BURT

When You Can Watch: June 1

Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents

Director: Joe Burke

Cast: Catlin Adams, Burton Berger, Oliver Cooper

Why we’re excited: Two days with two guys, one of which is 69-year-old singer/songwriter Burt (Burton Berger) and the stranger claiming to be his son, Sammy (Oliver Cooper, Project X). Cooper also co-wrote the script with director Joe Burke (Four Dogs) with a dry wit and understated humor that mixes dreams and music with Parkinson’s disease and the neverending task of paying rent. Berger is the picture of a struggling artist, not giving into cynicism but also maybe too trusting and vulnerable to underhanded schemes. Not everyone in Burt’s life embraces Sammy’s arrival the way he has, and it becomes clear that Sammy has more than one reason for making an appearance at this point in time. Though the script is fictionalized, Burt is inspired by Berger’s own life. Burke met Berger at a Malibu restaurant fifteen years ago and felt compelled to bring his story to screen. “He’s special,” Burke told Arizona’s Family, “his music is special, his soul is awesome.”

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

When You Can Watch: June 5

Where You Can Watch: Select Theaters and Streaming

Director: Miguel Ángel Jiménez

Cast: Willem Dafoe, Vic Carmen Sonne, Emma Suárez

Why we’re excited: Spanish filmmaker Miguel Ángel Jiménez (Window to the Sea), adapts Panos Karnezis’s 2007 novel into this lavish tragedy set in the 1970s. Come away to a private Mediterranean island, where the daughter of filthy rich Marcos Timoleon (Spirit Award winner Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse) is about to have the worst day of her young life. The birthday girl (Sofia, played by Vic Carmen Sonne, The Girl with the Needle) receives a hodgepodge of party guests that reads more like a networking mixer for billionaires than the friend group of a 25-year-old girl. Everyone here is under the thumb of her father, including – as we are about to understand to a heartbreaking degree – Sofia herself. Even Sofia’s step-mother, Olivia (Emma Suárez, Julieta) has attended the party with her lawyer, hoping to extricate herself from this family at last. But as one pivotal day unfolds, secrets and schemes unravel, pitting father and daughter against one another in a life-changing confrontation.

THE LITTLE SISTER 

When You Can Watch: June 5

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Writer/Director: Hafsia Herzi

Cast: Nadia Melliti, Park Ji-min, Amina Ben Mohamed

Why we’re excited: Nadia Melliti won Best Actress at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival for her first role as Fatima, the 17-year-old French-Algerian student starting university in Paris. French-Tunisian actress and filmmaker Hafsia Herzi (You Deserve a Lover) adapted the script from an autofictional novel by French-Algerian author Fatima Daas about coming of age as the youngest daughter of a Muslim family in the Paris suburbs. As Fatima explores her competing interests, identities and values, she has to make decisions about how she will handle her own life. “I want to shine a light on people we rarely see on screen,” Herzi told Variety. “I’ve rarely seen a proudly Queer North African character on screen, even though I know so many women like her. I had to tell her story.”

LEVITICUS

When You Can Watch: June 15

Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents

Writer/Director: Adrian Chiarella

Cast: Joe Bird, Stacy Clausen, Jeremy Blewitt

Why we’re excited: Australian filmmaker Adrian Chiarella’s debut feature tackles homophobia and conversion therapy in a romantic coming-of-age horror story. Joe Bird (Talk to Me) and Stacy Clausen (True Spirit) play Naim and Ryan, 17-year-olds in small town Australia. When the classmates kiss for the first time, it both opens up a world of excitement and a world of hurt – personified in the healer who arrives to cure them of their attraction. The ensuing ceremony seems to deal less with healing and more with summoning supernatural forces to test and execute punishment on either boy who succumbs to temptation. The only safe move is to stay away from each other, since the avenging angels that haunt the young lovers do so by taking on their own form. Though Naim never knows if the object of his desire is actually Ryan or the imposter spirit (and vice versa), the intensity of their feelings  makes it impossible to stay away.

GAIL DAUGHTRY AND THE CELEBRITY SEX PASS

When You Can Watch: June 22

Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents

Director: David Wain

Cast: Jon Hamm, Zoey Deutch, Miles Gutierrez-Riley

Why we’re excited: David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer) highlights the personality and distinctive features of Los Angeles in his latest zany comedy about a small-town hairdresser (Zoey Deutch, Nouvelle Vague) whose soon-to-be husband has just invoked a celebrity sex pass to sleep with an icon he might never expect to meet in Kansas. Now in order to save her relationship, Gail has to even the score. Accompanied by her gay best friend Otto (Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Smile 2) and accruing teammates along the way, Gail scours LA in a quest for Jon Hamm and the kind of payback only he can offer. Gail’s wedding is only two weeks away, and the usual jitters are heightened by Gail’s LA adventures, including run-ins with paparazzi, CAA, a former Mad Men costar, and – perhaps inevitably – assassins. Can Gail question everything and reach a result that is truly satisfying?

MADDIE’S SECRET

When You Can Watch: June 23

Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents

Writer/Director: John Early

Cast: John Early, Eric Rahill, Kate Berlant

Why we’re excited: Comic actor John Early (Search Party) wrote, directed and starred in this comedic tribute to TV movies and glowy nostalgia. Inspired by an LA screening of one such movie of the week starring Tori Spelling and Kellie Martin, Early embraced the potential of low budget production to explore the strange new world of food influencing (and fulfill his lifelong dream to play a classic ingenue). Maddie Ralph (played by Early) is a great chef – at home. She is too intimidated to cook for anyone but her husband (Eric Rahill, Friendship) and best friend, Deena (Kate Berlant, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood). But a chance video post goes viral, throwing Maddie in the spotlight at the trendy content creation company where she works. Now promoted to onscreen talent, Maddie must face her stressful new career alongside her old struggle with bulimia. Film Independent members Tyler Boehm and Chris Quintos Cathcart are executive producers.

GIRLS LIKE GIRLS

When You Can Watch: June 

Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents

Director: Hayley Kiyoko

Cast: Maya da Costa, Myra Molloy, Zach Braff

Why we’re excited: When pop star Hayley Kiyoko recorded her song, Girls Like Girls in 2015, she told US Weekly, “I loved the idea of how all these guys always are stealing other guys’ girls and I was like, ‘There’s no female anthem for a girl stealing another guy’s girl,’ and that is the coolest thing ever.” Now Kiyoko’s directorial debut picks up the thread, following a music video in 2015 and a YA novel in 2023. The coming-of-age love story focuses on Coley (Maya de Costa, Under the Bridge) who is 17 and newly bereaved. Moving to rural Oregon to live with her estranged father (played by Zach Braff, Spirit Award winning Garden State), she is starting over. But meeting the popular and glamorous Sonya (Myra Molloy, He’s All That) awakens new feelings in both of them, introducing a summer of discovery.

THE INVITE

When You Can Watch: June 26

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Olivia Wilde

Cast: Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton

Why we’re excited: After her Spirit Award winning Booksmart, Olivia Wilde’s venture into marital sex comedy features four well-known faces in indie cinema. One night, one apartment, for a dinner party that is probably not the real reason for said invitation. Wilde (Don’t Worry Darling) and Spirit Award nominee Seth Rogen (The Studio) play a couple in a shaky marriage. Intrigued by the overheard pleasures of their upstairs neighbors, Angela (Wilde) takes advantage of the fact that her teenage daughter is away and invites the couple over for dinner. Enter Pina and Hawk (Spirit Award winner Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Spirit Award nominee Edward Norton, Birdman), the comparatively suave and exciting therapist and ex-fighter, respectively. The evening unfolds with tension that gives way to a comedic exploration of long-term relationships, and taking the bitter with the sweet. Film Independent members Alex Astrachan and Chelsea Barnard are executive producers.

ROMERÍA

When You Can Watch: June 26

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Writer/Director: Carla Simón

Cast: Llúcia Garcia, Mitch Martín, Tristán Ulloa

Why we’re excited: The family drama from Spanish filmmaker Carla Simón (Alcarràs) stems from her frustration and pain in reconstructing her own family history. Growing up in the 80s and 90s as an orphan of AIDS put Simón in an odd relationship with extended family, and with herself. In Romería, Marina (newcomer Llúcia Garcia) is an easy-going teen on a fact-finding mission in order to complete her university grant application. With her mother’s diary as a guide, Marina meets extended family on Spain’s Atlantic coast and begins to uncover secrets, including details about her parents that were previously unknown. Simón credits the visual medium of film for her own healing in recreating her personal story. “When you can’t shape your identity through others, you can invent it through creation,” she told Cannes. “Cinema is there for that: creating images that don’t exist.”

