Granting Program | Acquisitions Program | Distribution Program | Education Program
2008
Granting Cycle
2007
Granting Cycle
2006
Granting Cycle
2005
Granting Cycle
2004
Granting Cycle
2003
Granting Cycle
Current grant recipients for the 2008 funding cycle:
ADDICTED TO LOVE – Liu Hao (China)
Despite social conventions and disapproving families, two elderly friends struggle with Alzheimer's and a growing attraction for one another.
BLIND PIG WHO WANTS TO FLY – Edwin (Indonesia)
The dreams and ambitions of nine Jakarta residents intertwine and unravel amidst ethnic, racial and social tensions of urban Indonesia.
THE FIFTH STRING – Selma Bargach (Morocco)
A lute player considers pursuing a career as a traditional Andalusian musician despite his family's desire that he attend university.
INDEPENDENCE – Raya Martin (Philippines)
As American forces begin the occupation of the Philippines, a mother and son leave their village for the mountains to live in quiet resistance to the colonization.
K & ALI – Pelin Esmer (Turkey)
A friendship between an aging collector and his doorman leads to an unusual exploration of class and privilege in modern Istanbul.
THE LEGEND OF THE HOLY NET POTATO – Vipin Vijay (India)
An epic tale of spirituality and self-discovery is revealed through the eyes of an Internet hacker and his black magician grandfather.
NATIVE DANCER – Guka Omarova (Kazakhstan)
A mystic healer, displaced from her home by land developers, is enlisted to aid in the search for a missing boy.
OCTOBER – Daniel Vega Vidal and Diego Vega Vidal (Peru)
Two friends reevaluate their personal and emotional attachments after becoming unwitting caretakers to an abandoned baby.
QUELEH – Abdi Ismail Jama (Somalia)
After his father is abducted during a civil conflict in 1980s Somalia, a young boy comes-of-age and learns to care for his family.
THIEF – Jacques Trabi (Ivory Coast)
A man unexpectedly joins a gang of thieves to provide his wife and college-bound children with a more prosperous life.
Grant recipients for the 2007 funding cycle:
100% ALIVE – Ahmed Rashwan, Egypt
Just before the start of the Second Gulf War, a recently divorced photographer meets a seductive young woman and contemplates a second chance at love.
BIBI – Hassan Yektapanah, Iran
An elderly Iraqi refugee living in Iran desperately seeks an ID card that neither country will issue, to avoid being buried in an unmarked grave when she dies.
BUL DÉCONNÉ! – Massaër Dieng, Sénégal
As a young man comes-of-age, his vision for the future conflicts with the gritty economic realities of his country.
CRAB TRAP – Oscar Ruiz Navia, Colombia
A man arrives at an isolated, coastal village and is caught in a struggle between a local Afro-Colombian community and a white landowner's vision for modernization.
EUROPE BY ROAD – Ubaka Joseph Ugochukwu, Nigeria/Senegal
On his way to Europe, a young Nigerian becomes stranded in Senegal, surrounded by temptation and illegal activity that threaten both his ambitions and livelihood.
EVERY DAY IS A HOLIDAY – Dima El–Horr, Lebanon
Three women, each with very different motivations, head toward Marmal Prison and intertwining fates.
GOODBYE KATHMANDU – Nabin Subba, Nepal
The parallel lives of three young individuals of different ethnic backgrounds are profiled amidst the tumultuous political and social atmosphere of contemporary Kathmandu.
HUACHO – Alejandro Fernandez Almendras , Chile
Acceptance, adaptation and denial characterize the struggle to adjust to changing economic realities of rural Chile.
LITTLE HEART – Nguyen Thanh Van, Viet Nam
The lure of high paying jobs in an embroidery factory becomes a compelling reason for young girls to leave their villages for Saigon.
PESANTREN – Nurman Hakim, Indonesia
Friendships that test the limits of faith and devotion are depicted in post 9/11 realities of central Java.
RAMCHAND: THE UNTOUCHABLE PAKISTANI – Mehreen Jabbar, Pakistan
A Hindu family is held hostage by the political tension between India and Pakistan.
VERONICA'S PASSION – Cristian Pellegrini, Argentina
A transsexual with aspirations of studying at the local university faces prejudice against her nonconforming identity, and her goal to become a psychologist.
VIRGIN GOAT – Murali Nair, India
In this intelligent satire, a farmer's simple desire to have his goat mated is thwarted by family trauma, local bureaucracy and a marauding mob.
