prod. Sheila Nevins
  
  
• This Is Where I Learned Not To Sleep – Humanitas Award
  dirs. & prods. Kirsten Kelly & Anne de Mare
  prod. Andrew Schwertfeger
  
  
• Who I Am Not – Special Mention
  dir. Tunde Skovran
  prods. Andrei Zinca, Danielle Turkov, Paul Cadieux, Patrick Hamm, Amy Shepherd, Edith Weil, Daniel Szandtner, Janos Kovacs

Post written by Communications Assistant Tess Caldwell

• 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Against the Tide | dir. & prod. Sarvnik Kaur | prods. Koval Bhatia, Quentin Laurent | Nominated for Best Feature Documentary and Best Director

• QUEER FUTURES project How to Carry Water | dir. Sasha Wortzel | prods. Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney, Anya Rous | Nominated for Best Short Documentary

• 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Milisuthando | dir. Milisuthando Bongela | prod. Marion Isaacs | Nominated for Best Feature Documentary, Best Director, and Best Writing

• 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee Q | dir. & prod. Jude Chehab | Nominated for Best Feature Documentary and Best Editing

• 2022 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Margreth Olin’s Songs of Earth | dir. & prod. Margreth Olin | Nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Original Music Score

• Project: Hatched 2023 participant Suddenly TV | dir. & prod. Roopa Gogineni | prods. Reem Haddad, Trevor Snapp, Fiona Lawson-Baker | Nominated for Best Short Documentary

• 2020 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Maite Alberdi’s The Eternal Memory | dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi | prods. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue | Nominated for Best Editing

• QUEER FUTURES | dirs. Brit Fryer, Lindsey Dryden, Noah Schamus, Sasha Wortzel, Twiggy Pucci Garçon | prods. Jess Devaney, Anya Rous, J Wortham, Colleen Cassingham | Nominated for Best Short-Form Series

From the AlumNest

• Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court | Nominated for Best Multi-Part Documentary
  dir. & prod. Dawn Porter
  prods. Vinnie Malhotra, Aaron Saidman, Eli Holzman

• Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project | Nominated for Best Feature Documentary and Best Original Music Score
  dirs. & prods. Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster

• King Coal  | Nominated for Best Cinematography
  dir. & prod. Elaine McMillion Sheldon
  prods. Shane Boris, Diane Becker, Peggy Drexler

• The U.S. and the Holocaust  | Nominated for Best TV Feature or Mini-Series
  dir. Lynn Novick, Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein

Shortlist Shoutouts

• QUEER FUTURES project The Script | dirs. Brit Fryer, Noah Schamus | prods. Jessica Devaney, Colleen Cassingham  | Shortlisted for Best Short Documentary

• Project: Hatched 2023 participant Twice Colonized | dir. Lin Alluna | prods. Emile Hertling Péronard, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Stacey Aglok, Bob Moore | Shortlisted for Best Feature Documentary

• AlumNest project How We Get Free | dirs. Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles | prods. Kathleen Lingo, Sweta Vohra, Jess Devaney | Shortlisted for Best Short Documentary

Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell

Breaking the News

dirs. Chelsea Hernandez, Heather Courtney, Princess A. Hairston

prod. Diane Quon

Breaking the News a 2022 Critical Issues Fund Grantee had its DC Premiere.

How to Carry Water

dir. Sasha Wortzel

prod. Jess Devaney, Anya Rous, Colleen Cassingham

How to Carry Water was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES (2022) series and had its DC Premiere in the “Shorts Program 3: Out/Spoken” section.

It’s Only Life After All

dir. & prod. Alexandria Bombach

prods. Kathlyn Horan, Jess Devaney, Anya Rous

It’s Only Life After All was supported through Alexandria Bombach’s 2019 Chicken & Egg Award and had its DC Premiere.

MnM

dir. Twiggy Pucci Garçon

prod. Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney

MnM was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES (2022) series and had its North American Premiere in the “Shorts Program 3: Out/Spoken” section.

The Eternal Memory

dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi

prod. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue

The Eternal Memory was supported through Maite Alberdi’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and had its DC Premiere.

The Script

dir. Brit Fryer, Noah Schamus

prod. Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney

The Script was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES series and had its East Coast Premiere in the “Shorts Program 3: Out/Spoken” section.