PROGRAMMER’S PICK: CORONER TO THE STARS

When You Can Watch: May 20

Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents

Directors: Ben Hethcoat, Keita Ideno

Cast: Thomas Noguchi, George Takei, Janice Hahn

Why we’re excited: From Film Independent Lead Programmer Jenn Wilson–

Ben Hethcoat and Keita Ideno’s first foray into feature documentary territory is a fascinating tale of LA’s most famous coroner, Dr. Thomas Noguchi who served as Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner from 1961-1982.  Dr. Noguchi worked on some of LA’s most notorious death investigations including Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Robert F. Kennedy, William Holden, and the Manson Murders.  Despite his exemplary work, Noguchi stirred up controversy when he would give press conferences and release the truthful details of celebrity deaths; something that offended the Hollywood Studio System who was secretive about such information.  Dr. Noguchi survived one early attempt by the LA Board of Supervisors to remove him, but he didn’t survive the second attempt.  Despite his demotion, he dutifully served LA County as a medical examiner for several years after.  Hethcoat and Ideno’s film is an intriguing exploration of a man of science and truth stuck in an extremely political office that shifts with the tide of opinion.

KEY

Film Independent Fellow or Member

Film Independent Presents Screening, Q&A

Microbudget

Filmmaker or Lead Characters of Color

Film Independent Spirit Award Winner or Nominee

Female Filmmaker

LGBT Filmmaker or Lead LGBT Characters

First-time Filmmaker

LA Film Festival Winner or Nominee

Featured Image – The Birthday Party; Courtesy Fasten Films

For over 40 years, Film Independent has helped filmmakers get their projects made and seen. The nonprofit organization’s core mission is to champion creative independence in visual storytelling in all its forms, and to foster a culture of inclusion. We support a global community of artists and audiences who embody diversity, innovation, curiosity and uniqueness of vision. To support our mission with a donation, click here.

Keep up with Film Independent…

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Events
• Letterboxd
• Newsletter

The post Don’t Miss Indies: What to Watch in June appeared first on Film Independent.

The YouTube to theatrical horror pipeline is interesting for several reasons. Filmmakers from all over the world, especially in the independent space, should be taking notes.

For starters, it’s important to note that horror creators have always utilized the Internet as a launchpad. Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project’s respective viral marketing campaigns catapulted those low budget films to historic success. David F. Sandberg and Fede Álvarez posted short films online that led to fruitful careers. The Terrifier films used social media marketing to become a cult hit. Now, Obsession’sdirector Curry Barker and Backrooms creator Kane Parsons are using YouTube as a proving ground for the next wave of horror auteurs. They follow in the footsteps of the Philippou brothers, who built a YouTube following that led to A24’s highest-grossing horror film (so far).

YouTube gives filmmakers the opportunity to prove themselves, no connections or film school required. You can make something for not a lot of money and distribute it for free. This shows investors you know how to work within a budget. It’s also a way to practice your craft and develop your visual storytelling style. Furthermore, your content acts as a proof-of-concept that helps sell your project to buyers. One great thing about the Internet is how it allows niche voices and stories to find a global audience. You can take your specific brand straight to the audience, rather than catering to studio parameters to secure a release.

YouTube has always been a distribution platform for filmmakers, but as this latest wave proves, it’s also a way to build an audience. In today’s climate, this is critical. Distributors and producers often speak of the challenges in bringing younger audiences to theaters, but these creators have leveraged the very thing competing for their attention – the Internet – to do just that. Obsession has brought Gen Z to the theater in droves, posting one of the biggest second weekend spikes at the box office. During a Future of Filmmaking panel at Cannes, three experts in film finance discussed what they consider ‘the new reality of financing: rather than evaluating individual films on their artistic merits, investors now need to see a pre-existing relationship with an audience.’ As the careers of Kane Parsons, Curry Barker, and the Philippou brothers showcase, YouTube is a great place to start.

The Philippou brothers grew up in a working-class suburb in Adelaide, far away from Hollywood, where they started posting homemade videos on their YouTube channel RackaRacka. Danny Philippou described it as ‘very specific content for a very specific audience’. The twins channeled their shared love of wrestling and backyard stunts into action-driven videos that highlighted their horror comedy sensibilities. Their first successful video reached 7 million views in a week, and the channel now has close to 7 million subscribers. After making contacts in the Adelaide film scene on the set of Jennifer Kent’s Babadook, the Philippou brothers made their directorial debut with Talk To Me, a film that grossed $92 million worldwide off a $4.5 million budget. This current highest grossing horror film for A24 now has a sequel in development.

Curry Barker’s stratospheric success began with his sketch comedy group, ‘that’s a bad idea’. Formed with Cooper Tomlinson, the duo found an audience by posting short comedy and horror films on YouTube. Similar to the Philippou brothers, Barker used this as a way to hone his craft, calling it his ‘film school outside of film school’. He made his first feature, Milk & Serial, for $800 over four months. After Barker was unable to secure traditional distribution for the film, he decided to put it up on YouTube, where it became a viral sensation and got him agents at UTA. But it’s his sophomore feature, Obsession, that catapulted Barker to his current status as one of the most in-demand horror filmmakers today. After stoking audiences’ appetites at the Toronto Film Festival, the film was acquired by Focus for $15 million. Released May 15, it’s already grossed over $80 million worldwide off a $750,000 budget. Riding high, Barker is signed up for a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie with A24, has a new original film already in post called Anything But Ghosts, and was recently offered $10 million for his next original project by a studio, sight unseen. Talk about bypassing the gatekeepers.

Kane Parsons, the youngest filmmaker of the bunch at 20, calls YouTube a cultural reference point for his generation. Like Barker and the Phillippou bros, it allowed him to develop his creative sensibilities. Parsons posted his viral short The Backrooms (Found Footage), on his YouTube channel Kane Pixels when he was just 16. He followed this up with an entire web series for the concept that showcased his VFX skills and further developed its lore and audience base. This impressive world-building led to a feature adaptation with A24, starring Oscar nominees Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renata Reinsve, which is tracking a $45 million plus opening weekend. Parsons self-taught himself VFX in middle school using— what else— YouTube tutorials. He believes artists need little more than a ‘brain’ to find a way to make something, and wants to see more of this innovative spirit in action. If the current boon of original horror films is any indication, cinephiles around the world would agree.

YouTube is a way to hone your skills, create a product, and find an audience. These filmmakers’ online subscribers are following them to the theater, turning their debut features into unprecedented hits. But the takeaways from their successes are relevant to any filmmaker, regardless of what genre they gravitate towards. If nothing else, YouTube can be a way to find your people. It’s also, importantly, a way to sidestep the traditional gatekeepers guarding a gate that feels increasingly narrow and too crowded to fit through.

The Hollywood Reporter encapsulated it perfectly: “’The moment is here,’ says one studio head. ‘YouTube is blessing these filmmakers and we are struggling to catch up. Right now, it’s about us not being second to the party.’” As usual, the system has realized too-late what creators and platforms like YouTube understood all along: we don’t need permission.

Film Independent promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work. To support our work with a donation, please click here. Become a Member of Film Independent here.

Featured Image: Backrooms. Courtesy of A24

Keep up with Film Independent…

• X
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Events
• Letterboxd
• Newsletter

The post How YouTube Helped Indie Filmmakers Make Horror Hits ‘Backrooms’ & ‘Obsession’ appeared first on Film Independent.

The re-imagined show takes the legacy of the Media Access Awards, which recognized artists and industry leaders who have advanced authentic portrayals of disability and expanded opportunities for disabled talent across entertainment, and expands it to reflect the growing momentum around inclusion, accessibility, and representation across all forms of media, while calling attention to the work yet to be done.

Under its new structure, the DARCY’S will be introducing a competitive nominations process, where nominees will be announced prior to the ceremony, and winners will be revealed at the awards show event. Categories will include Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Performance in a Feature, Best Scripted Series, Best Unscripted Series, Best Performer in a Series, and Best Social Creator. The awards will also include Achievement in Casting Ensemble, the Legacy Award, and the Christopher Reeve Emerging Talent Award.

