Download 2020 winners of the inaugural edition Press release.
Andrew Berends Photos Here
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Andrew Berends Film Fellowship Presented at DOC NYC’s Ethical Storytelling & Mental Health Day
New York, NY – November 20, 2024
Yesterday morning at DOC NYC, during the “Ethical Storytelling & Mental Health Day” of the DOC NYC PRO Fall Conference, the documentary film community reflected on the critical intersection of mental health and storytelling ethics. The day’s programming highlighted the importance of addressing the emotional toll of documentary filmmaking while championing ethical practices.
In a fitting moment aligned with the day’s themes, the Andrew Berends Film Fellowship was presented, honoring the legacy of the late filmmaker, who tragically lost his life to depression following a Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2019.
“Andrew Berends was a remarkable filmmaker and an even more remarkable human being,” said Maria Ibrahimova, Founding Board Member of the fellowship, during the presentation. “Perhaps if these resources were available and these conversations were happening five years ago, Andy would be here with us today.”
The 2024 Andrew Berends Film Fellowship awards a $10,000 grant and a year-long mentorship with an industry expert to a filmmaker who embodies Andrew’s spirit of intrepid storytelling. This year’s recipient is David Estrada for his work-in-progress film “To Die for a Soul“, a work praised for its boldness and emotional depth presented at the DOC NYC PRO Pitch Day.
The Fellowship serves as both a tribute to Berends’ fearless approach to storytelling and a step toward fostering dialogue around mental health in the film community.
For more information on the Andrew Berends Film Fellowship and its mission, please visit andrewberends.net
Contact:
Maria Ibrahimova
mariaibr at icloud dot com
older releases
CONTACT Andrew Berends Film Fellowship Board, info at andrewberends dot net
ANDREW BERENDS FILM FELLOWSHIP ANNOUNCES ITS INAUGURAL 2020 FELLOWS
In these challenging times The Andrew Berends Film Fellowship is pleased to announce the winners of its inaugural Fellowship.
A total of $20,000, personal mentorships with leading filmmakers Gary Hustwit, David Sampliner and Gretchen Hildebran , and other opportunities for career and project advancement are presented
to:
● Braulio Jatar and Anaïs Michel for their moving depiction of Venezuelan refugees
trying to rebuild their lives in Cùcuta (working title);
● Angelos Rallis for his heart-rending portrait of an orphaned girl in Bangladesh searching
for her birth father in Mighty Afrin (working title);
● Tom Laffay for his stirring work about the identity and spirituality of the Siona
indigenous people in Colombia in Tigre Eléctrico (working title).
The Fellowship Board is proud to support these brave and ambitious filmmakers, to help them move their projects forward in a time of much uncertainty, and to see Andrew Berends’ legacy embodied in their work. Additional information about the Fellows and their films can be found in the full press release.
The Andrew Berends Film Fellowship would like to thank all of our generous donors, both
individuals and foundations, as well as our friends at IFP, VICE, D-Word, Pure Non-Fiction and the Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship. Special thanks to Fellowship Board members Aaron Soffin, Michiel Pilgram, Brenden Hussey, Maria Ibrahimova, and Jason Gardner.
For those interested in applying to the 2021 Fellowship, the application will be released in Fall 2020. As the Fellowship Board begins to plan for next year’s Fellowship,
contributions can be made through its fiscal sponsor IFP.