Press

Cinereach Announces 2009 Reach Film Fellows

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Reva Golberg (reva@cinereach.org)
Cinereach: 212.727.3224

CINEREACH ANNOUNCES FOUR FILMMAKERS SELECTED
FOR 2009 REACH FILM FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Jeremy Kipp Walker, Nicole Kassell, Renee Bishop, and So Yong Kim
to be Paired with Young Filmmakers
www.thereachfilmfellowship.org
www.cinereach.org

New York, NY (October 20, 2008) – Nurturing the next generation of socially-conscious filmmakers, Cinereach today announced the four young filmmakers selected to participate in its 2009 Reach Film Fellowship Program.

Launched in 2006 by a group of young filmmakers, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs, Cinereach, a non-profit media organization, works to celebrate socially conscious filmmaking from fresh, exciting and thought-provoking viewpoints.

Now in its second year, The Reach Film Fellowship is an intensive, six-month program in which four filmmakers work with mentors and a team of advisors to take their films from script or treatment through completion.

The fellows will each receive a $5,000 grant and be paired with mentors, including Jeremy Kipp Walker (Half Nelson, Maria Full of Grace), Nicole Kassell (The Woodsman), Renee Bishop (Farmers’ Almanac TV of Savannah, GA), and So Yong Kim (Treeless Mountain).

Designed to support the filmmakers in every part of the production process, the program also provides fellows with resources such as free film stock from Kodak, software from Showbiz Budgeting, and advice from veteran indie producer Susan Leber, who will be “on-call” to consult during Fellowship.

During the course of the program, the filmmakers also participate in workshops led by industry insiders such as producer Susan Leber (Down to the Bone, Adrift in Manhattan), documentary director Edet Belzberg (Children Underground, The Recruiter), screenwriter Afia Nathanial, an acclaimed independent filmmaker from Pakistan, and director/actor Paola Mendoza (Still Standing, Autumn’s Eyes). Director and cinematographer Ellen Kuras (The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Summer of Sam) will lead a Master Class this evening as part of the RFF program kick-off.

For the first time this year, an additional $5,000 grant for best film will also be presented to one of the four Fellows. The award will be presented at the 2009 Reach Out celebration in spring 2009, where the winner’s film will also be screened. Kodak will also present an award.

The 2009 Reach Film Fellows are:

-Brendon McQueen (Fiction) – A student in Columbia’s Film Studies program, McQueen’s project, Skip Rocks, weaves a tale of intergenerational alienation and connectedness between a 12 year old girl and a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s.

-Jules Monteyne (Fiction) – A New York University graduate, Monteyne’s film, I Go to War with Everything That Doesn’t Make Sense in a Bathtub, explores racial tension and stereotyping among teenagers, and how adults in their lives influence that tension.

-Dena Greenbaum (Fiction) – A New York University student, Greenbaum’s project, Blues tells the story of two boys, a religious Jew and African American who develop a friendship through their love of Jazz during The Crown Heights, Brooklyn riots in 1990.

-Danielle Russell (Documentary) – A Savannah College of Art student, Russell’s Bridging the Gap depicts a highly segregated school system that revives the spirit of the Civil Rights movement and infuses it with a new call to action.

“As young filmmakers, we understand how difficult the transition can be from student to professional in the film industry,” said Phillip Engelhorn, Cinereach founder. “Our mission is to connect talented young people with resources and access to industry leaders to create films addressing tough issues. We are excited to see the four films develop over the next six months.”

The Fellowship recipients were selected by a judging panel that included Benjamin Goldhirsh, Founder and CEO of GOOD Magazine and Reason Pictures; René Bastian, Founder and President of Belladonna Productions, Inc.; and Phillip Engelhorn, Cinereach Founder.

2008 Reach Film Fellowship alumni include Nicholas Bruckman and Annie Waldman. Bruckman’s latest film, La Americana won Best Documentary Film at the 2008 New York Latin Film Festival. Waldman’s RFF documentary So the Wind Won’t Blow It All Away was accepted to the St. Louis International Film Festival, San Francisco Documentary Film Festival, Bay Area Now and the 2008 CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival.

Last year’s mentors were Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter), Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp, Boys of Baraka), Sandi DuBowski (Trembling Before G-d, A Jihad for Love), and Afia Nathaniel, an acclaimed independent filmmaker from Pakistan.

The 2008 Reach Film Fellowship is sponsored by Kodak, Showbiz Software and the Savanna College of Art and Design.

About Cinereach

Cinereach was created in 2006 by a group of young filmmakers, philanthropists and entrepreneurs with the goal of championing socially relevant films. It both produces and supports films that challenge, excite innovate, offer new perspectives and inspire action. In the two years since its founding, Cinereach has made over $1.2 million in grants to support filmmakers, projects and organizations across the globe. Grantees include FilmAid International, Witness, The Human Rights Watch Film Festival and groundbreaking films Children of War, A Jihad for Love, Project Kashmir, Neither the Veil, Nor the Four Walls, A Nomad’s Life and many others. Through the Reach Film Fellowship, Cinereach supports talented young filmmakers creating meaningful short films with artistic merit. Cinereach’s first in-house documentary, The Road Ahead: The First Green Long March, premieres this week at the Hamptons International Film Festival.