Easterseals, the largest nonprofit provider of disability services as well the leading disability advocacy organization,created a Disability Advisory Committee, a talented group of disabled individuals who work in the industry to guide the evolution of the Awards. The committee is led by co-chairs Emily Ladau and Nicole Lynn Evans, and includes members Jamie Brewer, Christine Bruno, Lawrence Carter-Long, Ashley Eakin, Danny J. Gomez, CJ Jones, Danny Kurtzman, Lachi, Jim LeBrecht, Sue Ann Pien, and Lolo Spencer.

The rebrand is a significant shift in scale, visibility and integration. The ceremony will take place Saturday, October 10 at The Historic Barker Hangar in Santa Monica and will air live around the world on YouTube and in Los Angeles on PBS SoCal with rebroadcast on PBS stations nationwide. The DARCY’S visual identity was created by Pentagram, and submissions and digital screening services will be provided by Vision Media. The show will be Executive Produced by Shawn Davis, Executive Producer of the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

“For over four decades, Film Independent has championed a culture of inclusion in storytelling. Partnering with Easterseals Disability Services on the Easterseals Disability Arts & Culture Awards is a natural reflection of this mission,” said Davis. “Together, we’re not just celebrating great storytelling; we’re redefining who gets to tell those stories and how they are told.”

Nominees will be determined by industry committees composed of filmmakers, critics, past Media Access Awards honorees, and industry guild and nonprofit organization representatives. Nomination eligibility includes specific requirements ensuring that the disability inclusion is substantive, sustained, and integral to the work being recognized. Accessibility, including captioning and audio description, will be a key component of the submission and review process.

Submissions will open on Tuesday, June 16 and close on Tuesday, July 14.

For more information, visit socal.easterseals.com/darcyawards. Follow @DARCYAwards on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X.

Film Independent promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work. To support our work with a donation, please click here. Become a Member of Film Independent here.

Keep up with Film Independent…

• X
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Events
• Letterboxd
• Newsletter

The post Easterseals Disability Services & Film Independent Announce the Disability Arts & Culture Awards (The DARCYS) To Take Place October 10 appeared first on Film Independent.

Oh, and by the way, if you’re a Letterboxd user, we’ve logged all these films and everything else we’ve been screening over on the Film Independent Letterboxd page. Give us a follow!

PERFUMANIA (FKA Fior Di Latte)

Featuring: Writer/director Charlotte Ercoli, co-producer/actor Marta Pozzan and actor Tim Heidecker

Logline: Mark, a frustrated playwright, becomes addicted to huffing perfume to conjure up memories from his Italian summertime vacation. Mark becomes so consumed with chasing this high from the past, he completely neglects the present.

In The Interview: Moderated by On Cinema co-host Gregg Turkington, the Perfumania team talk about creating a uniquely vile character for Tim Heidecker, the magic of Kevin Kline’s musical number, and writer/director Charlotte Ercoli’s personal connections with the perfume industry.

OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR

Featuring:  Co-writer/director Oscar Boyson, co-writer Ricky Camilleri, and actors Jaeden Martell and Asa Butterfield, moderated by Scott Mantz (KTLA).

Where to Watch: Theaters

Logline: A headlong race through a world where success can be measured in engagement and tragedy has become content, Our Hero, Balthazar follows two neglected teens thrown together by a chance online encounter. Privileged yet lonely New Yorker Balthy (Jaeden Martell) Malone dreams of becoming a hero, while struggling Texan Solomon Jackson (Asa Butterfield) seeks recognition by posting violent threats. When Balthy, in an act of misguided heroism, travels to Texas in an attempt to befriend Solomon and avert a possible tragedy, he is drawn into a dangerous and thrilling new world. Despite their differences, both find refuge from their crushing loneliness in each other’s company, but for all Balthy’s good intentions, his decisions are driving them close to the precipice of disaster.

In The Interview: Director Oscar Boyson and co-writer Ricky Camilleri talk about finding their way into making a film about the tragedy of school shootings, and actors Jaeden Martell and Asa Butterfield discuss finding the humanity in such difficult characters.

BAIT

Featuring:  Creator/Co-Showrunner/Executive Producer/Actor Riz Ahmed, moderated by Tyler Coates (journalist)

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime

Logline: From Oscar and Emmy winner Riz Ahmed comes Bait, a comedy about Shah Latif, a struggling actor. His last chance to hit it big comes in the form of an audition of a lifetime. We follow him over the course of four wild days as his life spirals out of control and his family, ex-lover and the entire world weigh in on whether he is the right man for the job.

In The Interview: Riz Ahmed talks about being known more for drama, and showing his comedic side to a US audience, and wrestles with authenticity and the vulnerability of writing a (heightened) autobiographical series.

HUNTING MATTHEW NICHOLS

Featuring: Director/actor Markian Tarasiuk, writer/producer Sean Harris Oliver and actor Miranda MacDougall, moderated by Monse (Horror Creator).

Where to Watch: Theaters

Logline: Two decades after her brother’s mysterious disappearance on Vancouver Island, aspiring documentary filmmaker, Tara Nichols, sets out to solve his missing person’s case. When an unsettling piece of evidence is revealed, Tara and her film crew investigate the disturbing circumstances surrounding the case to discover the truth about what happened to her brother.

In The Interview: The creative team break down how they got a Canadian indie in theaters across the US, by reaching out directly to the big theater chains.

HAL & HARPER

Featuring:  Writer/director/actor Cooper Raiff and actor Lili Reinhart, moderated by Kevin McCarthy (Entertainment Journalist and Podcast Host, On Film… with Kevin McCarthy).

Where to Watch: MUBI

Logline:  From Cooper Raiff (Cha Cha Real Smooth) comes Hal & Harper, a wry and heartfelt eight-episode series about two siblings whose closeness is both their comfort and their curse. Hal (Raiff) and Harper (Lili Reinhart) have built their adult lives side by side in Los Angeles, tethered by a lifetime of inside jokes and shared pain. When their father (Mark Ruffalo) announces he’s having a baby with his girlfriend, Kate (Betty Gilpin), it forces the siblings to reexamine their past and reckon with the versions of themselves they’ve carried into adulthood. As the lines blur between closeness and codependence, memory and reality, the series explores how a bond formed in childhood can shape every relationship that comes after – for better or worse.

In The Interview: Lili Reinhart talks about moving on, from her past TV projects, and from home, both in the series, and in real life.

Film Independent Artist Development promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work. To support our work with a donation, please click here. Become a Member of Film Independent here.

Keep up with Film Independent…

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Events
• Letterboxd
• Newsletter

The post VIDEO: Riz, Lili & the ‘Balthazar’ Boys Star In a Q&A Packed Spring appeared first on Film Independent.

What started with attending a crowdfunding workshop to get his first project off the ground, ended up being a career long relationship, including becoming a Project Involve Fellow in 2021.

The LA based writer/director has made a career making shorts like Cross, about a young Filipino-American backyard boxer in the San Fernando Valley, and Vivir, a horror about an down on her luck artist who encounters a vampire, available now on Amazon Prime, and Show Me How to Die, currently on the festival circuit.

On top of being an accomplished writer/director, Maravilla now mentors youth with our Education Department, and in a full-circle moment, has even taught the same crowdfunding workshop that as an attendee, first introduced him to Film Independent.

Let’s start with your background. Where are you from, and what got you interested in movies and independent cinema?

I grew up in the San Fernando Valley here in Southern California. I didn’t really know that film was something accessible to me. I come from more of a working-class background. My dad is a plumber who came from Mexico when he was seventeen, and my mom worked in public education until she retired. So I had no idea. We didn’t have AC growing up, and it gets to be around a hundred degrees in the summer, so we spent our summers at the movies. I just loved going and felt it was something we could all share culturally together. I became a huge film fan.

It wasn’t until I went to Occidental College that I actually took a film class and used a video camera for the first time and got to make films. Initially I was going to be a political science major, but once I took that film class, it changed everything I wanted to do. I couldn’t think of a time in my life when a politician had genuinely changed someone’s mind, but I could think of times when a film had shifted people’s perceptions. It felt like a better way to make a difference.

What happened after college? You’ve built a strong body of short films. Can you walk me through that?

After I graduated, I was fortunate that my professor’s brother was Mike Mills, so I was able to get an internship on his film. Through that, I started working on different TV shows and movies to understand how larger productions work. I became an office PA on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. But production hours are pretty crazy, twelve, fourteen hour days, and I didn’t have much time to make my own work.

