The Janes

dir. Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes

prod. Emma Pildes, Daniel Arcana, Jessica Levin

The Janes is a Project: Hatched 2022 finalist nominated for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary, Best Documentary, Outstanding Research: Documentary, Outstanding Direction: Documentary.

Apart

dir. & prod. Jennifer Redfearn

prod. Tim Metzger

Apart is a 2018 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee nominated for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. 

From the AlumNest

• American Reckoning
  dir. & prod. Yoruba Richen, Brad Lichtenstein
  Nominated for: Outstanding Historical Documentary

• Art & Krimes by Krimes
  dir. & prod. Alysa Nahmias
  prod. Amanda Spain, Benjamin Murray
  Nominated for: Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary

• Body Parts
  dir. Kristy Guevara-Flanagan
  prod. Helen Hood Scheer
  Nominated for: Outstanding Music Composition

• Delikado
  dir. & prod. Karl Malakunas
  prod. Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala, Michael Collins, Marty Syjuco, Laura Nix
  Nominated for: Outstanding Investigative Documentary

• How to Change your Mind
  dir. Lucy Walker, Alison Ellwood
  Nominated for: Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction: Documentary

• Lincoln’s Dilemma
  dir. Jacqueline Olive, Barak Goodman
  Nominated for: Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction: Documentary

• Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power
  dir. Geeta Gandbhir
  prod. Jess Devaney
  Nominated for: Outstanding Research Documentary, Outstanding Editing: Documentary

• The Flagmakers
  dir. & prod. Cynthia Wade, Sharon Liese
  prod. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carolyn Bernstein, Mark Gordon, Ryan Harrington, Jenna Segal
  Nominated for: Outstanding Short Documentary

• The U.S. and the Holocaust
  dir. Lynn Novick, Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein
  Nominated for: Outstanding Research Documentary

• TikTok, Boom
  dir. & prod. Shalini Kantayya
  prod. Danni Mynard, Ross Dinerstein
  Nominated for: Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary

• Wuhan Wuhan
  dir. Yung Chang
  prod. Diane Quon, Donna Gigliotti, Peter Luo
  Nominated for: Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary

• 37 Words
  dir. & prod. Dawn Porter, Nicole Newnham
  Nominated for: Outstanding Research Documentary

Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell

Nest-supported Films on the Documentary Feature Short List

Hidden Letters

dirs. Violet Feng, Zhao Qing

prods. Violet Feng, Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas, Jean Tsien, Su Kim

Hidden Letters is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.

The Janes

dirs.  Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes

prods. Emma Pildes, Daniel Arcana, Jessica Levin

The Janes is a Project: Hatched 2022 finalist.

AlumNest Films on the Documentary Feature Shortlist

• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
  dir. Laura Poitras
  prods. Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Laura Poitras, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov
  
  
• Descendant  
  dir. & prod. Margaret Brown
  prods. Essie Chambers, Kyle Martin

AlumNest Films on the Documentary Short Films Shortlist

• Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison
  dir. Cinque Northern
  prod. Catherine Gund
  
  
• The Flagmakers
  dirs. & prods. Sharon Liese, Cynthia Wade
   
• The Martha Mitchell Effect
  dirs. Anne Alvergue, Debra McClutchy
  prods. Beth Levison, Judith Mizrachy

Life + Life

dir & prod. Contessa Gayles

prods. Richie Reseda, David Felix Sutcliffe

An incarcerated musician struggles for healing and peace as he comes of age in this documentary-musical odyssey composed behind bars.

Life + Life is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee.

Storming

dir. Katrina Sorrentino

prod. Tiffany Fisher-Love

A family hangs in limbo, caring for their comatose son. Hope and denial blur as seasons circle in this meditation on love and letting go. 

Storming was a participant of the 2019 Nest Knight Fellowship.

