Press

Cinereach Announces 2008 Summer Cycle Grantees

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Reva Goldberg, Cinereach Communications and Special Projects Manager
212.727.3224 x11, rgoldberg@cinereach.org
http://www.cinereach.org

Cinereach Announces 2008 Summer Cycle Grantees

Cinereach, a New York City nonprofit grant-maker and film production house, awarded five grants from $10,000 to $35,000 this week. The chosen films cover diverse topics, ranging from a bank-robber-turned-filmmaker confronting his past to an analysis of the “verticalization” of the Brazilian cityscape as a symptom of class division. Cinereach this month also kicks off its second annual Reach Film Fellowship for undergrad filmmakers and premieres its first in-house documentary production at the Hamptons International Film Festival.

New York, NY, October 7, 2008 - After considering nearly seventy letters of inquiry from more than a dozen countries, Cinereach invited twenty-six filmmakers to apply for grants this cycle. Five projects were chosen. All successfully integrate social relevance and cinematic artistry, exemplifying the Cinereach ethos.

Since it’s founding in 2006, Cinereach has made over $1.2 million in grants to narrative and documentary film projects from emerging and established filmmakers, as well as to film festivals and media initiatives. Download a full list of previous grantees at www.cinereach.org/grants, where more can be found on these Summer 2008 grantee projects:

ENTRE NOS (Narrative): A young immigrant mother is abandoned by her husband after arriving in the United States. She and her children persevere and work towards fulfilling the American dream – one soda can at a time. Beyond portraying the travails of a single-parent immigrant family, Entre Nos is an inspiring story of how meeting the challenges of day-to-day survival can strengthen mother-child bonds.

EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL (Documentary): A bank-robber-turned-filmmaker returns home to examine how his actions affected the lives of family, friends and victims. This deeply personal story of regret and redemption is told with honesty, compassion and visual artistry.

HIGH-RISE (Documentary): High-rise explores the social and cultural mindset of the Brazilian elite and the “verticalization” of the Brazilian cityscape. Through interviews with the occupants of Brazilian high-rise apartments, this film addresses the socio-political dynamics of height, status and power.

ROSE AND NANGABIRE (Documentary): Refugee Rose Mapendo was resettled in Pheonix, AZ after she was chased from her home in the Congo by violence and war in the 1990s. Years later, she’s become a well-known peace ambassador and is about to be reunited with the daughter who was tragically left behind in the Congo. This ArtsEngine, Inc.: Big Mouth Films production puts the legacy of genocide in a personal context.

SISTER SURFERS (Documentary): We meet Hawaiian women who embody the true spirit of surfing as a cultural, community and spiritual practice with deep roots in ancient Polynesia. With perspective and skill, this film will revise popular perceptions of a largely male-dominated sport.

Cinereach’s own documentary feature, the first to come out of its Productions arm, premieres at the Hamptons International Film Festival October 16th and October 19th. The film, The Road Ahead: The First Green Long March, is the story of Chinese college students mobilizing to spark a youth conservation movement in rural China. Learn more at www.the-road-ahead.com or email Mike Raisler at mike@cinereach.org to request a screener.

Cinereach is a nonprofit organization making grants to socially relevant films and media organizations internationally, as well as housing its own productions. Cinereach also runs The Reach Film Fellowship providing funding, professional mentorship, in-kind support and media attention to east coast undergraduate filmmakers producing socially relevant short films (www.thereachfilmfellowship.com).

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