I really wanted to make a short film again. I had noticed a real disparity between people who had gone to USC, AFI, or NYU, especially at the graduate level ,and those who hadn’t. So I set out to make a film called Cross, based on my childhood friend, a Filipino-American kid who gets into backyard boxing in the San Fernando Valley. That’s partly how I discovered Film Independent’s resources. I learned about a crowdfunding workshop they offered in partnership with Seed&Spark, and I went. It was one of the few times I walked away with actionable things I could actually do.

I don’t have a wealthy relative I can call to fund a movie, so I launched the Seed&Spark campaign, raised $15,000, made the short, and premiered it at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival. I built a real community around the film through the crowdfunding effort.

That ultimately led to me working at Seed&Spark, eventually becoming their head of crowdfunding — essentially doing professionally what I had gone to Film Independent to learn. Film Independent was genuinely instrumental at that stage, both in making that film and in my next career step.

Tell me about your experience with Project Involve.

Working as a junior executive at a startup is very demanding. I was traveling a lot and wasn’t creating as much, so I stepped away at the end of 2019. I wanted to make a film in 2020. The world had other plans, of course.

I had a history with Francisco Velasquez. I learned that Francisco Velasquez from Film Independent was an Occidental alum, and he was really kind to me. He read through an early draft of my boxing short Cross (2016). While I had been rejected from Project Involve twice as a Writer/Director, I used 2020 to focus seriously on writing, and was then accepted into the 2021 cohort as a Screenwriting Fellow.

Through Project Involve, I met Evelyn Martinez, who has been a great producing partner. She produced the short I wrote in the program and then encouraged me to make — and produced — the next two shorts I did in succession. The last one was through the Latino Film Institute’s Inclusion Fellowship in partnership with Netflix. Film Independent was again a real catalyst for pushing things forward for me.

What brought you to working with our Education Department, and why you think it’s important to educate the next generation?

I often think back to what it was like growing up and how inaccessible film felt to me. How intimidated I was by cameras, by video editing. Equipment was harder to come by back then. I always wonder what would have happened if someone had given me an opportunity earlier to practice those skills.

I had some experience mentoring before. I was a screenwriting mentor for the Youth Cinema Project through the Latino Film Institute. So when Film Independent reached out to me to participate, it just felt right.

There’s also something about filmmaking that can feel very consuming and self-focused, given how resource-demanding it is. And being honest, it can sometimes feel selfish. So there’s real gratification in giving back, in helping people understand what careers are possible and that they can actually do it, they just need to try.

It’s been great working with Sarah and others on the education team; to go to public schools and charter schools across Los Angeles, and feel like the lessons I learned the hard way can actually be helpful to other people, maybe pushing them to pursue something that they hadn’t thought about before.

Is there a particular event or feature of the Film Independent membership that you get the most out of?

I always love being able to go to the screenings. That’s such a big part of it — especially for films that maybe aren’t getting a huge studio push.

The workshops of course are great. One interesting full-circle moment: when I was working at Seed&Spark, I ended up giving the very crowdfunding workshop at Film Independent that I had previously taken as a participant.

I’ve also taken other workshops there: working with actors, demystifying distribution. It always felt like a real, hands-on, nuts-and-bolts education, and far more affordable than film school. I don’t have an MFA, but those workshops are so helpful. It just felt like, ‘Wow, I met so many great people through those events,’ filmmakers I’ve ended up in other fellowships and programs with.

And then there’s the Forum. It’s fantastic. They’ve asked me to come do some crowdfunding consultation there. It draws a great mix of current Members and people who are just arriving in LA to work in the industry. Film Independent just has a sense of community, legitimacy, and accessibility that can be difficult to find, especially when you’re trying to carve out space in an industry and you’re the first one in your family to do it.

Are there any upcoming projects you’d like to share with our audience?

The big goal right now is my first feature. I have a script called Child of Glass that I’ve been developing — I’ve taken it to labs in Mexico, won a pitch competition last year, and am really trying to build support and momentum behind it. As I’m sure you know as a filmmaker, it’s constantly pushing the boulder up the mountain.

Film Independent Artist Development promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work. To support our work with a donation, please click here. Become a Member of Film Independent here.

Keep up with Film Independent…

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Events
• Letterboxd
• Newsletter

The post Member Lens: Writer/Director Gerardo Maravilla on Learning to Crowdfund & Sharing His Experiences appeared first on Film Independent.

‘If it bleeds, it leads’ is a news maxim for a reason. The more brutal, shocking and violent a story is, the more eyeballs it will get. The event itself is attention-grabbing, but the aftermath is usually lived out away from the spotlight– whether it’s a system that has little hope of ever changing, a brave deed that ends up being punished, or a life destroyed by senseless violence.

The great value of documentary is that it gives these types of stories a more sustained life. We can live with these people for more than the few minutes it takes to read a story or watch on the evening news (or these days, social reel) and see the nuance and humanity. These three longform investigations shine a light on the forgotten and look to make an impact that’s long-overdue.

In Not So Far Away Places, a Russian activist goes undercover to expose the cruelty of the Russian prison system. Blowback follows whistleblowers, years after the news organizations that breathlessly covered their stories have moved on, and how the ‘whistleblower’ reputation has followed them and affected their careers and relationships. The Dark Narcisist follows a mother of two murdered children, as she confronts the failed system that let their father murder them before he killed himself.

Through Fiscal Sponsorship, independent filmmakers and media artists gain access to nonprofit funding, helping bring their unique visions to life. These projects embrace diversity, push creative boundaries, and showcase the power of independent storytelling. Want to explore the full lineup of sponsored projects? Head over to our Sponsored Projects page and take a look!

Keep reading to learn more, including how you can support these projects.

NOT SO FAR AWAY PLACES

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Project status: Development
Cowriter and Codirector: Renato Borrayo Serrano
Cowriter and Codirector: Yulia Vishnevets
Producer: Milana Christitch

About the Project: In-depth immersion into the Russian prison repressive machinery shot from the subjective perspective of a human rights activist, working undercover to confront the totalitarian system from within.

Meet the Filmmakers:

Renato Borrayo Serrano — Codirector
Berlin-based documentary filmmaker telling intimate human stories while exploring how individual lives are shaped by wider struggles over power, justice, and dignity. His films have screened and won awards at major international festivals, including CPH:DOX, Hot Docs, Sundance, DOC NYC, Krakow IFF, Shanghai IFF, DOK Leipzig, Docudays UA, and others. His feature documentary Life of Ivanna (2021) won the Zurich Film Festival’s Grand Prix for Best Documentary, alongside numerous additional awards. As a cinematographer, he worked on the Netflix acquisition Skywalkers: A Love Story, which premiered at Sundance (U.S. Documentary Competition) and screened at Tribeca before receiving an IMAX theatrical release in the United States.

Yulia Vishnevets — Codirector
Berlin-based journalist and documentary filmmaker, director of over 20 non-fiction films. She has worked as a reporter and photographer in various media. From 2013 to 2014, she reported for Deutsche Welle in Germany. Since 2015, she has been a staff documentary maker for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Current Time TV in Russia. Her feature: Hey! Teachers! was screened at IDFA, Krakow, and received several international accolades. In September 2022, she was detained while filming an anti-war demonstration in Dagestan, spent 5 days in prison, and had to leave Russia at risk of further criminal prosecution.

Project Page

BLOWBACK

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Project status: Production
Director/Executive Producer: Brooks Harris

About the Project: Blowback begins with a simple premise: the system isn’t broken, it’s working as designed. The film follows whistleblowers who expose wrongdoing and are punished for it—not just to silence them, but to send a message. Beyond the headlines, it turns to the aftermath: what it takes to survive, and who you become, after telling the truth.

Meet the Filmmaker:

Brooks Harris — Director/Executive Producer
Brooks Harris is an award-winning filmmaker and founding partner of PURGATORY, a production company focused on character-driven documentary storytelling. Her work is grounded in journalism, with a focus on access, narrative precision, and stories that examine power and its consequences. She most recently served as an Associate Producer on Breath of Fire, a documentary series that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in partnership with Vanity Fair, where she contributed to story development and production. Her additional credits include projects for Amazon, Hulu, and Disney+, where she has worked across development, field production, and post to help shape premium non-fiction series.

Project Page

THE DARK NARCISSIST

Project type: Nonfiction Feature
Project status: Development
Director/Producer: Trish Ward-Torres

About the Project: Following the murder/suicide of brothers River (15) and Jet (13) by their father Shan Collins, mother Kerrith McDowell, a nurse practitioner, confronts the many institutional failures within the mental health and law enforcement systems in Raleigh, North Carolina that cost her sons their lives even though she was uniquely positioned to seek help from within these failed systems.

