Gotham-based nonprofit Independent Filmmaker Project has kicked off the latest round of its annual Independent Filmmaker Labs, the org’s yearlong fellowships for first-time feature helmers.
Ten projects have been tapped for the docu branch of program, with the Documentary Lab running this week prior to the 12-month mentorship offered by the initiative.
A trio of the selected titles hail from Brooklyn, including “Alias Ruby Blade,” Alex Meiller’s look at the former first lady of East Timor; “Lucky,” Laura Checkoway’s story about a young woman trying to find a way out of the South Bronx; and “These Birds Walk,” Bassam Tariq and Omar Mullick’s story about two Pakistanis and a dying humanitarian.
Also in the mix are Stephen Silha and Eric Slade’s “Big Joy Project: The Adventures of James Broughton,” about the filmmaker-poet who influenced the Beat movement; Mike Ambs’ “For Thousands of Miles,” about a man split between two lives; “The Last Wild Mountain,” Oakley Anderson-Moore’s chronicle of the beginnings of rock climbing; Penny Lane and Brian Frye’s showcase of footage taken by Richard Nixon’s aides, “Our Nixon”; and U.S.-Mexico border tale “Purgatorio: A Journey Into the Heart of the Border,” from helmer Rodrigo Reyes.
Rounding out the lineup of Lab participants are Benjamin Greene’s “Survival Prayer,” about an indigenous community of food harvesters, and Nicolas and Anna Hudak’s “Where God Likes to Be,” about three American Indians in Montana.
The leaders of IFP’s 2012 doc lab include producers Maureen Ryan and Susan Motamed and director-author Jon Reiss. Editors, composers and other industry types also participate in the program.
