Tribeca Film Institute and Ford Foundation Award $400,000 in New Media Fund Grants

The Tribeca Film Institute, in partnership with Ford Foundation’s Just Films Initiative, has given $400,000 in New Media Fund grants to six transmedia projects, TFI announced Wednesday. The interactive nonfiction projects, which center on issues of social justice, will gain access to lab development at TFI in addition to the financial support.

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The 2012 recipients are:

“Alma, A Tale of Violence”

Key Participants: Miquel Dewever-Plana, Isabelle Fougère, Hugues Micol, Sebastien Brothier

Description: In a moving confession of a former member of one of Guatemala’s most violent gangs, Alma tells her story in a unique interactive web/tablet concept in which the viewer moves between two screen levels, a face-to-face experience and a visual evocation of Alma’s recollections.

“Immigrant Nation”

Key Participants: Theo Rigby, Kate Mclean

Description: “Immigrant Nation” uses personal narratives to give users multiple entry points into the divisive issue of immigration in the U.S. Through the intersection of documentary film, user-generated storytelling and social mapping, this project provides a platform for users to create, share and explore personal immigration stories.

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“Laika’s Adventure”

Key Participants: Lance Weiler, Janine Saunders

Description: “Laika’s Adventure” is an ongoing, experiential, educational story world that plugs into Connected Sparks, an online social change platform for children. Laika, a traveling robot, facilitates collaborative problem solving among students, teachers, storytellers and a global audience. At its core, “Laika’s Adventure” looks to harness the power of storytelling, technology and creativity to inspire micro-actions of change. 

“New Day New Standard”

Key Participants: Anjum Asharia, Abdulai Bah, Leo Burd, Sasha Constanza-Chock, Alexandra García, Becky Hurwitz, Marisa Jahn, Christine Yvette Lewis, Marc Shavitz

Description: “New Day New Standard” is a new media public art project bridging advocacy and narrative by telling the story of a new movement for workers’ rights. Created by REV-, “New Day New Standard” involves a creative Spanish/English audio campaign, accessible by web and telephone call-in, that informs domestic workers and their employees about the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights.

“Hollow”

Key Participants: Elaine McMillion, Jeff Soyk, Tricia Fulks, Eric Lovell, Michelle Miller, Megan Bowers

Description: “Hollow” is a hybrid community participatory project and interactive documentary that addresses the issues of rural America through the eyes of Southern West Virginians.

“Question Bridge”

Key Participants: Chris Johnson, Bayeté Ross-Smith, Kamal Sinclair, Hank Willis Thomas, Jesse Williams

Description: “Question Bridge: Black Males” is an innovative transmedia art project that facilitates a dialogue between a critical mass of Black men from diverse and contending backgrounds; and creates a platform for them to represent and redefine Black male identity in America. “Question Bridge” will use a mobile application and robust website to create sustainable extensions of the current video installation in order to reach a wider audience.

Each project has been awarded between $50,000 and $100,000 by a seven-person jury. The New Media Fund initiative will once again be complemented by the TFI Interactive event at the Tribeca Film Festival in April.

“The Tribeca Film Institute is delighted to support a second round of interactive projects in partnership with the Ford Foundation,” said TFI director of digital initiatives Ingrid Kopp. “This is such an exciting time to be exploring new kinds of storytelling and new methods of engaging audiences around issues of social justice. Together with events like TFI Interactive, this work is reframing what non-fiction storytelling can do to spark dialogue across disciplines, push narrative boundaries and reach new and diverse audiences. We congratulate the new recipients and look forward to working with them as they develop their projects.”