Cinereach, the non-profit dedicated to supporting film-makers, has awarded grants totalling $250,000 to 12 films from a pool of 636 submissions.

The recipients are: Maryam Keshavarz for Circumstance (Iran); Andrew Berends for Delta Boys (Nigeria); Arielle Javitch for Look, Stranger (Serbia); Marlo Poras and Yu Ying Wu Chou for The Mosuo Sisters (China); David Redmon and Ashley Sabin’s Noah’s Ark (Russia-Japan); and Annie Waldman and Daniel Carbone’s Phantom Cowboys (US).

Rounding out the list are: Yance Ford’s Strong Island (US); Laurie Collyer’s Sunlight Jr (US); PJ Raval’s Untitled Gay Retiree Documentary (US); Jennifer Arnold’s Untitled Small Act Documentary (Kenya-Sweden-Switzerland); Erica Scharf’s Up Heartbreak Hill (US); and Tanaz Eshaghian’s The World In A Room (US).

The recipients include three fiction and nine nonfiction works-in-progress and the grants range from $15,000-$25,000.

“It was stunning to see so many worthy projects flood through our door and daunting to start making choices,” Cinereach grants manager Adella Ladjevardi said. “In the end, the projects that resonated with us most were those we felt nailed the intersection of visual artistry, engaging storytelling and topical vitality. Each also had characters or subjects who had us hanging on their every word.”

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