Congrats to two projects we’ve been following since last year, that have been selected as winners of the San Francisco Film Society / Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking grants (SFFS/KRF), totaling $340,000, awarded to narrative feature films at any stage of production.
Eight filmmaking teams were selected from 12 finalists, and granted a total of $340,000 in funding – said to be the largest amount disbursed to date – to help with their next stage of production, from screenwriting to post.
Past winners of SFFS/KRF grants include familiar names and projects like Ryan Coogler and his debut feature Fruitvale; as well as Benh Zeitlin’s debut, Beasts of the Southern Wild – both big Sundance Film Festival winners.
So maybe equally significant successes may be waiting for Jonas Carpignano, who received $45,000 for pre-production on and his feature film debut A Chjana, which follows a young Burkinabe man who leaves his native Burkina Faso in search of a better life, making the perilous journey to Italy, only to find he’s unprepared for the intolerance facing immigrants in that country; and Tommy Oliver, who received $85,000 for post-production for his feature film debut 1982, which is based on a true story that revolves around a black father whose wife suffers from a crack cocaine addiction, and his efforts to protect his 10-year old daughter from having to experience life as the child of a drug addicted mother, while also trying to help her (the mother/his wife) become clean again.
Both projects are on S&A’s watchlist for the 2013/2014 period.
Congrats to both filmmakers! I’m certainly looking forward to seeing both films.