Meet the Filmmaker:

Trish Ward-Torres —Director/Producer (PGA, DPA, WIF, FEME)
Trish Ward-Torres is a director/producer whose work examines the modern human condition. For more than two decades, she has helped shape award-winning nonfiction and narrative films, often centered on navigating failing systems. Ward-Torres most recently served as Senior Vice President of Documentary at Participant, where she was a Supervising Producer on films including In Waves and War, Food Inc 2 and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. Earlier, she worked at Netflix overseeing studio partnerships with FOX, NBCUniversal, Miramax, and PBS, following Producer roles at Lionsgate/CBS, Disney Studios, DreamWorks Animation and MTV.

Project Page

Learn more about Fiscal Sponsorship, including its benefits and eligibility requirements by visiting our website. See which projects are currently being supported via our Sponsored Projects page.

Film Independent Artist Development promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work. To support our work with a donation, please click here. Become a Member of Film Independent here.

Keep up with Film Independent…

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Events
• Letterboxd
• Newsletter

The post Fiscal Sponsorship Spotlight: Beyond the Headlines appeared first on Film Independent.

BLUE FILM

When You Can Watch: April 27

Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents

Writer/Director: Elliot Tuttle

Cast: Reed Birney, Kieron Moore, Turner Beckett

Why We’re Excited: Aaron (Kieron Moore, Boots) is a fetish camboy who agrees to a night with a patron, named Hank (Reed Birney, Spirit Award winner Mass) but the rendezvous takes a turn when Hank’s true identity is revealed. As the night unfolds, Aaron and Hank revisit their history in light of recent changes in Hank’s life, exploring gray areas of philosophy as well as real life implications. Elliot Tuttle (The Steps) shared the film’s germination and intention with Them, “I found a very personal arc in the character of Aaron about how I feel as a gay adult operating in the Los Angeles gay culture…the Hank character really stemmed from writings that I had done about sex that were just on my computer. It was more a discursive exploration of years’ worth of thoughts and ideas about sex, and how it affects the way that you live your life.” 

OUR LAND

When You Can Watch: May 1

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Lucrecia Martel

Cast: Javier Chocobar, Comunidad Chuschagasta

Why We’re Excited: Lucrecia Martel (The Headless Woman) started researching this film in 2011, two years after Argentinian Javier Chocobar’s death at the hands of white miners. The moment was documented with Chocobar’s own video recorder, referenced by both sides for different reasons in the 2018 murder trial that finally took place after years of protests by Chocobar’s people, the Chuschagastas. Martel’s first documentary uses her own photography of the courtroom, drones, interviews and photos to tell the story of a country so segregated that white Argentinians have difficulty believing Chocobar’s death took place at all. As Martel traces this disconnect back to Spain’s colonization of the country in the 1500s, Land is a foray into ongoing attitudes toward land rights and human rights – a complex bureaucracy that obscures underlying prejudice.

ONE SPOON OF CHOCOLATE

When You Can Watch: May 1

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Writer/Director: RZA

Cast: Shameik Moore, RJ Cyler, Paris Jackson

Why We’re Excited: The latest from grindhouse filmmaker RZA (The Man with the Iron Fists) is a cinematic experience made for theaters. Unique (Shameik Moore, Dope) is a military veteran recently released from prison for assault while protecting a neighbor. Languishing in a veteran’s shelter, Unique laments the single spoonful of cocoa mix left in a tin, to which his companion replies that one spoon can change a whole cup of milk. This plays out when Unique makes it back to his hometown of Karensville, Ohio – the worst of the whitest places on earth. When Unique’s cousin falls victim to organ-harvesting thugs, his desire to blend in gives way to a violent compulsion for revenge. Chocolate premiered at Tribeca and is inspired by RZA’s own experiences with racially motivated violence in Ohio and New York. 

TUNER

When You Can Watch: May 8

Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents

Director: Daniel Roher

Cast: Leo Woodall, Dustin Hoffman, Havana Rose Liu

Why We’re Excited: Oscar-winning documentarian Daniel Roher (Navalny, The AI Doc) makes his debut with narrative filmmaking, working with actors for the first time to explore the converging worlds of piano tuning and safecracking. As long as we’re involving actors, why not start with Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man)? Hoffman is paired with Leo Woodall (White Lotus), a veteran piano tuner and his apprentice – but where Woodall’s character has super-sensitive hearing, Hoffman’s is going deaf. Together they tune the most desirable pianos in town, including one in which a group of men are attempting to open a safe. Drawn in with a genuine desire to help, Niki (Woodall) applies his hyperacusis to unwittingly rob the client. As he begins to fall for a conservatory student (Havana Rose Liu, Bottoms), he continues to be called upon for help with the safecracking crew, putting Niki in an increasingly complicated position.

THE PYTHON HUNT

When You Can Watch: May 8

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Xander Robin

Cast: Toby Benoit, Jimbo McCartney, Shannon McCartney

Why We’re Excited: Film Independent members Ale Maria Odriozola and Joshua Sobel worked as Line Producer and Field Producer, respectively on this first documentary from Xander Robin (Are We Not Cats). In this wild ride through the Florida Everglades, it’s citizens versus invasive species – specifically Burmese pythons – on a sanctioned killing spree called the Florida Python Challenge. Anyone can enter, and after ten days of python-catching, there’s a $10,000 prize. Even so, rising to the challenge may be tougher than it looks. Robin joined the fray a year before filming, and didn’t even see a python, let alone catch one. Thankfully the pythons weren’t camera-shy, and even some other species turned up for the shoot. With a medic on site, the Python crew put a premium on safety measures (which thankfully were never needed), following hunters from all walks of life in pursuit of the prize.

IS GOD IS

When You Can Watch: May 13

Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents

Writer/Director: Aleshea Harris

Cast: Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, Sterling K. Brown, Vivica A. Fox

Why We’re Excited: This brassy cinematic odyssey is also the directorial debut for playwright Aleshea Harris, who brought the story to stages around the country when it won the American Playwriting Foundation’s Relentless Award in 2016. This version of a revenge fantasy pits twin sisters Anaia and Racine (Mallori Johnson, Kindred and Kara Young, I’m a Virgo) against their father (Sterling K. Brown, Black Panther) at the request/command of their mother (Vivica A. Fox, Independence Day) – aka God. Sighting the Man as the reason for the burn scars on all three women, God sends the sisters on a cross-country quest to confront their abuser. The mix of family trauma, epic landscapes and biblical proportions set the scene for a confrontation that could lead to vengeance or mercy. “I hope that people are thinking about rage, about Black women’s rage in particular,” Harris said in an interview on Daily Bloid, “There’s a lot going on in this story that I hope people sit with.”

I LOVE BOOSTERS

When You Can Watch: May 22

Where You Can Watch: Select Theaters

Writer/Director: Boots Riley

Cast: Keke Palmer, LaKeith Stanfield, Naomi Ackie

Why We’re Excited: Spirit Award winner Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You) embraces the title of “boosters” for shoplifters who turn clothing around for discount sales. His cast is a collection of Spirit Award winners: Keke Palmer (One of Them Days), LaKeith Stanfield (Short Term 12) and Naomi Ackie (Sorry, Baby) – a ragtag bunch living large in a hyperrealized world of color and couture. Their nemesis? Diva designer Christie Smith (Spirit Award winner Demi Moore, The Substance), who not only towers atop a regime of fashion fascism, but has also stolen a design from one of the boosters, Corvette (Palmer). This setup leads to a series of retail adventures, as the boosters go undercover, engaging with Chinese factory workers and stop-motion animation in a quest to equalize the balance of power (and look great doing it). Film Independent member Gus Deardoff is an Executive Producer and Allison Rose Carter is a Producer.

BACKROOMS

When You Can Watch: May 29

Where You Can Watch: Theater

Director: Kane Parsons

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass

Why We’re Excited: First-timer Kane Parsons’ feature version of his hit web series (under the name, Kane Pixels) is an eerie twist on horror that blends urban legend and a concept that some of us just learned right now: creepypasta (a catch-all term for any horror content posted onto the Internet, according to Wikipedia). It all starts when therapist Mary Kline (Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value) learns her patient, Clark (Spirit Award winner Chiwetel Ejiofor, Talk to Me) has discovered a secret door in the basement of the furniture store where he works. He’s been exploring the maze of backrooms systematically, documenting his findings with video and marking the way to get back out again. But when Clark goes missing, someone has to go in after him.

