Sundance Documentary Fund to Support 23 Projects With Over $1 Million in Grants

Sundance Institutes Documentary Fund will be supporting 23 selected independent documentary film projects this year through grants totaling over $1 million. This initiative has previously funded notable films including Oscar-nominated features Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, Minding the Gap and The Edge of Democracy.

In addition to shrinking budgets for commissioned docuseries and one-offs, there has been a dramatic decline in distribution deals for indie docs, making the Sundance Institute grant vital to the nonfiction community. Especially to those filmmakers in the docu space working on social issue documentaries.

This year, the documentaries awarded grants explore a large breadth subject matters from around the world, telling stories about Indigenous People and Native Americans, transgender youth, secrets of a familys lineage, people with disabilities and an untitled feature about Uvalde, Texas. Of the 23 films, six are in development, 14 are in production and three are in post-production.

The stories and themes explored by this incredibly talented group of artists beautifully embody Sundances spirit and the mission of our program today, said Paola Mottura, Documentary Film Fund director. These projects carry tremendous potential for narrative change and remind us of the vital importance of bold, risk-taking independent film for a healthy democracy and a thriving civil society.

The Documentary Fund grants are made possible by the Open Society Foundations, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Gucci, and the Kendeda Fund.

See below for the full list of 2023 Documentary Fund films.

The Beauty of the Donkey (Switzerland, France, Kosovo)

Director: Dea Gjinovci

Producers: Dea Gjinovci, Emma Lepers, Ilir Hasanaj

The Days I Would Like to Forget (Ukraine, France, Austria)

Directors: Alina Gorlova, Yelizaveta Smith, Simon Mozgovyi, Maksym Nakonechyi

Producers: Eugene Rachkovsky, Ralph Wieser, Nabil Bellahsene

Girl-Tubers (Brazil)

Director: Tali Yankelevich

Producer: Leonardo Mecchi

Looking at Ourselves (U.S.)

Director and Producer: Lourdes Portillo

My Mothers Tale (U.K.)

Director: Mizgin Arslan

Producers: Shirine Best, Avesta Kadire

Somebodys Gone (U.S.)

Directors: Cyrus Moussavi, Hubert Taylor

Producer: Brittany Nugent

In production:

The 3,000 Project (U.S.)

Director and Producer: Keith McQuirter

thats why He made momma (U.S.)

Directors: Lendl Tellington, Salome Sykes

Adams Apple (U.S.)

Director: Amy Jenkins

Producers: Brit Fryer, Amy Jenkins

Life After (U.S.)

Director: Reid Davenport

Producers: Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney

Listening to the World (Ukraine, Germany, Sweden)

Director: Yelizaveta Smith

Producers: Olga Beskhmelnytsina, Eugene Rachkovsky

Nixs (Mexico)

Director: Kani Lapuerta Laorden

Producer: Suleica Adriana Pineda Rodrguez

Our Seeds (Turkey, Germany)

Director: Erhan Ark

Producers: Meryem Yavuz, Manuel Rees, Frank Carsten Walter

Powwow People (U.S.)

Director: Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk/Pechanga)

Producers: John Cardellino, Adam Piron (Kiowa/Mohawk)

Redlight to Limelight (India)

Director: Bipuljit Basu

Producer: Nilotpal Majumdar

Remaining Native (U.S.)

Director: Paige Bethmann (Haudenosaunee)

Producers: Paige Bethmann, Jessica Epstein, Judd Erhlich

Untitled Yemen Project (Yemen, Netherlands, U.S.)

Directors and Producers: Sara Ishaq, Sonia Kennebeck

When They Were Here (U.S.)

Directors: Ivan MacDonald (Blackfeet), Ivy MacDonald (Blackfeet)

Producers: Ivan MacDonald, Mridu Chandra, Jessica Jane Hart

Widow Champion (Kenya)

Director: Zippy Kimundu

Producers: Zippy Kimundu, Heather Courtney

Will They Ever Come Back? (Colombia)

Director: ngela Carabal

Producers: Sandra Tabares-Duque, ngela Carabal

Post Production:

Ride with Delivery Workers (U.S.)

Director: Jing Wang

Producers: Jing Wang, Dr. Do Jun Lee, Annie Berman, Nicholas Wong

Untitled (Myanmar)

Director and Producer: Min Min Hein

Untitled Uvalde Documentary (U.S.)

Director: Anayansi Prado

Producers: Anayansi Prado, Mary Recine