Ten years ago today, Gfi announced the recipients of the inaugural granting program, and look at them now...The Global Film Initiative announced its most recent grant recipients from the Winter 2012 granting cycle. The list of grantees features 11 works from both emerging and established filmmakers, representing 10 different countries around the world, and each project demonstrates great promise and vision. As Susan Weeks Coulter, Founder and Board Chair, said in the announcement: "We are pleased to identify and support these eleven unique and powerful narratives."
Celebrating a decade in international independent film funding with this most recent granting cycle. Ten years ago to the day, the very first round of grantees were announced on May 16, 2003. In celebration of this milestone, they are taking a look back on the films Gfi has funded over the years.
Again and again, their grantees represent filmmakers who are not afraid to challenge convention--to make sometimes dangerous, but always fiercely truthful, statements about the society and the world that reflect them. These films often represent new perspectives and voices in storytelling--voices which are too often silenced or misrepresented in the mainstream--and hold promise in heralding a new generation of filmmakers.
Click to view the interactive map!10 Years in The Global Film Initiative Granting Program:
The Global Film Initiative granting program distributes 15-20 filmmaker awards annually. Since 2003, The Global Film Initiative has awarded 143 grants to 58 nations.
Numbers By Nation:
By Region: North Africa--8 (5.6%), Sub-Saharan Africa--19 (13.3%), East Asia--9 (6.3%), Central Asia--5 (3.5%), Southeast Asia--16 (11.2%), South Asia--9 (6.3%), Middle East--21 (14.7%), Latin America--44 (30.7%), Eastern Europe--11 (7.7%), Caribbean--1 (0.7%)
Fun fact!
Argentina is the nation with the most Gfi grants at 11 awards!
Did you know?
Gfi's list of Winter 2013 grantees features the first grants to Mauritius (David Constantin's Sugarcane Shadows) and Tibet (Sonthar Gyal's The Stone With Nine Eyes)!
Hearalding New Voices:
Only a sliver of perspectives are represented in most films that get funding and are produced. Gfi works to broaden the horizons of American film-goers by supporting and distributing independent, international cinema--introducing previously unheard voices through film.
In particular, despite the often under-representation of women's voices in film and media, we are fortunate to have received many women filmmaker applicants; roughly 30% of our grants were awarded to women filmmakers in the last ten years.
Gfi also acts as a spring board for new storytellers: roughly 30% of Gfi's grants have gone to the first feature films of filmmakers, male or female. Gfi has continually provided access to new stories and storytelling in cinema since its first round of grantees, all of which were debut features: Buffalo Boy, Hollow City, On Each Side, and Another Man's Garden.
Filmmaker Maria João Ganga Breaking Boundaries:
Of their incredible list of grantees, a few films and filmmakers stand out for their sheer courage and innovation. The Global Film Initiative is proud to stand by and support these incredible works and individuals.
Hollow City, dir. Maria João Ganga. Among the first ever grant recipients, Ganga's incredible story of one war orphan's journey across the dangerous landscape of post-war Luanda is not only just the second film to be made after the end of Angola's civil war in 1991. It is also the very first film to be made by an Angolan woman ever.
Ramchand Pakistani, dir. Mehreen Jabbar. This film, a Spring 2007 grantee, about a young boy who accidentally crosses the border between Pakistan and India, is one of the first Pakistani films to feature Hindu main characters.
Karaoke, dir. Chris Chan Fui Chong. This film from Gfi's Winter 2009 grantees, which illustrates the changing climate of contemporary Malaysia through karaoke videos, was only the second Malaysian film to be featured at the Cannes Film Festival.
Colored Like The Night, dir. Agliberto Melendez. Gfi is proud to be supporting Dominican filmmaker Melendez's sophomore film about the final address of revolutionary mayoral candidate José Francisco Peña Gómez. His first film A One Way Ticket (1989) was the first full-length feature of the Dominican Republic!
Beatriz's War, dir. Bety Reis. This film, from the Summer 2011 grantees, is the first full-length feature film out of East Timor!
A scene from Cinema, Aspirins And VulturesAccolades:
Of the 143 projects that Gfi has funded, 75% of those completed are award-winning or nominated.
Did you know?
Of Gfi's grantees, the film with the highest number of awards is Cinema, Aspirins And Vultures with 29 film award wins!10 of the granted films have been submitted to the Academy Award's "Best Foreign Language Film" category! These films are: Cinema, Asprins And Vultures (Brazil's submission, 2006), I Am From Titov Veles (Macedonia's submission, 2009), Whisky (Uruguay's submission, 2004), The Buffalo Boy (Vietnam's submission, 2006), Border Cafe (Iran's submission, 2006), When I Saw You (Palestine's submission, 2012), Beauty (South Africa's submission, 2011), October (Peru's submission, 2010), Crab Trap (Columbia's submission, 2009), and Alive! (Albania's submission, 2009).
From supporting both the development of independent cinema around the world, to the hundreds of accolades these individual films have collectively received, they can't be more proud of their first decade of support--and cannot wait to see what Gfi's grantees accomplish in the next 10 years!
Celebrating a decade in international independent film funding with this most recent granting cycle. Ten years ago to the day, the very first round of grantees were announced on May 16, 2003. In celebration of this milestone, they are taking a look back on the films Gfi has funded over the years.
