Roy W. Dean Grant Spring 2025 Finalists
Congratulations to the films selected to be Roy W. Dean Grant Spring Finalists.
25 films were chosen as finalists. On this page, we give each filmmaker the opportunity to tell the world about their film. They choose the pictures and loglines. Some may choose not to reveal their projects on this page and we respect their wishes.
Since 1992, From the Heart Productions has supported filmmakers with cash and substantial professional discounts from our film industry partners, averaging an estimated $30,000 per filmmaker. The Roy W. Dean grants program, with several annual deadlines, has grown into one of the most sought after competitions in the world.
The Roy W. Dean Grant funds unique films that make a contribution to society. It gives filmmakers with great stories told with passion the funding to get their projects started or completed.
2025 Spring Grant Finalists
Time Passage
Documentary
Time Passage is a 31-year-old neighborhood bar in Shanghai, a beloved refuge for generations of creatives and intellectuals since its founding in 1994. It has been the spiritual go-to for at least four generations of creatives and intellectuals permanently or temporarily dwelled in this international city where everything changes so fast. The film is interwoven with vignettes from diverse bars across China’s vast landscapes: lavish nightclubs where Gen Z spends thousands of dollars on a single booth, humble dollar-beer spots for laid-off workers in the north, and reggae bars hidden among the mountains of the Tibetan plateau.
26 Seconds USA Docuseries
Documentary
https://26secondsdoc.com
26 Seconds USA docuseries highlights the heartbreaking stories of young women who were trafficked as children from right here in our own backyard in the USA. The story is told from the survivors’ point of view and the horrors of their captivity. Episode 1, The Border crisis is a poignant and unapologetic episode that will deliver a compelling and emotional journey shedding light on survivors’ stories, with expert testimony from law enforcement, DA’s, politicians, and non-profit organizations, who rescue and restore victims from the sex trade to Create Awareness and a Call to Action with the purpose of ultimately destroying this horrific worldwide industry.
For more info: 26secondsdoc.com
Roy W. Dean Spring Previous Grant Winners
2024 – Connie Bottinelli for Driving Mrs. M (Documentary)
2023 – Jenn Lindsay for Minding Shadows (Documentary)
2022 – Sheila Ganz for Piece of Mind (Documentary)
2021 – Michael Camoin for Scared to Debt (Documentary)
2020 – Michael Culyba for Keeper of Time (Documentary)
2019 – Justin Lerner & Mauricio Escobar for El Cadejo Blanco (Narrative Feature)
2018 – Rémi Kessler, Robert Mc Falls, and Linda Othenin-Girard for The Advocate
2017 – Erika Cohn for Belly of the Beast
2016 – Malina Fagan and Lynn Pelletier for The Coverup
2015 – Karen Day for Girl From God’s Country
2014 – Jen Senko for The Brainwashing of My Dad
2013 – Helen Hall for Pictures of Infinity
2012 – Suzanne Mitchell for Running Wild
2011 – Beth Harrington for The Winding Stream
2010 – Cathryne Czubek for A Girl & A Gun
2009 – Chad A. Stevens for Coal War
2008 – Melissa Montero for Our Women Our Struggle
2007 – Shawn Batey for The Changing Face of Harlem
2006 – Alice Hurwitz & Jeff Morgan for Lilly & Leander, A Legacy of Violence
2005 – Eric Gottlieb for Wakefield Convicted, Sentenced to Die
2004 – Muriel Stockdale for NYC Spirit
2003 – Rebecca Dreyfus for Stolen
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