Throughout the year, the Just So Film Fund in Association
with Sheffield Doc/Fest award twelve grants of up to £5,000 to film-makers with
untold stories. The first four winning treatments of 2016 have been selected
from over 300 online applicants.
The brief for the competition is simple; submit an idea for
a short documentary that concerns itself with both content and form.
Founders of Just So, Jonny Madderson and Jono Stevens comment:
“Short documentaries are on the rise and we want to stoke the fires of the
genre. In 1925, Grierson defined documentary as ‘creative treatment of
actuality’ and we want to give film-makers the opportunity to test that and make
films with as much focus on form as on content.”
A panel of 7 judges, including; Claire Aguilar, Head of
programming at Sheffield Doc/fest; Brian McGinn, Director and executive
producer on the Netflix hit Chef’s Table;
Mark Russell, managing editor for GQ, and Jordan McGarry, Director of curation
at Vimeo; whittled down the thirteen shortlisted entries last week. Three of
the films from Eleanor Mortimer, James Newton and Joris Debeij will go into production
with a fourth project by Jade Jackman going into development.
Previous winning films have gone on to be featured in Short
of the Week, Esquire, Nowness, Cork Film Festival, It’s Nice That, i-D & Vimeo
staff picks.
“I have never seen
such a wonderful and unique opportunity that Just So provides for filmmakers to
create short films which stretch the boundaries of form and require creativity
and vision. The slate of films selected promise to be fresh and exciting,
reflecting innovative modes of production as well as showcasing diverse
film-makers,” said Claire Aguilar,
Head of Programming, Sheffield Doc/Fest.
Brian McGinn, Director/Exec Producer, Chef’s Table (Netflix), commented:“We're in an exciting time in the documentary world as the form becomes more widely embraced and the genre evolves. What Postcards is supporting is a movement of documentarians towards more and more creative aesthetic choices -- using the form to push boundaries. All of the submissions had a unique take on the idea of documentary film-making. As a director myself, it's exciting that there's a place where people that care about the way their stories look can get support.”
“I was thoroughly
impressed with the general standard of the short list of 13 treatments,
particularly in the breadth of subject matter tackled. There were so many
stories that I knew either nothing or very little about and, in most cases,
immediately wanted to learn more of - in short, some great journalistic
pitches. The scale of ambition and desire to make it work was also very
notable,” said Mark Russel, Managing Editor,
GQ
THE WINNERS:
Winning Project Title: Seafarers
Project Logline: What's it like to travel everywhere but
visit nowhere?
Eleanor is a
documentary maker from Suffolk. Her first short, The Price of Freedom (2013,
Italy/UK) won best web doc at the IAWRT Awards 2013. She went on to do a
masters at the National Film and Television School, where she directed
Territory (2015), winning her Best Short at Hot Docs. The film was screened at
festivals internationally, including Sundance, True/False, and Cinema du Reel.
She lives and works in London as part of Glow in the Dark Films.’
Winning Project Title: Letters To Home
Project Logline: How do you make a film about women who the
Government no longer wants you to see?
Jade Jackman is a 22
old old journalist and documentary storyteller who firmly believes in the use
of artistic techniques to engage her audience in contemporary political
issues. A combination of her unique approach and dedication to human
rights has seen her featured in the ASOS magazine, IndieWire, Topshop blog and
screen work at the BFI. She is also the co-founder of Eye Want Change a mobile
phone film competition that aims to improve access to the media
and privilege innovation over the use of expensive equipment.
James
Newton (Co-directed by Edward Edwards)
Winning Project Title:
Black Snow
Project Logline: A tale of two
cities - a film told through the eyes of children, who see a life of colour in
a city where the snow is black and the air tastes of sulphur.
After
winning a David Lean scholarship, James Newton graduated from the National Film
and Television School in 2007 with an MA in Documentary. His talent and
passion for documentary cinematography had already been spotted when he won a
Kodak commercials award a year earlier.
James
has a distinctive style, shooting unpredictable observational scenes using
prime lenses. The result is a cinematic, filmic look that is akin to feature
films or drama. James’s talent as a self-shooting director was best
exemplified in last year’s critically acclaimed BBC 2 series The Detectives for
which he shot and directed the entire series.
Winning Project Title:
W-A-T-T-S
Project Logline: Whilst
growing up in his beloved hometown, Watts, a young man finds himself addicted
to the fast life. Breaking from his gang lifestyle, he fights for a second
chance.
Joris
is the founder and director behind “I Am Los Angeles” which in turn spawned the
festival renowned shorts “The Bull Rider” and “Making it in America.” His
directing style combines visual storytelling with detailed character study. His
short documentary “Making it in America” was selected to screen at the Sundance
Film Festival 2015.
All winning films will be hosted on postcards.justsolondon.com, a
dedicated short documentaries platform.
The next round of submissions is also now open until July 1st
2016. Entrants can submit their ideas at postcards.justsolondon.com/fund/. Just
So will also be hosting a round table commissioning panel at Sheffield Doc/Fest
this June with details to be announced shortly.