Durham, N.C. – November 20, 2024 – Southern Documentary Fund (SDF) has selected seven projects to receive a total of $105,000 in production grants. Recipients include a diverse group of filmmakers across the American South, with awards going to emerging and established makers currently in-production. The 2024 SDF Production Grant cycle is made possible thanks to generous support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and JustFilms | Ford Foundation.
Southern Documentary Fund Executive Director Clint Jukkala said, “We are excited to support these filmmakers and stories that reflect the nuance and complexity of the American South. Their projects were selected from an especially strong group of applications that represent the creativity and talent of Southern makers.”
SDF received submissions from all 12 states in its region, including projects from first-time and veteran filmmakers. This year’s grantees tell a wide range of stories with themes encompassing social justice, food security, gentrification, identity, and issues buried deep within the American
South. In addition to financial support, grant recipients will receive ongoing assistance through
SDF’s Mentorship program.
“We’re honored to recognize these seven recipients of the 2024 SDF Production Grant.” Said Southern Documentary Fund Artistic Director Christopher Everett. “We look forward to joining these makers on their journey as they bring their projects to life.”
The complete list of grant winners and the focus of their documentaries are listed below.
BE | Nailah Jefferson – Louisiana
The radical imagination of Brandan “BMike” Odums birthed StudioBE, an art space in the heart of the New Orleans Bywater community, where images of Black love, joy and resistance abound. For seven years StudioBE has thrived, drawing global visitors and audiences, but as art and gentrification clash, the studio is being forced out of its home and with only months to determine its fate, BMike is in a race against time to save it.
THEY DREAM | William D. Caballero – North Carolina / California
After the death of my beloved grandmother, my grieving mother joins me in the creation of a series of animated shorts, meant to honor our Puerto Rican-American family’s journey, and highlight their unique views on life and loss, while healing ourselves in the process.
MONSTROUS ME | Ariel Baska – Virginia
Monstrous Me is a horror memoir about a disabled and disfigured child finding themselves in the
face of Freddy Krueger.
UTICA | Jasmine Cannon – Alabama
UTICA puts a face to issues related to food security and access, community development, and
agriculture. This film paints a portrait of life in America’s rural south while also exploring how a
community fights to revitalize itself.
FREE JOAN LITTLE | Yoruba Richen – Georgia / New York
The film Free Joan Little examines the 1975 groundbreaking case of Joan Little, who was one of
the first women in U.S. history to be acquitted of using deadly force to resist sexual assault. Little was a Black incarcerated woman who killed a white guard who was trying to rape her.
FROM KUDZU | Melanie Ho, Hope Davison, Nash Consing – Mississippi
A personal road trip documentary, From Kudzu explores the identities of three Asian Americans
from the U.S. South. The filmmakers illustrate the placement, movement and history of their Asian histories in the South in proximity to an invasive vine’s rise and fall mitigated by the hand of the U.S. Government.
THE BOYS AND THE BEES | Arielle Knight – Georgia
The Boys and the Bees hums, buzzes and throbs as we follow the lives of a Georgia beekeeping family breaking stereotypes and breaking ground on their new farm.