Again and again, their grantees represent filmmakers who are not afraid to challenge convention--to make sometimes dangerous, but always fiercely truthful, statements about the society and the world that reflect them. These films often represent new perspectives and voices in storytelling--voices which are too often silenced or misrepresented in the mainstream--and hold promise in heralding a new generation of filmmakers.
Click to view the interactive map!10 Years in The Global Film Initiative Granting Program:
The Global Film Initiative granting program distributes 15-20 filmmaker awards annually. Since 2003, The Global Film Initiative has awarded 143 grants to 58 nations.
Numbers By Nation:
By Region: North Africa--8 (5.6%), Sub-Saharan Africa--19 (13.3%), East Asia--9 (6.3%), Central Asia--5 (3.5%), Southeast Asia--16 (11.2%), South Asia--9 (6.3%), Middle East--21 (14.7%), Latin America--44 (30.7%), Eastern Europe--11 (7.7%), Caribbean--1 (0.7%)
Fun fact!
Argentina is the nation with the most Gfi grants at 11 awards!
Did you know?
Gfi's list of Winter 2013 grantees features the first grants to Mauritius (David Constantin's Sugarcane Shadows) and Tibet (Sonthar Gyal's The Stone With Nine Eyes)!
Hearalding New Voices:
Only a sliver of perspectives are represented in most films that get funding and are produced. Gfi works to broaden the horizons of American film-goers by supporting and distributing independent, international cinema--introducing previously unheard voices through film.
In particular, despite the often under-representation of women's voices in film and media, we are fortunate to have received many women filmmaker applicants; roughly 30% of our grants were awarded to women filmmakers in the last ten years.
Gfi also acts as a spring board for new storytellers: roughly 30% of Gfi's grants have gone to the first feature films of filmmakers, male or female. Gfi has continually provided access to new stories and storytelling in cinema since its first round of grantees, all of which were debut features: Buffalo Boy, Hollow City, On Each Side, and Another Man's Garden.
Filmmaker Maria João Ganga Breaking Boundaries:
Of their incredible list of grantees, a few films and filmmakers stand out for their sheer courage and innovation. The Global Film Initiative is proud to stand by and support these incredible works and individuals.
Hollow City, dir. Maria João Ganga. Among the first ever grant recipients, Ganga's incredible story of one war orphan's journey across the dangerous landscape of post-war Luanda is not only just the second film to be made after the end of Angola's civil war in 1991. It is also the very first film to be made by an Angolan woman ever.
Ramchand Pakistani, dir. Mehreen Jabbar. This film, a Spring 2007 grantee, about a young boy who accidentally crosses the border between Pakistan and India, is one of the first Pakistani films to feature Hindu main characters.
Karaoke, dir. Chris Chan Fui Chong. This film from Gfi's Winter 2009 grantees, which illustrates the changing climate of contemporary Malaysia through karaoke videos, was only the second Malaysian film to be featured at the Cannes Film Festival.
Colored Like The Night, dir. Agliberto Melendez. Gfi is proud to be supporting Dominican filmmaker Melendez's sophomore film about the final address of revolutionary mayoral candidate José Francisco Peña Gómez. His first film A One Way Ticket (1989) was the first full-length feature of the Dominican Republic!
Beatriz's War, dir. Bety Reis. This film, from the Summer 2011 grantees, is the first full-length feature film out of East Timor!
A scene from Cinema, Aspirins And VulturesAccolades:
Of the 143 projects that Gfi has funded, 75% of those completed are award-winning or nominated.
Did you know?
Of Gfi's grantees, the film with the highest number of awards is Cinema, Aspirins And Vultures with 29 film award wins!10 of the granted films have been submitted to the Academy Award's "Best Foreign Language Film" category! These films are: Cinema, Asprins And Vultures (Brazil's submission, 2006), I Am From Titov Veles (Macedonia's submission, 2009), Whisky (Uruguay's submission, 2004), The Buffalo Boy (Vietnam's submission, 2006), Border Cafe (Iran's submission, 2006), When I Saw You (Palestine's submission, 2012), Beauty (South Africa's submission, 2011), October (Peru's submission, 2010), Crab Trap (Columbia's submission, 2009), and Alive! (Albania's submission, 2009).
From supporting both the development of independent cinema around the world, to the hundreds of accolades these individual films have collectively received, they can't be more proud of their first decade of support--and cannot wait to see what Gfi's grantees accomplish in the next 10 years!
- 5/25/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Producers Network today and tomorrow accept seasoned producers to meet at roundtables hosted by such industry luminaries as Julie Bergeron who is responsible for exporting this version of the Pn from the Cannes Market, Clauia Landsberger who served 8 years as head of European Film Promotion, continues to head up Holland Film and is on the Berlinale selection committee, Alfredo Calvino head of the Mexican based Latinofusion who is awarding Us$60,000 to filmmakers in various competitions, Mexican line producer Carlos Taibo, Hugo Villa, and Strategic Partners' Jan Miller. Each in turn hosts an expert to discuss specific subjects with the participants around a table.
My choice on day one was Carlos Taibo's hosted table for Susan Weeks of the Global Film Initiative which Susan initially founded with Noah Cowan to promote cross-cultural understanding through the medium of cinema. Their model was based on the Hubert Bals Fund and it...
My choice on day one was Carlos Taibo's hosted table for Susan Weeks of the Global Film Initiative which Susan initially founded with Noah Cowan to promote cross-cultural understanding through the medium of cinema. Their model was based on the Hubert Bals Fund and it...
- 3/19/2010
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
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