IFP Announces Selections for Project Forum at Independent Film Week 2015
by Erik Luers on July 22, 2015
July 22, 2015 (New York, NY) – The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) announced today the full slate of 140 projects selected for its esteemed Project Forum at the upcoming IFP Independent Film Week, running September 20-25, 2015 at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Under the curatorial leadership of Deputy Director/Head of Programming Amy Dotson and Senior Director of Programming Milton Tabbot, IFP Project Forum is a meetings-driven forum connecting filmmakers who have new narrative and documentary projects in development, production, or post-production with key industry executives interested in identifying projects with which to become involved at the development, financing, or distribution stages. A primary outcome for all filmmakers is the facilitation of career-spanning relationships with potential financiers, festival programmers, buyers, collaborators, and others.
“We are thrilled to present such a dynamic slate representing artists in film and new media from around the globe. These artists are really pushing the boundaries of storytelling not only through their narratives, but also in matching content to distribution in exciting new ways,” said Joana Vicente, IFP’s Executive Director “IFP has had a long-standing history of supporting diverse voices and this year we have more than 50% of our projects coming from female directors.”
In recent years, IFP has played a vital role in launching the first films of many of today’s most adventurous women filmmakers including Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behavior), Anna Boden (Half Nelson), Rama Burshtein (Fill The Void), Debra Granik (Down to the Bone), Leah Meyerhoff (I Believe in Unicorns), Laura Poitras (Flag Wars), Gillian Robespierre (Obvious Child), and Dee Rees (Pariah).
IFP’s Project Forum is made up of several sections: RBC’s Emerging Storytellers program, No Borders International Co-Production Market and Spotlight on Documentaries.
RBC’s Emerging Storytellers
RBC’s Emerging Storytellers program highlights creative visionaries and showcases narrative feature films and web series in development new to the independent scene. Acclaimed short filmmakers such as Jennifer Reeder (Blood Below the Skin) and Dean C. Marcial (Sea Devil) are presenting new works alongside sophomore projects from Charles Poekel (Christmas, Again) and Andrew Semans (Nancy, Please).
For the second year, the Web Storytellers Spotlight returns to Project Forum with five exciting web series in various stages of development. All five projects are written and directed by women, including Emily Carmichael (RPG OKC), as well as the directorial debut from producer Chanelle Pearson (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty), and the second-season of the acclaimed web-series Eat Our Feelings from Emma Jane Gonzalez and Sasha Winters.
No Borders International Co-Production Market
No Borders is the only international co-production market in the U.S.. The program highlights 45 projects from over 20 international partners including, for the first time, features from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Greece, Mexico, and UK.
The slate launches with fresh feature scripts from writer /directors Andrew Haigh (Weekend, HBO’s Looking, and the upcoming 45 Years), Lawrence Michael Levine (Wild Canaries), Sophie Barthes (Madame Bovary), Talya Lavie (Zero Motivation), and Saschka Unseld (The Blue Umbrella). New, high-profile projects from the producers of recent indie hits A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Bachelorette, Cantiflas, Cold in July, Land Ho!, Love is Strange and May in Summer are also in the mix.
Spotlight on Documentaries
The documentary selection of 60 projects includes new works from well-known non-fiction directors such as Doug Block (112 Weddings), Heather Courtney (Where Soldiers Come From) and Anayansi Prado (Maid in America), Catherine Gund (Born to Fly), Senain Kheshgi (Project Kashmir), Mor Loushy (Censored Voices), Megumi Sasaki (Herb & Dorothy), Nancy Schwartzman (The Line), Yoav Shamir (Checkpoint), Lana Wilson (After Tiller), and Paul Lovelace & Jessica Wolfson (Radio Unnameable).
Noted producers presenting projects include Marilyn Ness (E-Team), Julie Goldman (The Great Invisible), Daniel Junge (Being Evel), Lucas Ochoa and Julia Nottingham (The Possibilities are Endless), and Marc Smolowitz (The Weather Underground).
For the full slate of projects and descriptions included in this year’s Project Forum, please find attached list or visit https://thegotham.org/resources/2015-project-forum-slate.
IFP and its Independent Film Week are generously supported by a group of loyal corporate, foundation and government benefactors. The 2015 Sponsors are Premier Sponsors Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and HBO; Gold Sponsors A&E IndieFilms and SAGIndie; and Silver Sponsors Durga Entertainment, Indiegogo, National Film & Video Foundation of South Africa, Phosphate Productions, Shutterstock and Telefilm Canada. IFP Independent Film Week is also supported by grants from the National Endowment of the Arts, the Ford Foundation, Heineman Foundation, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts and the Time Warner Foundation.
Press Contacts:
RJ Millard, Kory Mello
Obscured Pictures
212.620.0727
About IFP
The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) champions the future of storytelling by connecting artists with essential resources at all stages from development and distribution. The organization fosters a vibrant and sustainable independent storytelling community through its year-round programs, which include Independent Film Week, Filmmaker Magazine, the Gotham Independent Film Awards and the Made in NY Media Center by IFP, a new incubator space developed with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and EDC. IFP represents a growing network of 10,000+ storytellers around the world, and plays a key role in developing 350 new feature and documentary works each year. More info at www.ifp.org