From the AlumNest

• #NunsToo
  dir. Lorena Luciano, prod. Filippo Piscopo 
  
  
• Give it a Shot
  dir. & prod. Vaishali Sinha, prod. Hemang Chheda
  
  
• In Plain Sight
  prod. Farihah Zaman, dir. PJ Raval 
  
  
• Life After
  prods. Jessica Devaney, Colleen Cassingham, dir. Reid Davenport
  
  
• Meanwhile
  dir. & prod. Catherine Gund, prod. Erika Dilday
  
  
• Prisoner X
  dirs. Hilla Medalia, Amos Roberts, prod.Hilla Medalia & Gal Greenspan
  
  
• Thoughts & Prayers
  dir. & prod. Jessica Dimmock, Zackary Canepari  
  
  
• To Use a Mountain
  Executive produced by 2022 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Brett Story, Maida Lynn, dir. Casey Carter, prod. Colleen Cassingham

The Gotham Week Conference

• The Politics of Filmmaking in the US
  Wednesday, September 21 at 2:30 pm ET
  With Project: Hatched 2022 finalist The Janes’ directors Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes.
  Cost: $25

Meet Our Team

Our Executive Director Jenni Wolfson and Program Coordinator Iva Dimitrova will be taking meetings at The Gotham Week.

Check out the full list of projects participating with this link.

Midwives

dir. & prod. Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing

prods. Bob Moore, Ulla Lehmann, Mila Aung-Thwin

A tale of the complicated relationship between Rohingya and Buddhists in Myanmar, told over five years through the eyes of two midwives from either side of the divide. 

Midwives is a 2020 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee. 

Get your tickets + more info with this link.

The Janes

dirs.  Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes

prods. Emma Pildes, Daniel Arcana, Jessica Levin

The Janes is the story of an underground network of women in Chicago in the ‘60s and early ‘70s who provided safe, affordable, illegal abortions. 

The Janes is a Project: Hatched 2022 grantee. 

Get your tickets + more info with this link.

From the AlumNest

• Delikado 
  Writer and Executive Producer 2018 Chicken & Egg Award Recipient Laura Nix, dir. Karl Malakunas, prods. Marty Syjuco, Michael Collins, Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala

Check out the full line-up with this link. 

Chicken & Egg Pictures proudly announced via Women & Hollywood six new grantees of our 2022 Project: Hatched program. Each film will receive $30,000 toward its completion and impact campaign and will participate in a seven-month program with tailored mentorship for impact strategy and professional development. Additionally, two films will each receive a $15,000 finalist grant.

This year, Chicken & Egg Pictures invited previously supported filmmakers in our alumni community, AlumNest, to participate in the Project: Hatched selection process.

“These processes are always complex and we receive more applications worthy of consideration than we can support. Sharing the power and responsibility that comes with making these selections with our AlumNest filmmakers was a very special and illuminating experience.”

Said Program Director Lucila Moctezuma.

Please click the film titles for more information on each project, and give these passionate and committed directors a warm welcome to the Nest!

Project: Hatched 2022 grantees:

A Woman on the Outside

Directors: Lisa Riordan Seville, Zara Katz 
Producers: Kiara C. Jones, Lisa Riordan Seville, Zara Katz
Kristal is a young ambitious Philadelphian driven to keep families connected to their incarcerated loved ones. But when her father and brother return from prison, she confronts the ultimate question: can she reunite her own family?

Any Given Day

Director: Margaret Byrne 
Producer: Margaret Byrne
Producer/Impact Producer: Latesha Dickerson
A filmmaker and three Chicagoans navigate the complexities of living with mental illness.

BEBA

Director: Rebeca Huntt 
Producers: Rebeca Huntt, Sofia Geld
Impact Producer: Mia Bruno
A stunning self-portrait, tough, raw, stubborn, and powerful “Beba” stares down the curses of her ancestry, probing the psychic wounds she has inherited, while simultaneously embracing the vastness of her multitudes.