From the AlumNest

• Confessions of a Good Samaritan
  dir. Penny Lane
  prod. Gabriel Sedgwick
  
  
• Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
  dirs. & prods. Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster 
  
  
• Kim’s Video
  dirs. & prods. David Redmon, Ashley Sabin
  prods. Deborah Smith, Dale Smith, Francesco Galavotti, Rebecca Tabasky
  
  
• Your Fat Friend
  dir. & prod. Jeanie Finlay
  prod. Suzanne Alizar

Post written by Spring Intern Tess Caldwell

We are sending special congratulations to the 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee Sol in the Garden for their World Premiere. 

Against the Tide

dir. Sarvnik Kaur 

prod. Koval Bhatia, Quentin Laurent

Against the Tide is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its California Premiere as a part of the Documentaries: International section. 

Get your tickets here.

How to Carry Water

dir. Sasha Wortzel

prod. Jess Devaney, Anya Rous, Colleen Cassingham

How to Carry Water was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES series and will take part in the “Shorts 3: The Body” section of the festival.

Get your tickets here.

Hummingbirds

dirs. Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía “Beba” Contreras

co-dirs. & prods. Jillian Schlesinger, Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Diane Ng, Ana Rodriguez-Falco

prods. Leslie Benavides, Rivkah Beth Medow

Hummingbirds is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist having its California premiere in the Documentaries: USA and GGA Documentary Competition sections.

Get your tickets here.

Milisuthando

dir. Milisuthando Bongela

prod. Marion Isaacs  

Milisuthando is a 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its California premiere in the Documentaries: International and GGA Documentary Competition sections.

Get your tickets here.

Sol in the Garden

dirs. & prods. Emily Cohen Ibañez and Débora Souza Silva

Sol in the Garden is a 2022 Critical Issues Fund grantee having its World Premiere as a part of the Bay Area Short Film category as well as a three-part shorts program.

Get your tickets here.

The Tuba Thieves

dir. & prod. Alison O’Daniel

The Tuba Thieves is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee having its California Premiere as a part of the Documentaries: USA section. 

Get your tickets here.

From the AlumNest

• King Coal
  dir. & prod. Elaine McMillion Sheldon
  prods. Shane Boris, Diane Becker, Peggy Drexler
  
  
• Confessions of a Good Samaritan
  dir. Penny Lane
  prod. Gabriel Sedgwick

Post written by Spring intern Tess Caldwell

Announced via Variety today, we are proud to present the ten grantees selected for the 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab, who will each receive $40,000 towards the production of their documentary. Additionally, for the first time ever, ten projects have been selected to receive Egg)celerator Lab Finalist Grants of $15,000 each. The 20 projects, directed by emerging filmmakers, will collectively receive a total of $550,000 in grants, marking the largest sum that Chicken & Egg Pictures has ever directed towards the support of an (Egg)celerator Lab cohort and finalists of emerging filmmakers in a single year.

This year, the cohort includes directors hailing from countries such as the US, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Romania, and Belarus. Filmmaker grantees include Volia Chajkouskaya, the founder of the Northern Lights Nordic-Baltic Film Festival, Lina Vdovîi and Radu Ciorniciuc, award-winning independent reporters, Contessa Gayles, an Emmy nominated producer. The films center women reclaiming their stories, and explore similar themes through vastly different subjects: In Matryoshka and TATA, filmmakers illustrate portraits of their parents that connect with their own personal narratives. Here, the Silence is Heard and Joonam explore intimate intergenerational memories in the context of complex political histories, and the search for an identity. 

Click on the film’s titles for more information on each project. We are thrilled to give these filmmakers a warm welcome to the Nest.

The 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Grantees are:

7 Beats Per Minute
Director: Yuqi Kang (CANADA / CHINA / INNER MONGOLIA)
Producers: Ina Fichman, Anita Lee
7 Beats Per Minute is an intimate and unyielding journey with female freediving champion, Jessea Lu, as she faces her biggest fear and attempts to dive over 100 meters in one single breath.

Here, the Silence is Heard
Director: Gabriela Pena (CHILE / SPAIN)
Co-director: Picho García (CHILE) 
Producers: Gabriela Pena, Picho García
After arriving in Chile at the old house that my family abandoned in exile, ghosts of an unstoppable family spell begin to appear at night.

Joonam
Director: Sierra Urich (US)
Producer: Keith Wilson
A filmmaker uncovers her family’s lost Iranian past, and with it the complex relationships between mother and daughter, Iran and America, and displacement and identity.

Life + Life
Director: Contessa Gayles (US)
Producer: Contessa Gayles
An incarcerated musician struggles for healing and peace as he comes of age in this documentary-musical odyssey composed behind bars.

Matryoshka
Director: Maricarmen Merino Mora (COSTA RICA) 
Producers: Karla Bukantz, Paulina Villegas
Matryoshka is an intimate portrait of a mother through her daughter’s eyes, following the complex journey of a woman finding her own voice.

