The prestigious Sundance Institute has awarded financial support to several filmmakers, including one born and raised in Mansfield, Kevin Jerome Everson.
Ten independent filmmakers working at the vanguard of inventive artistic practice in story, craft and form will receive distinctive opportunities from Sundance Institute’s Art of Nonfiction Fellowship and Fund.
“This year’s cohort reflects our continuing desire to explore the space in between,” said Tabitha Jackson, Director of the Documentary Film Program. “The space between art and film, between photography and moving image, between poetry and social justice, between artist and audience. And who better to lead us into this space of imaginative possibility, and beyond, than this particular group of creative adventurers.”
“Our intention with this program is to provide artist-based support to nonfiction filmmakers operating outside of formal convention, those contributing unique texture to the documentary landscape,” said John Cardellino, Producer of Art of Nonfiction. “As funders, we are thrilled to be in dialogue with these artists, to bring them into dialogue with each other, and to continue building a program rooted in the encouragement of uncompromisingly exploring one’s artistic ambitions.”
The Art of Nonfiction Fellowship supports artists with a distinct voice and vision and provides them with an unrestricted grant and year-long fellowship track tailored to their creative aspirations and challenges. The 2018 Art of Nonfiction Fellows are: Deborah Stratman, Natalia Almada, Sam Green, and Sky Hopinka. The Art of Nonfiction Fund provides grants to artists developing work at an early stage that takes an inventive cinematic approach. Once granted, artists have access to a range of Sundance Institute programs and opportunities open only to alumni, as well as ongoing strategic and creative support from the Documentary Film Program. The 2018 Art of Nonfiction Grantees are: Jem Cohen, Kevin Jerome Everson, Kevin B. Lee & Chloé Galibert-Laîné, LaToya Ruby Frazier, and Leilah Weinraub.
Art of Nonfiction is made possible by founding support from Cinereach. Generous additional support is provided by Genuine Article Pictures and Nion McEvoy & Leslie Berriman.
Artist/Filmmaker Kevin Jerome Everson was born and raised in Mansfield. He has made nine feature length films and over one-hundred and thirty short films including Tonsler Park (2017), Ears, Nose and Throat (2016), Park Lanes (2015), and Quality Control(2011). Everson’s films and artwork have been widely shown at venues including Sundance Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Venice International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the Tate Modern in London. The work has also been recognized through awards and fellowships such as Guggenheim Fellowship, an Alpert Award, a Creative Capital Fellowship and an NEA Fellowship. Everson is currently a Professor of Art at the University of Virginia, and represented by Picture Palace Pictures and Andrew Kreps Gallery. More via [link].
The Sundance Institute was founded in 1981 by actor Robert Redford, and according to its website fosters independence, risk-taking, and new voices in American film. It hosts the important Sundance Film Festival each year.