2023 Summer Grant Finalists

After losing her relationship, income, home, and her dog, a heartbroken woman saves an injured day-old sparrow not realizing how he would change her life.

Finding Happy takes you on a journey across oceans to explore the healing power of connection told through other unlikely human-animal bonds. The film is centered around one tiny sparrow, named Happy, and how his rescue story became a beacon of hope for millions worldwide.

“The Water Between Us” is a short documentary set in Sub-Saharan Africa, where climate change has left 400 million people in a relentless struggle for clean water. Amid the heart-wrenching daily quest for water, hope emerges as communities witness the impact of a sustainable model designed to ensure a steady flow of clean water and flourishing agriculture. The film follows Pascalina, a courageous student from Wamba Rescue Center in Kenya, and Naomi, a resilient Maasai mother of six from the Osiligi Mara Foundation. Through their personal stories of transformation, these women and girls, once burdened by the water crisis, are now able to improve their lives and help their communities prosper.

Ride along side Spatial Energy Designer and Professional Organizer Eden Bright. This documentary series captures the raw experience of people transforming their lives…as they transform the energy of their space. Eden guides folx to the magical connection of Spatial Energy.

Known to many as the House Witch.

Through ergonomics of domestic household practices, Eden guides people to see that their needs can be met, when the needs are simplified. So what happens when people have an experience of Sufficiency and leave the suppressive patriarchal systems of consumerism? As we direct resources away from consumerism, we can redirect them to the upliftment of those who are disenfranchised.

Our world faces an existential environmental crisis. Planning to Turn the Tide will explore the role of planning in helping communities address the challenges of natural disasters and climate change. We interview planning and community leaders on both national and local levels. This film discusses major issues connected with climate change and development in hazardous areas, including social equity in disaster recovery. It uses examples and stories from communities across the nation, along the coast and in the heartland, and in areas vulnerable to wildfires and geological disasters and highlights the ways in which we rebuild and foster resilient recovery.

In November 2022, world leaders gathered at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt while activists protested outside the walls of COP27 to heighten the call for both climate justice and human rights. On the same weekend, Los Angeles-based electronica/soul trio Bootleg Orchestra flew to Seattle, WA to collaborate with vocalist Roger Rigor of timeless, iconic Filipino disco band VST & Company, to record a song highlighting the climate crisis. At the intersection of art and activism, this documentary gives viewers insight into their creative process of producing a song that calls on people to take action and build intergenerational and international solidarity.

"Touching the Sky" seeks to capture the power and essence of recreational partner acrobatics ("Acro"). Follow Chris, a blind lawyer, as he steps into the world of Acro and meets diverse individuals who challenge their own limitations and find profound connections through Acro in a post-pandemic world.

In the wake of her mother’s death, a woman grapples with her own identity and how generational trauma defines it. Navigating through a series of brief encounters with strangers who feel oddly familiar Maya must find her way out of the grief that has seemingly interrupted her life – leaving her frozen in the past both metaphorically and physically.

The bond between four conservative, religious young women is tested when faced with an unplanned pregnancy. Loyalty, friendship, and morality culminate in a fight to the death.

In central Istanbul stands the iconic Dogan Apartment. Its stained glass doors are a portal to a parallel universe its famed residents rarely leave. The exclusive escapism sought by its dwellers is a far cry from the harsh realities of today’s Turkey.

Unforeseen events quickly transpire. A devastating earthquake puts everyone on edge. Concerned about safety, some abruptly move out. Dogan isn't their fortress anymore. Once earthquake stress subsides, people quickly return to normal life but the looming election is consequential.

Offering a rare glimpse into this enigmatic building, the film depicts the country’s widening social and economic disconnects in one of its most turbulent periods.

To yank the United States back from the edge of a dangerous abyss, a badass peacebuilder and an unconventional marketing genius mastermind an ad campaign so audacious it commandeers the tools of conflict and flips them to fight for peace.

“Aimless” is a gripping psychological drama that revolves around a clinical psychologist who takes on a teenage client traumatized by episodes of sleep paralysis. As the psychologist delves deeper into the teen's condition, she uncovers spiritual truths and embarks on a journey to rescue him from the mastermind invading his dreams.

"Aimless" is a captivating and suspenseful psychological drama that carries a powerful spiritual message at its core. To be directed by Cyrus Richardson.

LOGLINE: An intimate look into two Native Hawaiian surfers fighting to protect their culture, autonomy and home break.

“Evidence of the Afterlife” is a film about the practice of evidential mediumship through the lives and experiences of world-renowned mediums Philip Dykes and Kerry McLeod. Evidential mediumship is a form of mediumship that gives proof that we survive physical death and our souls continue on in the afterlife or the “Spirit World”.

Logline:
A young Indian musician’s life is turned upside down when she loses her hearing and must confront a new reality of life beyond sound.

Premise:
TUNER is a coming-of-age drama following a young South Asian piano player and singer, Lakshmi, whose world turns upside while performing a devotional song with her mother at their local Jain temple. She suddenly can't sing on pitch. In a fit of rage, she storms out the temple and gets hit by a car in the parking lot.
During her visit with the doctor, she discovers she needs hearing aids, but her parents can't afford them due to lack of insurance coverage.
Will Lakshmi be able to continue her love for music?

In 2015, three Muslim-American students were executed while eating dinner in their home in Chapel Hill, NC. The film charts the victims’ families’ agonizing overnight pivot from trauma to advocacy as they struggle to prevent their loved ones’ deaths from being dismissed as the result of a random parking dispute. They courageously speak the truth about the hate crime that has destroyed their lives, about the overt and insidious ways racism plays out in our society and about the need to reform a hate crime system that is broken.

Sacramento is known for the Gold Rush, the western end of the Pony Express, the First Transcontinental Railroad, its many waterways and it's the capitol of California. But did you know that its first responders have been a vital part of the community sine the mid 1800's. This film explores the vital history of it's first responders. It highlights a charity football game spanning 50 years that started a national craze by pitting law enforcement and fire departments against each other on the gridiron while building strong relationships in the community. The film will also included segments of the day-to-day life of first responders, its many alumni and the 50th PigBowl-Guns and Hoses Game.

"We Swim among Oceans" features six young Chinese poets who write across languages and regions. The film attempts to create a nautical chart of these “once global villagers” from China, to further comprehend the struggle of the young Chinese generation, their relationships with nations, trauma, and their own voices. The project has been selected to MIT Open Doc Lab's fellowship program.

"Revelations of Divine Love" is a true story about a woman working outside the confines of a male-dominated institution during an era of economic, political, and social upheaval. Julian is 30 years old, living at home, and dying of a mysterious illness when she experiences three days of extraordinary visions. Moved by these “showings,” she adopts the life of a religious recluse, and spends her ensuing years recording her experience in an accessible language her community will understand. Our film tells Julian's story by drawing on her first-hand account, completed 650 years ago, which became the first book in English written by a woman.