September 16, 2014 (Brooklyn, NY) – IFP and Durga Entertainment announced Eleanor Burke as the recipient of the 2014 Durga Entertainment Filmmaker Grant, established for an alumnus of IFP who is balancing a filmmaking career with parenting. The grant provides a $20,000 unrestricted prize to encourage the recipient to continue on his or her career path of making quality independent films. American directors or screenwriters working in narrative film who have participated in the IFP Independent Filmmaker Labs or IFP Independent Film Week’s Emerging Storytellers or No-Borders International Co-Production Market were eligible.

The grant was announced at a special reception at IFP’s Independent Film Week, which brings the international film and media community to New York City to advance new documentary and narrative works-in-progress in support of the future of storytelling. Through the facilitation of over 3,500+ custom, one-to-one meetings with the financiers, executives, influencers and decision-makers in film, television, new media and cross-platform storytelling, the program nurtures the work of both emerging and established independent filmmakers to help them complete their latest works and connect with audiences.

“We are thankful to Ritu Singh Pande and Kishori Rajan from Durga for partnering with IFP to offer this critical and innovative support to our artists,” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center. “Eleanor is such a talented filmmaker, and in her second career, is a new mother. We’re very excited that we can support her life and work with this grant.”

“Filmmaking and parenting are both distinctively all-consuming undertakings, making the challenge to balance family and career for filmmakers an increasingly formidable path.” said Durga Entertainment Founder Ritu Singh Pande. “We are thrilled to support IFP’s work by offering this grant to aid their rising to that challenge.”

Burke is a graduate of IFP’s 2009 Independent Filmmaker Labs with her debut feature, Stranger Things, which garnered critical accolades including the Grand Jury Prize at the Slamdance and Woodstock Film Festivals. She is also an alumni of 2012 No Borders Co-Production Market with Bright As Day. Through & Through, her next feature script that is one of 12 projects selected to attend the 2014 Venice Biennale College Cinema this fall.

SPONSORS

Independent Film Week’s Premier sponsors are Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and HBO. Gold sponsors are A&E IndieFilms and SAGIndie. Silver sponsors are Durga Entertainment, Eastman Kodak Company, National Film & Video Foundation of South Africa and Telefilm Canada. Official Independent Film Week Partner is Film Society of Lincoln Center. Independent Film Week is supported, in part, by funds provided by the Ford Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council for the Arts and Time Warner Foundation.

ABOUT IFP

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) champions the future of storytelling by connecting artists with essential resources at all stages of 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. 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. During its 35-year history, IFP has supported over 8,000 projects and offered resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers, including Debra Granik, Miranda July, Michael Moore, Dee Rees, and Benh Zeitlin. More info at www.ifp.org.

For more information on IFP, please contact:

Amy Dotson, Deputy Director & Head of Programming, IFP (212) 465-8200 x203

Milton Tabbot, Senior Director, Programming, IFP (212) 465-8200 x207

Jody Arlington, Director of Communications, IFP [email protected], 202.316.4316