Jenny Deller and Kristin Fairweather will receive a $25,000 production grant, and participate in Film Independent�s 2009 Producers Lab, as well as receive year-round support from the organization.
The grant is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which seeks to create and develop new scripts and films about science and technology, and to see them into commercial production with national and international distribution.
The other 8 2009 Producers Lab filmmakers and projects are:
1. Charlene Agabao’s “Mosquita y Mari” � A timid 15-year-old Chicana�s life changes when she develops a complex friendship with the rebellious new girl in her East Los Angeles neighborhood.
2. Graciela Muraida-Del Toro’s “Mullet” � For the Frank family, a mullet is a rite of a passage, but for 16-year-old Danny Frank, it�s a social death sentence.
3. Lynne Littman’s “The Spirit Catches You” � In 1980�s Merced, California, the beliefs of a traditional Hmong family collide with those of American doctors trying to treat their epileptic child. The film is based on Anne Fadiman�s National Book Critics Circle Award-winning non-fiction tome The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.
4. Tom Putnam and Jeff Malmberg’s “The Unexpected” � A mail order bride must survive the winter with the man who tried to kill her during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. The film is based on the short story by Jack London.
5. David Newsom’s “Tallulah” � A rootless young woman steals a baby and passes it off as her own child, transforming the lives of three women.
6. Chase B. Kenney ‘s “Jefferson Kings” � Attempting to share in the limelight with his golden-boy older brother Truck, starry-eyed freshman Ted seeks initiation into a group of boys called �The Kings� by joining a contest to have sex with freshman girls. But as corruption beneath The Kings is revealed, Ted must expose the ugly truth about the brother he once idolized.
7. Jeff Seymann’s “El Flaco” � When a street-smart Chicano teenager falls for the daughter of a man he and his father murdered, the boy must choose between loyalty to his family and loyalty to his heart.
8. An Tran’s “Things We�ve Made” � Set in the near future, a human clone shattered by a recent diagnosis of lung cancer, embarks on a journey to find his originator.
Film Independent is a non-profit arts organization that champions independent film and supports a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation, and uniqueness of vision. For more information: www.FilmIndependent.org
