(Via kartemquin.com)
Kartemquin Films and the Community Film Workshop of Chicago recently announced Professor Suja Thomas as one of the eight new 2020 Diverse Voices in Docs (DVID) fellows.
Now in its 8th year, DVID is a professional mentorship program for Midwestern documentary filmmakers of color, created by Kartemquin Films and the Community Film Workshop of Chicago. Fellows are chosen from a pool of applicants with a demonstrated commitment to social issue documentary.
Thomas' project 1 Angry Man, is a comedically-presented documentary film showing the devastating social consequences of the disappearance of juries.
As of 2018, completion of the fellowship makes fellows eligible for the newly established Diverse Voices Accelerator Fund, providing crucial grants of up to $20,000 for works-in-progress.
In the DVID program, Fellows receive hands-on support from experienced Kartemquin and Community Film Workshop staff, award-winning filmmakers, and invited experts before pitching to a panel of major funders, which in previous years has included representatives from ITVS, Sundance Institute, Doc Society, POV, Black Public Media, and WTTW Channel 11. The program culminates with a graduation showcasing the fellows’ work and and featuring a keynote speaker.
Founded in 2013, DVID aims to inspire collaboration and skill-sharing among its fellows, and among the larger Midwestern independent documentary filmmaking community.
2020 support for Diverse Voices in Docs is provided by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Voqal Fund. 2020 support was also provided by The Field Foundation of Illinois, The Chicago Community Trust, and The Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Learn more about the fellows and their projects.