THE CURRENTS

When You Can Watch: May 29

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Writer/Director: Milagros Mumenthaler

Cast: Isabel Aimé González-Sola, Mauricio Bertorello, Sara Bessio

Why We’re Excited: Argentinian filmmaker Milagros Mumenthaler (Back to Stay) grew up in Switzerland, which hints at the origins of her psychological mystery that takes place in both countries. We meet Lina (Isabel Aimé González Sola, La Révolution) in Geneva, where she receives a prestigious award for her work as a fashion designer, then jumps off a bridge. When she returns to her husband and child in Buenos Aires, it’s almost as if the Switzerland incident never happened – except for her extreme fear of water. Masking and dissociating only goes so far, as Lina’s skin and hair betray her inability to bathe. But more than that, it seems she no longer wants anything of the life she so intentionally built. As her family and friends wonder what can be done, Lina must face her true self.

PROGRAMMER’S PICK: SLIP

When You Can Watch: May 11

Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents

Creator: Zoe Lister-Jones

Cast: Zoe Lister-Jones, Tymika Tafari, Whitmer Thomas

Why We’re Excited: From Film Independent Lead Programmer Jenn Wilson–

Zoe Lister-Jones’ terrific series Slip about an unhappily married woman who “slips” between timelines where she’s partnered with different lovers premiered at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival and had a streaming deal on Roku.  In September 2023, Roku suddenly announced it was removing several projects, including Slip, from its streaming service as a cost-cutting measure. Despite being stuck in limbo with fans having no way to watch it, Slip was nominated for two Spirit Awards (Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series and Best New Scripted Series).  After almost 3 years, Lister-Jones announced on social media that Slip was acquired by Peacock and would begin streaming in April 2026.  Lister-Jones created, wrote, and directed the whole series herself, and it’s one of the strongest projects written for TV in a long time.  At points it’s laugh-out-loud funny, but also incredibly poignant in its exploration of long-term relationships, love, and sex.  Lister-Jones, Whitmer Thomas, and Tymika Tafari all give wonderful performances that infuse the series with so much energy.  Viewers should count themselves lucky that such a unique show finally found a new life on another platform.  Might we be lucky enough to get a Season 2?

KEY

Film Independent Fellow or Member

Film Independent Presents Screening, Q&A

Microbudget

Filmmaker or Lead Characters of Color

Film Independent Spirit Award Winner or Nominee

Female Filmmaker

LGBT Filmmaker or Lead LGBT Characters

First-time Filmmaker

LA Film Fest Winner or Nominee

Film Independent Artist Development promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work. To become a Member of Film Independent, just click here. To support us with a donation, click here.

Keep up with Film Independent…

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Events
• Letterboxd
• Newsletter

The post Don’t Miss Indies: What to Watch in May appeared first on Film Independent.

Film Independent is proud to announce nine filmmakers selected for its 2026 Documentary Story Lab — a one-week intensive program kicking off May 4.

“This year’s Documentary Story Lab Fellows are engaging with questions of truth, legacy and survival in ways that are both deeply personal and broadly resonant,” said Daniel Cardone, Senior Manager of Documentary Programs & Fiscal Sponsorship at Film Independent. “These projects take on complex, often unresolved subjects—from a decades-long mystery in the American West to environmental injustice and cultural preservation—with a level of depth and access that demands careful, intentional storytelling.”

Fellows will be paired with a talented roster of Editing Mentors, including Alejandro Valdes-Rochin (Maxima), Claire Didier (Enigma), Pablo Proenza (Natchez), Christy Denes ACE (Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal), Veronica Pinkham (Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me), and Inbal B. Lessner ACE (Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult).

Guest speakers and Directing Advisors bring an impressive depth of experience to the program, including composers Gil Talmi and Andrew Gross, distribution specialists Orly Ravid and Annalisa Shoemaker, industry veteran Sarba Das, and Film Independent Fellows Alysa Nahmias (Cookie Queens) and Smriti Mundhra (Indian Matchmaking). Additional Directing Advisors include Michèle Stephenson (Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project), Jeremy Workman (Secret Mall Apartment), and David Osit (Predators).

This year’s Lab also includes the Cayton-Goldrich Family Foundation Fellowship — a $10,000 unrestricted cash grant awarded to a Jewish filmmaker participating in a Film Independent Artist Development Program. The 2026 recipient is fellow Cecilia Brown, who is developing her project A Bird with a Knife.

The Documentary Story Lab has an impressive alumni list. Notable projects that have come through the program include Daniel Lombroso’s Manhood (SXSW 2026), Suzannah Herbert’s Natchez (Tribeca 2025, Winner Best Documentary), and Harvest (Tribeca 2026), directed by Natalie Baszile and Hyacinth Parker.

Film Independent’s broader documentary programs have also supported Academy Award-nominated films Ascension (Jessica Kingdon) and Minding the Gap (Bing Liu and Diane Quon) — the latter also a Film Independent Spirit Award winner — along with work from Academy Award winner Shane Boris (Navalny), Academy Award nominee Sara Dosa (Fire of Love), and Emmy Award winner Lana Wilson (Brooke Shields: Pretty Baby).

The Documentary Story Lab is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The 2026 Documentary Story Lab projects and Fellows are:

Cecilia Brown

Cecilia Brown is a documentary director, editor and producer based in Portland, OR, and co-founder of Sideyard Studios. Brown’s directing and producing credits include award-winning shorts Oh Whale (2025, Producer), and Strong Grandma (2024, Co-director & Editor, New Yorker Magazine). She has edited multiple documentary shorts including Swept (2025 Emmy Nominee for Best Short Documentary), Teddy (2025), and Walking Two Worlds (Tribeca, 2022). Brown’s work has been supported by The Catapult Development Fund and SF MOMA, and published by HBO, The New Yorker, This American Life, Arc’teryx and The North Face, among others. She has also been awarded ‘Best Oregon Filmmaker’ by McMinnville Film Festival. Brown has a Master’s in Multimedia Journalism from the University of Oregon.

Winslow Crane-Murdoch

Winslow Crane-Murdoch is an award winning director and cinematographer based in Portland, OR, and co-founder of Sideyard Studios. His first documentary feature, The Quiet Epidemic, had its World Premiere at HotDocs 2022, and received a national theatrical release culminating in a screening at Congress. His latest documentary short, Oh Whale (2025), is currently on the festival circuit, winning the jury award for best short documentary at Montclair and New Hampshire film festivals. He co- directed and shot Strong Grandma (2024) which screened at the Paris Olympics and was acquired by The New Yorker Magazine. Crane-Murdoch’s work has appeared on HBO, TIME Magazine, Outside TV, the San Francisco MOMA, and has been supported by the Catapult Film Fund.

A Bird with a Knife
Logline: A Bird with a Knife explores the 50-year mystery surrounding thousands of cattle mutilations across the American West. Following a veteran investigator, an Oregon sheriff and the ranchers whose cases they’re working to solve, this film is about folklore, faith and the stories we tell when no absolute truth exists.

Èlia Gasull Balada

Èlia Gasull Balada is a NAACP Image Award-nominated visual artist and filmmaker. In 2021, she was listed in the DOC NYC 40 under 40 list, and in 2023 she was selected to be part of the Berlinale Talents. She has extensively worked as an editor and writer for documentaries and narrative films. Her most recent credits include The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (Tribeca 2022), which won a Peabody Award and a Gracie Award, and received a Television Academy Honor. The Emmy and Peabody nominee The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show (Tribeca 2021) and the Emmy and Grammy nominee The King (Cannes 2017). On the narrative side, she edited Son of Monarchs, winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. For the past six years, Gasull Balada has been working on a mixed media installation that honors a group of Indigenous women from the Peruvian Amazon who suffered the trauma of forced sterilization at the hands of President Alberto Fujimori’s government between 1995 and 2000 — and their agency as artists and activists today. The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs is her directorial debut.

The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs
Logline: After a lifetime of hardship, 75-year-old Indigenous artist Sara Flores emerges from the Peruvian Amazon into the global contemporary art scene. As she confronts the emotional and physical toll that comes with being in the spotlight, she defies the lure of material wealth and transforms her art and legacy into a force for the territorial and cultural resistance of the Shipibo Nation.

