The annual Via Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Girls’s Filmmaker Program has formally introduced its 2024 grant recipients. The star-studded three-day workshop is a coveted expertise for chosen feminine filmmakers, and has served as a launchpad for filmmakers resembling Nikyatu Jusu (“Nanny”), Kat Coiro (“She-Hulk”), and A.V. Rockwell (“A Thousand and One”).
The 2024 jurors included Da’Vine Pleasure Randolph, Olivia Wilde, Beanie Feldstein, Lucy Liu, and Joanna Calo. Filmmaking duo Sophia Youssef and Céline Bava-Helms was awarded the grand prize for his or her quick movie “Black Shore.”
“Black Shore” obtained full manufacturing funding; per an official assertion, “the quick tells the story about Evangelina, who, compelled to take care of her ailing mom again dwelling in Santorini, should confront the fact that her mom’s lifelong obsession with mythological monsters and an historical household curse may not be pure fantasy, however a terrifying warning that some fates are inherited.”
Along with “Black Shore” receiving full funding, different program members of quick movies “Brace Your self,” “Copy, Save,” “Haint,” and “Selah” every obtained a growth grant to assist continued work on their respective movies to maneuver them nearer to manufacturing.
“Via Her Lens started in 2015 with a transparent imaginative and prescient to encourage and empower the subsequent era of girls storytellers. Right here we’re, ten years later, nonetheless led by the spirit of [late producer and Tribeca Executive Vice President] Paula Weinstein, who knew that mentorship and real connections are important to construct careers for girls,” Jane Fonda, who serves on the Via Her Lens advisory committee, stated when asserting the 2024 award. “She additionally knew how troublesome a profession path that is. These previous years, all through inflation, strikes, and main adjustments in our industries, the trail is steeper than ever.”
The 2024 grant winners, “Black Shore” filmmakers Youssef and Bava-Helms, met whereas college students at AFI. The duo went on to be a part of the Disney Launchpad program, and first utilized for the Via Her Lens program in 2022. Whereas they weren’t accepted on the time, their new challenge now has taken dwelling the profitable grant award. Youssef instructed IndieWire that “Black Shore” will instantly be going into pre-production. The quick movie is a proof of idea for a slated function, which Youssef and Bava-Helms have already written.
Doing the Via Her Lens program, 10 contestants have one-on-one conferences with mentors resembling Pamela Adlon, Janicza Bravo, Chase Sui Wonders, and Mara Brock Akil, and later pitch their respective tasks to the jury. 5 finalists have been then chosen.
This 12 months’s three-day mentorship program additionally gathered trade leaders like Patty Jenkins, Ruth E. Carter, and Laura Karpman to guide immersive workshops and intimate conversations centered on script-to-screen growth, music composition, costume design, producing, and directing. Extra advisory committee members additionally embody Greta Lee, Kerry Washington, and former Via Her Lens winner A.V. Rockwell.
Tribeca Competition co-founder Jane Rosenthal instructed IndieWire that Via Her Lens is a program that retains reaping its rewards, even 9 years after its inception. “Every year, it’s higher and smarter,” Rosenthal stated.
Choosing a profitable challenge was “an unattainable job” in line with Via Her Lens jury member Olivia Wilde. “The way forward for filmmaking is on this room,” Wilde stated onstage, “and we have been all so honored to witness such magical artistry.” Fellow jury member Lucy Liu added to IndieWire that Via Her Lens is “not a couple of competitors or profitable. It’s about mentoring one another and having a shared expertise.”
Since its founding in 2015, Via Her Lens has supported practically 100 rising filmmakers and developed 40 quick movies. Virtually 70 % of all members are ladies or non-binary folks of colour. Successful movies have premiered at high festivals and have been distributed by Max, Searchlight, Criterion, and extra.