Olimpia
Director: Indira Cato (MEXICO)
Producer: Jessica Rito
After being a victim of sexual virtual violence, Olimpia Coral Melo sought the enactment of a groundbreaking law to protect women against cyberviolence, but now she’s still looking for a way to heal her internal wounds.

Our Daughters (working title)
Director: Chithra Jeyaram (US / INDIA)
Producers: Chithra Jeyaram, Jonna McKone
For the sake of their twin daughters, an Indian adoptive mother and a white birth mother venture into uncharted territory with an open adoption, crossing racial and cultural lines.

TATA
Co-directors: Lina Vdovîi and Radu Ciorniciuc (MOLDOVA / ROMANIA)
Producer: Monica Lazurean Gorgan
A journalist estranged from her violent father discovers that he’s become a victim of exploitation at work. When she agrees to help him expose the injustice, it reopens the wounds of their past.

The Wife Of
Director: Volia Chajkouskaya (BELARUS / ESTONIA)
Producers: Volia Chajkouskaya, Ivo Felt, Christian Popp, and Marius Markevicius
Undisclosed project.

Undisclosed Project
Details to be announced later this year.

The 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab Finalists are:

Alis 
Directors: Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck (COLOMBIA)
Producers: Clare Weiskopf, Nicolas van Hemelryck, Radu Stancu, Alexandra Galvis
Teenage girls, who lived on the streets of Bogota, dream up a fictional classmate. Their soulful narrative reveals their perseverance to break the cycle of violence and embrace a brighter future.

Eat Bitter 
Directors: Pascale Appora-Gnekindy, Ningyi Sun (CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC / CHINA)
Producer: Mathieu Faure
Eat Bitter is a character-driven vérité film set in the Central African Republic, one of the poorest countries in the world. During the civil war, a Chinese immigrant construction manager and a local African laborer work on opposite ends of the spectrum to construct a sparkling new bank. As deadlines loom, they don’t hesitate to strip the earth and destroy their family lives for a seat at the table of prosperity.

How to Build a Library 
Co-directors: Maia Lekow, Christopher King (KENYA / AUSTRALIA) 
Producers: Maia Lekow, Christopher King
Two tenacious Kenyan women are transforming a dilapidated, junk-filled library in downtown Nairobi into a hub for the city’s population and creatives. But first they must wrangle with the local government, raise several million dollars for the reconstruction, and confront the ghosts of a problematic colonial history still trapped within the library walls.

Hummingbirds 
Directors: Silvia Castaños, Estefanía Contreras (US / MEXICO)
Producers: Leslie Benavides, Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Ana Rodriguez-Falco, Jillian Schlesinger
Co-directors: Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Diane Ng, Ana Rodriguez-Falco, Jillian Schlesinger
Best friends Silvia and Estefanía emerge at night to escape the cruel heat of summer in their Texas border town, wandering empty streets in search of inspiration, adventure, and a sense of belonging. When forces threaten their shared dreams, they take a stand and hold onto what they can—the moment and each other.

Light of the Setting Sun 
Director: Vicky Du (US)
Producer: Danielle Varga
A Taiwanese-American filmmaker confronts her family’s silence around the cycles of violence that have persisted since the Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949.

River of Grass 
Director: Sasha Wortzel (US)
Producer: Danielle Varga 
Co-producer: Houston Cypress
River of Grass unfolds as a voyage through the past, present, and precarious future of the iconic and imperiled Florida Everglades; told through the writings of the late environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and those who today call the region home.

There Was, There Was Not 
Director: Emily Mkrtichian (US / ARMENIA) 
Producer: Mara Adina
There Was, There Was Not tells the collective myth of a homeland nearly lost to war and four women’s resistance to that loss.

We Are Volcanoes 
Co-directors: Sharon Yeung, Natalie A. Chao (HONG KONG)
Producer: Sharon Yeung
Undisclosed project.

When They Were Here 
Director: Ivy MacDonald (US / BLACKFEET TRIBE)
Co-director: Ivan MacDonald (US / BLACKFEET TRIBE)
Producer: Jessica Jane Hart
Told through the memory and lives of those left behind–families, When They Were Here examines the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis and its legacy on the Blackfeet Reservation in Northern Montana. 

Untitled Project 
Directors: Shirley Abraham, Amit Madheshiya (INDIA) 
Producers: Shirley Abraham, Amit Madheshiya
Undisclosed project.

Note: The parentheses next to the directors’ names indicate the directors’ country or countries of origin.