Alex J. Bledsoe

Alex J. Bledsoe is a filmmaker whose work illuminates daily life on the frontlines of racial capitalism, and the portals we create for our physical and psychospiritual liberation. Oaklead, her debut feature documentary, follows Oakland community members as they fight to protect one another from lead poisoning in their own homes and schools – and uncover a century of environmental racism. Oaklead is a grantee of Sundance, Berkeley Film Foundation, Redford Center, Fund for Investigative Journalism, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, a BAVC MediaMaker, and Cucalorus/Working Films/Documentary Accountability Working Group Works-in-Progress Lab Fellow, and California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellow.

Bledsoe produced the scripted feature film, Residue, about gentrification in Washington, D.C., which streamed on Netflix after screening at Venice International Film Festival and being distributed by Ava Duvernay’s Array. Residue won the John Cassavetes Award and was nominated for Best Editing at the 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Bledsoe is the co-founder of Breaktide, the all women-of-color-owned film production company. She has been a guest columnist for the Washington Post, and a live featured guest on KQED Forum for her filmmaking and activism. Bledsoe earned her B.S. in International Politics from Georgetown University.

Oaklead
Director: Alex J. Bledsoe
Logline: In Oakland, California, we fight to protect our children from lead poisoning in our own homes and schools—and confront over a century of environmental racism. This is the story of the longest ongoing pediatric epidemic in U.S. history.

Katyayani Kumar

Katyayani Kumar is a director, editor, and writer working across documentary and fiction. Kumar is drawn to stories in the margins, where what slips into the shadows of society waits to be rediscovered. A fellow of UnionDocs in New York and incoming editing fellow at the American Film Institute, Kumar was selected by Academy Award–winning producer Guneet Monga to represent India at TIFF as part of the Women in Film delegation. Kumar’s films, including Coffined at Fifteen and Beholder, have screened internationally. Kumar is currently directing Sons of the River, supported by DOC NYC, HotDocs, Film Bazaar, and more.

Sons of the River
Logline: As bodies surface daily in Punjab’s Bhakra Canal, two rivals retrieve the dead from its wake, revealing a life-and-death struggle over power, morality and survival in a society abandoned by the state.

Vanessa Carr

Vanessa Carr is a documentary cinematographer specializing in character-driven vérité. Her work has appeared on HBO, Netflix, and Disney+, and premiered at Sundance, TIFF, SXSW, Tribeca, CPH:DOX and IDFA—and more. Selected credits include Heart of Invictus, Sentient, On Pointe, and Free Money. She shot and co-produced HBO’s Heroin: Cape Cod, USA, nominated for a Cinema Eye Honor. Carr is a DOC NYC 40 Under 40 honoree, LEF/CIFF and BAVC Mediamaker fellow, founding member of the Documentary Cinematographers Alliance, and founder of Doc House. She holds degrees from UC Berkeley and Columbia.

Josh Gleason

Josh Gleason is a director and producer whose work spans documentary film, television, and radio. His directing credits include The Disrupted (DOK.fest Munich, 2020), distributed by Passion River Films, and True Believer (Ashland Independent Film Festival, 2018). He has directed for Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s PBS series Finding Your Roots, produced for PBS’s Peabody-winning American Experience and Showtime’s Emmy-nominated The Circus. Before working in film, he reported for This American Life and NPR. He is a 2024 LEF/CIFF Fellow, DGA member, and a graduate of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.

Untitled Nomads Documentary
Logline: When an American family of five trades their house for an RV, teenage daughter Leilani must come of age on the road. Over six years, her parents’ radical attempt to educate her and her brothers through lived experience reveals the joys and costs of living outside societal norms.

Roni Jo Draper

Roni Jo Draper, PhD (she/they) is an enrolled member of the Yurok tribe. Her experience as a queer, Yurok woman has influenced her writing and work as a teacher, scholar, and artist. Draper produced Scenes From the Glittering World (2021). They also produced, directed, and wrote the short documentary Fire Tender(2023). Draper’s work has been supported by National Geographic, Vision Maker Media, WMM, The Redford Center, Firelight Media, and Sundance Institute.

Marissa Lila Kongao

Marissa Lila Kongao (they/them) is a documentarian and psychedelic healer raised in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand. As a director and producer for film and television, their work centers marginalized perspectives who use storytelling to heal. Their work includes co-directing Fire Tender (2023), editing Transmormon (Artistic Vision Award, Big Sky 2014), and producing Scavenger (Big Sky 2013) short documentaries. Kongao also directed and produced a Regional Emmy-winning documentary series in Utah.

We Arrive with Fire / Ne-kah  Nuue’m  Mehl Mech  
Logline: Since time immemorial, Yurok people have placed fire on the land to maintain a balanced ecosystem. In the past century, settlers banned fire, and both the environment and people have suffered. Now, Yurok people are returning fire medicine to heal the land.

For over 40 years, Film Independent has helped filmmakers get their projects made and seen. The nonprofit organization’s core mission is to champion creative independence in visual storytelling and support a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision.

Keep up with Film Independent…

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Events
• Letterboxd
• Newsletter

The post A Cut Above: Film Independent Announces 2026 Documentary Story Lab Fellows appeared first on Film Independent.

***

Producer Lexi Tannenholtz first bonded with director Mary Dauterman over “poop jokes.” The two shared a sensibility and work ethic and started working together on commercial projects. When it came time to make their first feature, the cat-horror grief meditation Booger, Tanneholtz brought it to the Film Independent Fiction Producing Lab.

We spoke with Tanneholtz about the experience of both taking Booger through the Lab, and producing a feature for the first time.

What drew you to producing?  

I didn’t know what producing was initially. I first worked in television and loved doing every job and the catch all term for that was always producer. When I moved over into the narrative film space I was so confused, like so many, about what a producer really did. And the same answer still really applies, we do everything! I love finding the balance between creativity and strategy, building a team and making someone’s idea bigger, and ideally better, than they ever could have dreamed. Producers make the impossible happen and there is nothing I love more than that. Producers are also crazy and I think that applies here too.

How did you first get together with the Booger team, and what made you want to work with them?

Mary Dauterman, the writer director of Booger, and I were introduced through our mutual friend Graham Mason in 2020. I think he thought we’d laugh at the same dumb poop jokes and knew we’d work well together before we did. Mary is also a very successful commercial director, and after our initial zoom date she started asking me to produce some of the commercials she was working on. Turns out, she was testing me out to see if she should ask me to produce her feature debut Booger; and I’m forever happy she did!

I wanted to work with Mary, for the usual reasons, she is smart, cool and kind. But I also loved how prolific she was. So many people say they direct, but it’s hard to really make it happen – Mary had such a large breath of shorts and commercials, I so admired how much she already accomplished. I also felt we had a similar sensibility about work; we like to work really really hard and a lot. I think it can be difficult to find someone who matches your working style and it just really clicked with Mary. Also goes without saying I loved the script, she is funny as hell and great at what she does. It felt really kismet to meet each other at the time we did and make our first features together; there’s something special about meeting someone at the same career stage as you and growing together.

What was a particular or unique challenge you experienced producing Booger?

Everything was truly a unique challenge on Booger. It was both of our first features. We had never raised any financing before. We had to work with a lot of cat actors. We filmed in our own homes. We had a 15-day shoot. We never had enough money. But we brought together an incredible team of people who so believed in this story and Mary – as hard as it was, it was really a dream to pull it off together.

What led you to apply to the lab?   

What led me to apply to the lab? Well, I idealized Film Independent and I couldn’t believe I finally had a project I could submit with. I had never done a lab before, and it felt so dreamy! How do I get into this secret club? I truly had no idea, but I could at least apply and see what happened. And it was literally the best thing that ever happened to me. I couldn’t believe it when I got accepted; it felt like the special start of something to be seen by this amazing institution in this way. I felt really proud.

Were there any particular workshops, advisors, or exercises that significantly impacted you?

My advisor was Amanda Marshall, and I was so freaking pumped to be matched with her. I admired her work like crazy, and I couldn’t believe she was forced to talk to me every day! It was epic. And now if you can believe it, I feel so lucky to call her a friend and get to bother her all the time

I also very much remember pitching Sheila Hanahan Taylor. It was the most anxious I was the entire fellowship. And getting through that made me really feel I could pitch the shit out of this movie to anyone. And then I did! 

How did participating in the lab impact you, BOOGER and your journey with it as the producer?

To this day I am such close friends with everyone from my cohort; we still have an active text chain where we all ask each other the most bizarre producing questions. It’s been so special to get to celebrate each other’s successes both personal and professional, there’s been so many for everyone since our time in 2022.