Crossings

Director: Deann Borshay Liem 
Producers: Deann Borshay Liem, Ramsay Liem, Sarah Kim, Gay Dillingham
Thirty women peacemakers, including Gloria Steinem, undertake a risky crossing of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), from North to South Korea, to end America’s longest-running war.

Mama Has a Mustache

Director: Sally Rubin 
Producer: Sally Rubin
Impact Producer: Nick Kelso
Mama Has a Mustache is a short animated documentary about identity and family outside of the traditional gender binary, as seen through children’s eyes.

Takeover

Director: Emma Francis-Snyder 
Producer: Tony Gerber 
In 1970, the Young Lords, a group of activists, took over a decrepit hospital in the South Bronx, launching a battle for their lives, their community, and healthcare for all.

Project: Hatched 2022 finalists

Powerlands

Director: Ivey Camille Manybeads Tso
Producers: Jordan Flaherty, Emily Faye Ratner, Ewa Jasiewicz
A Navajo filmmaker investigates the global displacement of Indigenous people and the devastation of the environment by corporations that have exploited the land where she was born.

The Janes

Directors: Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes
Producers: Emma Pildes, Daniel Arcana, Jessica Levin
The Janes is the story of an underground network of women in Chicago in the ‘60s and early ‘70s who provided safe, affordable, illegal abortions

Last week, Director Tabitha Jackson and Director of Programming Kim Yutani, announced this edition’s details. Yutani and Jackson shared important statistics about women filmmakers in their program selection: 

“Of the submissions to Sundance this year, only 28 percent were from women. Yet among all the features selected, 52 percent were directed by women. When asked whether the programmers decided to boost women auteurs over men, they steered around the question, saying they are always looking to promote female filmmakers. Jackson added: “The slightly depressing fact is that the figure of 28 percent submissions from women has remained pretty static across the years. It is a figure that we would wish to see higher because of what it indicates about the state of the industry. It’s surprising that so few are submitting.”

Sundance Film Festival Unveils 2022 Lineup That Reflects ‘Age of Reckoning’, Nicole Sperling

Learn more about Mija, Midwives, and AlumNest films below:

Mija

dir. Isabel Castro

prod. Tabs Breese, Isabel Castro, Yesenia Tlahuel

Selected as part of the Next category
Premiering on Friday, January 21 
Get your tickets

With Doris’ voice as our guide, Mija uses VHS archive, verité footage, and camcorder vlogging to tell the story of two young women’s coming-of-age journeys as they look for success and belonging. The film is an immensely emotional and intimate portrait honoring the resilience of immigrants and their children. 

Midwives

dir. & prod. Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing

prods. Bob Moore, Ulla Lehmann, Mila Aung-Thwin

Selected as part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition 
Premiering on Monday, January 24 
Get your tickets

Hla and Nyo Nyo are two midwives that work side by side in a makeshift medical clinic in western Myanmar, where the Rohingya (a Muslim minority community) are persecuted and denied basic rights. Filmed over three tumultuous years, their remarkable relationship reveals both tensions and the hope inherent in their common cause.

From the AlumNest

AlumNest filmmakers are soaring into Sundance’s program in the U.S. Documentary Competition to the World Cinema Documentary Competition:

• Descendant, directed by Margaret Brown, prods. Essie Chambers, Kyle Martin
• The Janes, directed by Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes, prods. Emma Pildes, Daniel Arcana, Jessica Levin
• TikTok, Boom., directed by Shalini Kantayya, prods. Ross M. Dinerstein. Shalini Kantayya, Danni Mynard
• To The End, directed by Rachel Lears, prod. Sabrina Schmidt Gordon
• The Martha Mitchell Effect, produced by Beth Levison, Judith Mizrachy, dirs. Anne Alvergue, Debra McClutchy 

A special shoutout to 2018 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Natalia Almada, whose 2002 short documentary film All Water Has a Perfect Memory,  will screen online as part of the “From the Collection” program, a line-up of 40 short films selected to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Sundance Institute. Ticket sales start Friday, December, 17.