Grant recipients for the 2006 funding cycle:
ACNE – Federico Veiroj, Uruguay
Rafael Bergman (13) lost his virginity, but has never kissed a girl. Overcoming his teenage awkwardness is an obvious first step.
AGNUS DEI – Lucia Cedron, Argentina
A young woman’s grandfather is kidnapped. While working with her mother to negotiate his release, the girl discovers details about her mother’s exile to France, and the disappearance of her father many years ago.
ALIVE – Artan Minarolli, Albania
Koli comes home to his village in the Northern Albanian mountains for his father’s funeral. While there, he finds a boy in the village is trying to kill him because of something Koli’s grandfather did sixty years ago.
BAD DAY TO GO FISHING – Alvaro Brechner, Uruguay
A quirky story about an aging wrestler, his manager, and a young shopkeeper who collide in a wrestling match in front of their entire, small Uruguayan town.
BEFORE WE FALL IN LOVE – James Lee, Malaysia
An uneasy alliance develops between a woman’s husband and her lover, after she disappears. The two men discover a third man who may help them find her.
THE BIG TIME – Olley Maruma, Zimbabwe
A lighthearted story about a young woman who finds fame overnight as a model. The glamorous but cruel world of the fashion industry provides a backdrop for this warm comedy and social commentary.
THE DAY WHEN THE WINTER BEGAN – Nedzad Begovic, Bosnia & Herzegovina
In a small town on the Adriatic Sea, the alcoholic Stipe unexpectedly becomes the main caregiver of a baby girl. As he adjusts to the new reality, he quits drinking and reconnects to his own history.
JERMAL – Ravi L. Bharwani, Indonesia
12-year-old Jaya is sent to live with his father on a jermal, or fishing platform, after his mother dies. The film tells the story of how the two, slowly and painfully, develop a father-son relationship.
LEO’S ROOM – Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay
About to turn 29, Leo grapples with a host of issues, from his sexual identity, to finishing his college degree, to wanting to please his widowed mother.
THE OLD WOMAN AT THE BACK – Pablo José Meza, Argentina
The lives of a solitary 81- year-old woman and a penniless medical student intertwine after they get stuck together in the elevator of their building.
THE POSSIBLE LIVES – Sandra Gugliotta, Argentina
When Carla’s husband, Luciano, doesn’t return from a business trip to the south of Argentina, she goes looking for him. What she finds leads her to make some difficult decisions.
PURE COOLNESS – Ernest Abdyjaparov, Kyrgyzstan
In the mountainous villages of
Kyrgyzstan the ancient custom of bride stealing is still commonplace. Pure Coolness uses this theme to weave a tale of family loyalty, deception, betrayal and love.
THE STORM
– Kazim Öz, Turkey
Cemal moves to Istanbul from his small town to attend university. After several months, he joins a revolutionary group and the search for his identity begins.
THREE DAYS TO FOREVER
– Riri Riza, Indonesia
Two teenage cousins wake up after a big night out to find they have missed their flight to attend a family wedding. They have three days to get there, and in those three days their lives will change forever.
TO GO – Huseyin Karabey, Turkey
A long-distance video-based romance is complicated by immigrant policies, national boundaries, and the outbreak of war in Iraq.
UPSIDE DOWN
– Igor Ivanov, Macedonia
Jan Ludvick is a runaway circus performer with a severe case of Meniere’s disease, a chronic ailment that causes him to see the world spinning. Despite this condition, he discovers that he has rare powers of balance and equilibrium.
THE WATERCOLORIST – Daniel Rodriquez, Peru
T has a dream: to leave his commercial life and become an artist. Moving into an apartment building occupied by a disjointed group of busybodies, he finds himself unable to paint, and yielding his life to others.
Grant recipients for the 2005 funding cycle:
99‰
MURDERED – Esteban Schroeder, Chile/Uruguay
A political thriller involving a female Uruguayan prosecutor investigating
the kidnapping of a Chilean chemist sought by the international
courts as a witness against General Pinochet's government.
ASLEEP
IN THE SUN – Alejandro Chomski, Argentina
A
Buenos Aires clock smith recently admitted his wife to a sanatorium.
But it is his sanity that is questioned with the appearance and
implications of a strangely human–like dog.
DARK
LEGEND – ZHANG Ming, China
In
1989, Wu Ming travels from Beijing to a mountain village searching
for his former girlfriend only to discover her murdered corpse.
Fifteen years later, he returns to the village determined to find
the cause of her death.
THE
GAZE –
Sepideh Farsi, Iran
The
sudden death of Esfand’s father beckons him back to Tehran after
20 years away. Navigating through an estranged homeland is made
more difficult as he begins losing his sight.