Getting support from Dea, Ashley, Angela and the whole Film Independent team was amazing – but what really blew my mind was that it wasn’t just for the two weeks of the lab; they are so committed to helping you throughout your filmmaking career. I gotta say, I’m always bothering them with something, and they are always the quickest to lend a hand.

Participating in the Producing Lab really was a badge of honor for both me and Booger; it helped open so many doors. And the pitching tools I learned in every workshop truly impact how I treat and approach each film I work on today. It’s also the safest of places to ask any question… like what is a Waterfall? What is an MG? What is the difference between a manager and an agent? Questions I’m currently still asking myself…

And I still have all the materials I used for Booger and model so much of what I work on now from that and everything I learned from Film Independent. It really made me feel like participating in the lab was the start of the next step in my career.

Applications for the Film Independent Fiction Producing Lab are now open. The deadline for non-Members is May 4th, while Film Independent Members have until May 18th.

For over 40 years, Film Independent has helped filmmakers get their projects made and seen. The nonprofit organization’s core mission is to champion creative independence in visual storytelling and support a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision.

Keep up with Film Independent…

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Events
• Letterboxd
• Newsletter

The post The Power of Friendship & the Film Independent Producing Lab with ‘Booger’ Producer Lexi Tannenholtz appeared first on Film Independent.

Today we’re happy to share an exclusive interview with our new President, where we talk about the state of the film industry and how he views Film Independent’s place within it, and get to know a little more about who Devis is as an artist and advocate.
 

Let’s start with a bit of your history. Can you tell us about your journey and what drew you to storytelling and the arts in the first place?

I grew up in Colombia in the 70s and 80s. There was always this question of what role arts and culture play in making our society a better and more democratic place. My father was an artist, and my mother was a social worker and anthropologist. There were always painters, writers, filmmakers, sociologists and economists in my house having conversations about using arts and storytelling to illuminate, create inquiry, create beauty. I saw art was about holding a mirror up to society and critiquing it in a healthy way.

My father spent his time in the studio painting, and my sister was also very talented in the visual arts. I was not. So he gave me a 35mm camera, and that’s where my journey into film, television, and media began. I also started writing for theater. Very early on, I was deeply connected to storytelling. I was an avid reader and was involved in film clubs. That’s the origin story.

Tell us about your history with Film Independent. When did you first come across the organization, and how long have you been a Member?

I had made an interactive documentary series called Departures. María Raquel Bozzi, who is the Senior Director of Education and International Programs, invited me to the Film Independent Forum to talk about the project in the late 2000s. That was my first concrete connection with Film Independent.

Since then, I’ve been following all the programing, events, and Artist Development programs. I was a Member early on, then stopped, and reconnected about four years ago. I’ve been connected to Film Independent on and off for many years, always admiring the work that has been done here for decades.

What made you want to take on the role of President of Film Independent?

Right now, we have an industry redefining itself in many different ways. There’s also the question of what the word “independent” itself means now. We have a growing creator economy that is discovering truly independent ways of distributing and financing content. We also have new technologies, different formats, and niche audiences — everything is changing.

I think there is a space for a true independent voice — not only in terms of how things are structured, but in what we’re putting out into the world, whether it’s a film, a YouTube series, or anything else. I see it as an opportunity, not to reinvent Film Independent, but to embrace these changes, and position ourselves well for the future. The opportunity, though daunting, is genuinely exciting.

At the core, it’s about continuing to give access and opportunities to independent voices, regardless of the medium, and placing ourselves in the middle of the conversation.

How do you see balancing Film Independent’s legacy while also pushing for innovation and growth?

Something very important to me is that Film Independent holds the entire life cycle of what independent film and media is all about. We’re not just a collection of programs and events. We give access to and support artists. We help build audiences for distribution. We have events and we celebrate. We will continue to be that. We just need to shift the way we see our day-to-day operations slightly — moving from a program-centered organization into a more content-led one.

Film Independent occupies a unique space within the entertainment industry. How do you see the organization’s role in that ecosystem, and what makes it a vital component?

Without independent voices, nothing in the industry is going to get refreshed. They need us as much as we need them, and I don’t think that will change. The challenge is that young independents right now are finding their own ways of doing things and they no longer need that gatekeeper or that feeder structure. We need to understand what our role is, not only for the broader industry, but for the independent voice itself. That’s the work we have ahead of us

We have a dedicated and passionate community — Members, supporters and artists who make up the Film Independent family. How do you plan to engage with them and strengthen the connection?

I’m excited about exploring Membership growth on a global level. We have incredible international programs through the Global Media Makers initiative and other development projects across the globe. We need to figure out how to grow our global Membership base, because we are already doing the work out there.

We also need to plant ourselves locally and grow our base here in LA, which continues to be the hub of the creative economy in the United States. I think there is both a hyper-local and a global approach required for Membership, and that is going to mean looking at not only our in-person programming, but digital access, so that global Members can genuinely feel part of this community. Those feel like two real growth areas for our Membership.

Let’s dive deeper so our community can get to know you better… What types of films do you love to watch? What are a few of your favorites?

Having grown up in Colombia, what are considered “foreign films” here have always been part of my film education. I love Michelangelo Antonioni. He is one of my all-time favorites. I love some of the Cuban films made right after the revolution, like Memories of Underdevelopment by director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea. I love a great deal of golden-era Mexican cinema. And Italian neorealism. Those films were so formative.

On the American indie side, I love 1970s cinema. Films like The Long Goodbye and The Wild Bunch have an energy that is extraordinary. When I arrived in the United States in 1989, there was such incredible energy around independent film. Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape and Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing were, for me, truly radical, beautiful examples of American independent cinema.

More recently, I love Sirāt and many of the international films that have come out in the last couple of years. The independent spirit is very much alive in other parts of the world right now.

And on a completely different note, I also find myself curious about what is happening in micro dramas — for entirely different reasons.

The challenge is that structurally, they’re built for the algorithm. It’s quite something to watch them from beginning to end without stopping. But there is also some genuinely exciting immersive storytelling happening right now. The work Alejandro Iñárritu did with his immersive exhibition at LACMA is a great example. The independent voice is very much alive, and it crosses formats and genres.

What do you think translates most directly from your professional background into this role, and what will be genuinely new territory for you?

I started as a writer-director. And when I ran the content and production arm of KCET here in Los Angeles, I was working as a producer, showrunner, and creator. So I bring the experience of what it means to be an independent creator.

I also bring the experience of having to build frameworks and systems for content to actually be produced and distributed. I had to build teams, bring in resources, and build operations.

And I have a deeply rooted connection to community. The more you have a sense of belonging to a place and to people, the more you understand where you are and where you came from, and the happier you’re going to be. That community-rooted understanding is something I’ll bring to this role.

What I’m most excited about is being part of the conversation around what the independent voice means and what it will produce twenty years from now. Can we be the fertile ground where that conversation happens? Can we give access, production opportunities, and celebrate new voices in this new media landscape that lies ahead of us?

You mentioned your vision of Film Independent becoming a great Los Angeles institution — on the level of the LA Philharmonic or LACMA. How do you see Film Independent interacting with the world of LA arts and culture?

Film and television are such an important presence in the cultural life of this city, and yet there has been no cultural institution quite like Film Independent to fully represent them. Film and TV have somehow been set apart — placed in one category while the Philharmonic, LACMA, MOCA, and other cultural institutions carry the banner of “culture.”

But now there is a growing understanding that film and television are essential to the cultural life of LA. We generate jobs, those jobs create purchasing power. The people who work in film and television are the same people who go to concerts and museums. There has been a genuine shift in how people understand the role that film and television play. And I don’t think there is any other organization in LA that can tell the story of what independent film, television, and media mean to this city the way we can.

We need to tell our story more broadly, see ourselves as content creators and curators, and position ourselves as an organization that is actively helping the economy and culture thrive in LA. That’s how we become that kind of institution.

It sounds like lots of exciting work ahead. Thank you for giving us, and our Members, the opportunity to get to know you as we begin this new chapter together.

Thank you.

For over 40 years, Film Independent has helped filmmakers get their projects made and seen. The nonprofit organization’s core mission is to champion creative independence in visual storytelling and support a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision.

Keep up with Film Independent…

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Events
• Letterboxd
• Newsletter

The post EXCLUSIVE: New Film Independent President Juan Devis on His Story – and the Next Chapter appeared first on Film Independent.