GUCCI’S TRIBECA DOCUMENTARY FUND 2017 HELPS MORE HUMANITARIAN DOCUMENTARIES
BY BRENNA O’DONNELL
Gucci has recently announced the details of their 2017 Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, a program in partnership with the Tribeca Film Institute and the Oath Foundation that awards grants and services to documentaries that shed a light on social justice issues across the world. The program has been in place since 2008, and has since awarded $1.3 million across 83 films that explore humanitarian issues.
New in 2017, the fund has teamed up with creative impact agency Picture Motion, who will provide campaign strategy to accomplish maximum impact distribution. This year, 8 films have received $130,000 in production and finishing finances, as well as year-round guidance from the Tribeca Film Institute. More than half of these selected pieces will highlight women and youth and their dedication to bettering their communities and our future.
The pieces selected to receive funding where chosen by a jury comprised of Head of Feature Documentaries and Distribution at Vulcan Productions Ryan Harrington, actress and Global Executive Director of Equality Now Frida Pinto, Hot Docs Acting Director of Industry Programs Yasmeen Hassan, producer Jannat Gargi, and documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. The 8 films chosen by this jury cover a diverse variety of relevant subject matter from the global fight against ISIS, to breaking glass ceilings in Hasidic communities in Brooklyn, to government surveillance in Arab-American communities in Chicago, and tackling drug addiction in Afghanistan.
Nearly 70% of the films that we’ve supported through the fund have been awarded to female filmmakers.
The fund is a win for all parties involved; Gucci is exhibiting their social responsibility by helping bring these documentaries to life, the filmmakers create poignant and gripping pieces, the subjects of the documentaries have their stories heard, and audiences all over are more aware, and even more inspired to drive change regarding the issues.
The recipients of the 2017 Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund include:
93Queen — Directed and Produced by Paula Eiselt. Produced by Heidi Reinberg and Adam Bolt.
93Queen follows a group of tenacious women who are shattering the glass ceiling in their Hasidic Brooklyn neighborhood by creating the first all-female volunteer EMS corps in NYC.
Crime + Punishment (Working Title) — Directed and Produced by Stephen Maing. Co-produced by Ross Tuttle.
Amidst a landmark lawsuit over illegal policing quotas, Crime + Punishment (Working Title) intimately observes the real lives and struggles of a group of black and Latino whistleblower cops and the young minorities they are pressured to arrest and summons in New York City.
Laila at the Bridge — Directed and Produced by Elissa Sylvia Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei. Produced by Ina Fichman.
Having witnessed her brother’s 25-year battle with drug addiction, former child bride Laila devotes her life to treating heroin-addicted men and women in Kabul. As foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan and international aid dries up, Laila struggles to prevail over a crisis of addiction and a corrupt government in a country on the verge of collapse.
The Interpreter — Directed by Andrés Caballero and Sofian Khan.
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