TO
GET TO HEAVEN FIRST YOU HAVE TO DIE – Djamshed Usmonov, Tajikistan
Kamal is a 20–year–old newly wed struggling with impotence. His village doctor prescribes a visit to the big city to learn about sex with a mature woman, which leads to a misunderstanding, a failed burglary and an eventual awakening.
I
AM FROM TITOV VELES – Teona Mitevska, Macedonia
With
the fall of communism, disarray and anarchy occur in the Macedonian
village of Titov Veles. In a society built on traditional models,
three beautiful sisters must learn to fend for themselve.
LOVE SICK – Tudor Giugiu, Romania
The lives of two Bucharest students are forever changed when friendship
blossoms into romance, teaching both what it truly means to be love
sick.
MURDERER
AMONG US – Daniel Benavides, Chile
The murder of a beautiful high school student turns a small Chilean
town upside down, revealing its many dark secrets.
NASREEN – Sabine El Gemayel, Lebanon
As
a 12–year-old girl arranged to marry a 63–year–old man, Nasreen
dreams of reading and writing in a village where education is only
for boys. Her marriage day is quickly approaching and she
longs for an alternative to the patriarchal oppression.
PANDORA’S
BOX – Yesim Ustaoglu, Turkey
Three brothers whose lives are shadowed by painful childhood memories
are lead on a search for their mother.
RAIN – Paula Hernandez, Argentina
The story of two lost souls who meet on a rainy night in the middle
of a traffic jam in Buenos Aires.
THE SACRED LAKE – Zeka Laplaine, Congo/Senegal
Concerned
about his younger brother’s declining health, Tano, a journalist
residing in Dakar, returns home to uncover more than ancient spirits
presiding at the bottom of the village’s sacred lake.
THREE LITTLE DREAMS– Chapour Haghighat, Iran
Three young boys work in a bakery, share three variations of the
same dream forecasting a local murder.
WAITING – Rashid Masharawi, Palestine
Traveling
between refugee camps in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, a trio recruits
actors for the new National Palestinian Theater. Their work is frustrated
by borders and the refugees themselves, who only want to record
messages for their families in Gaza, not audition for the theater.
Grant recipients for the 2004 funding cycle:
BORDER CAFE – Kambozia
Partovi, Iran
THE
DOG POUND Manuel Niero Zas, Uruguay
The
story of a young man building his house in a small beach town.
GEMINI – Albertina Carri, Argentina
A
brother and sister, having an affair, are threatened with exposure.
NIGHT
TRAIN – Diao Yinan, China
A
prison executioner visits a matchmaking agency, mistaking the vengeful
husband of an executed convict as a potential match.
PARENTHESIS – Francisca Schweitzer and Pablo Solís, Chile
An
insomniac, taking a one-week break from his relationship, meets
a strange 16–year–old girl who shows him a different world.
PIN
BOY – Ana Poliak, Argentina
A
country boy tries to find his place in Buenos Aires while working
in a bowling alley.
TWO
YOUNG GIRLS - Kutlug Ataman, Turkey
UNIFORM – Diao Yinan, China
New
guises alter the lives of a man and his girlfriend.
Grant
recipients for the 2003 funding cycle:
WHISKY – Juan Pablo Rebella & Pablo Stoll, Uruguay
Two brothers are reunited one year after their mother's death following
many years of estrangement.
WHAT'S
A HUMAN ANYWAY – Reha Erdem, Turkey
An
anarchic look at the effects of amnesia.
CINEMA,
ASPIRIN AND VULTURES – Marcelo Gomes, Brazil
The
story of two men who journey into the Brazilian hinterlands to introduce
aspirin to the area's people, and along the way discuss everything
from war to women.
THE
BUFFALO BOY (MUA LEN TRAU) – Nguyen-Vô Nghiem-Minh,
Vietnam
The epic herding of endangered buffalos during Vietnam’s massive
flooding season sets the stage for a young man’s passage into
adulthood.
HOLLOW
CITY (NA CIDADE VAZIA) – Maria Joao G., Angola
A young refugee from the war-torn countryside of contemporary Angola
finds life on the capital city’s streets tougher still.
ON EACH
SIDE – Hugo Daniel Grosso, Argentina
A bittersweet comedy about an isolated town in northern Argentina
and its inhabitants as a new massive bridge opens that will connect
them to the rest of the country for the first time.
ANOTHER
MAN’S GARDEN – Joao Luis Sol Carvalho, Mozambique
This is the powerful and uplifting story of a young woman struggling
to become a doctor in contemporary Mozambique.
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