SFFS names 13 Doc Fund finallists

The finallists are: John Fiege for Above All Else; Jennifer Grausman and Sam Cullman for Art And Craft; Anne Bogart and Holly Morris for The Babushkas Of Chernobyl; Darius Clark Monroe for Evolution Of A Criminal; Jamie Meltzer for Freedom Fighters; Anne De Mare and Kristen Kelly for Homestretch; and Catherine Gund for How To Become An Extreme Action Hero.

The list continues with Geeta Patel and Ravi V Patel for One In A Billion; Hillevi Loven for Radical Love; Amir Soltani and Chihiro Wimbush for Redemption; Tracy Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo for Rich Hill; Andrew James for Street Fighting Man; and Jimmy Goldblum and Adam Weber for Tomorrow We Disappear.

The contenders were selected from more than 200 applicants and winners will be announced in late July.

The SFFS Documentary Film Fund has distributed $100,000 annually and was set up in 2011 to “tell compelling stories, have intriguing characters and utilise an innovative visual approach.” The fund supports feature documentaries in post.

Previous beneficiaries include Shaul Schwarz for Narco Cultura, Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson for American Promise and Zachary Heinzerlings for Cutie And The Boxer [pictured]. All three titles premiered at Sundance this year and the last two earned Sundance awards.

“The Doc Film Fund is a perfect example of SFFS’s work to provide critical backing to important films, giving their makers the ability to tell their stories completely free of market concerns and those kinds of pressures,” said SFFS executive director Ted Hope. “Without the tireless efforts of our Filmmaker360 staff and the inspiring and forward-thinking patronage of the funders that make our grant programmes possible, I truly believe this art form we all love would be in jeopardy.”