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The Sundance Institute will dole out more than $1 million in grants to documentary filmmakers, supporting a variety of projects both by new voices and veteran documentarians from 10 nations on six continents.

The projects cover such topics as police violence, natural disasters, income inequality, transgender rights, family legacy and education in the developing world. Some projects are in post-production, while others are still in development.

Some of the grants are part of Sundance's Art of Nonfiction Initiative, which works to help filmmakers stretching the artistic limits of documentary story, craft and form. The grants cover the initiative's second group of fellows and its first group of projects.

Here are the projects, with descriptions provided by the Sundance Institute:

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Development:

• "Cleveland" (U.S.), directed by Michael Milano and Orlando Bagwell, produced by Amanda Pike • "'Cleveland' is a feature documentary about the city's defining role on the American cultural and political landscape during the Obama presidency. Amidst an economic resurgence, this rust-belt town hopes to regain some of its historic stature, but a brutal string of police killings brings federal oversight and unearths decades of injustice. 'Cleveland' goes behind the front lines in the battle over policing, and examines the use of deadly force from the perspectives of both perpetrators and victims." Supported by the Sundance Institute | John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

• "Get Up Stand Up" (U.S.), directed by Rameen Aminzadehm produced by Fisher Stevens • "After back to back non indictments of the officers responsible for the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, a group of young, diverse, criminal justice advocates, organizers and formerly incarcerated artists ban together and set out on an epic journey to break a 'Fixed System.' Fueled by their personal experiences with the so called 'Justice System' and traumatic life changing events, Justice League NYC members dedicate every waking moment of their lives to demanding justice, uplifting the voices of those whose dreams have been stolen and applying pressure to bring about reform."

• "Ma Liang's Time Machine" (China), directed by Yang Sun, produced by S. Leo Chiang • "When Chinese artist Ma Liang realizes that his father Ma Ke, an accomplished Peking Opera director, is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, he invites his father to collaborate on his most ambitious project to date—a haunting, magical, autobiographical stage performance featuring life-size mechanical puppets called 'Papa's Time Machine.' Through the creation of this play, Ma Liang and Ma Ke confront the challenges of aging and repercussions from the Cultural Revolution. They struggle to close the gap in their relationship before time runs out and memories are lost forever."

• "Oceti Sakowen" (working title) (Seven Council Fires / U.S.), directed by Cody Lucich, produced by Ben Alex Dupris and Heather Rae • "In the shadow of the largest political occupation in Native American history, thousands of earth guardians descend on the international stage of Standing Rock, North Dakota, to cut off the head of the 'black snake' they call the Dakota Access Pipeline."

• "XY Chelsea" (U.S. / U.K.), directed by Tim Hawkins, produced by Julia Nottingham • "Soldier, trans woman and prisoner, Chelsea Manning has launched an appeal against the U.S. military, challenging a 35-year sentence given after she disclosed almost 700,000 U.S. military and diplomatic documents. Incarcerated in an all-male military prison in Kansas, she is also undergoing hormone replacement therapy to transition to the female gender she has identified with all her life. This is a fight for Chelsea's identity: her character, her integrity, and her humanity. Told from Chelsea's perspective, through an intimate prison diary, 'XY Chelsea' will provide an unique view of one of the most important stories of the 21st century and an ongoing legal battle that has implications for us all."

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Production:

• "A Woman's Work" (Canada / U.S.), directed by Yu Gu, produced by Elizabeth Ai and Yu Gu • "Football and feminism collide in this feature documentary that follows three former NFL cheerleaders and the class-action lawsuits they brought against their teams." Supported by Sundance Institute | Rockefeller Foundation Impact Fund.

• "Casting JonBenet" (Australia), directed by Kitty Green, produced by Scott Macaulay and Kitty Green • "An artful exploration of the legacy of America's most sensational child-murder case, the unsolved death of six-year-old American beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey."

• "Even When I Fall" (U.K.), directed by Sky Neal and Kate McLarnon, produced by Elhum Shakerifar • "'Even When I Fall' tells the story of Nepal's first and only contemporary circus, set up by survivors of child trafficking."

• "Hispaniola" (Dominican Republic / Canada / U.S.), directed by Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster, produced by Jennifer Holness, Joe Brewster, and Michèle Stephenson • "In 2013, the Dominican Republic Supreme Court stripped citizenship from individuals born in the country of Haitian descent. 'Hispaniola' intimately follows the lives of several families affected by the decision, reflecting larger questions of imposed borders, citizenship, statelessness, and racial identity."

• "I Am Not Your Negro" (U.S. / France), directed by Raoul Peck, produced by Rémi Grellety, Raoul Peck, and Hébert Peck • "In 'I Am Not Your Negro,' Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished — a radical narration about race in America, using only the writer's original words."

• "Obstinate" (Afghanistan), directed by Sahra Mosawi, produced by Nicole Levinge • "When a 23-year-old Afghan woman, Khatera, confronts the will of her family and the traditions of her country to seek justice for years of sexual abuse from her father, she sheds light on the faulty Afghan judicial system and the women it rarely protects."

• "Recovering Irma" (U.S.), directed and produced by Sandra Salas • "A soul-searching road trip winds its way across geography and generations, memories and mysteries probing for answers to the difficult question: 'How do you end domestic violence?' " Supported by the Sundance Institute | Kendeda Fund.

• "Survivors" (Sierra Leone / U.S.), directe by Arthur Pratt, Anna Fitch, Banker White and Barmmy Boy, produced by Banker White, Anna Fitch and Samantha Grant • "Through the eyes of Sierra Leonean filmmakers, Survivors presents a portrait of their country during the Ebola outbreak, exposing the complexity of the epidemic and the sociopolitical turmoil that lies in its wake." Supported by the Sundance Institute | Rockefeller Foundation Impact Fund.

• "Sweetheart Deal" (U.S.), directed by Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller, produced by Peggy Case • " 'Sweetheart Deal' follows four heroin-addicted women living on Seattle's Aurora Avenue, an infamous stretch of highway lined with cheap motels and lost souls. Desperate to escape the street, they accept the help of Gray Cloud — a seemingly kind, ponytailed man in his 60s. Inside his battered RV he nurses broken birds back to health. And, he explains, he can fix broken women too. As the story unfolds, we learn that his generosity does not come without a cost."

• "Sylvia and Marsha" (U.S.), directed by David France, produced by Laura Teodosio and Kimberly Reed • "The origin story for the trans movement comes to light as the mysterious cold case of Marsha P. Johnson, moribund for decades, gains traction with the NYPD. Will bringing closure for the founder of the trans rights movement help stop a record-breaking crime wave against trans women of color?" Supported by the Sundance Institute | Arcus Foundation Fund.

• "This is Congo" (U.S.), directed by Daniel McCabe, produced by Geoff McLean, Alyse Spiegel and Daniel McCabe • "An unfiltered look into the history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the lives of three characters surviving one of the most recent cycles of conflict."

• "Untitled Jennifer Laude Documentary" (U.S.), directed by PJ Raval, produced by Marty Syjuco, Sara Giustini, and Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala • "Grassroots activists in the Philippines are spurred into action when a local transgender woman is found dead in a motel room with a 19-year-old U.S. marine as the leading suspect. As they demand answers and a just trial, hidden histories of U.S. colonization come bubbling to the surface." Supported by the Sundance Institute | Arcus Foundation Fund

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Post-Production:

• "32 Pills: My Sister's Suicide" (U.S.), directed by Hope Litoff, produced by Beth Levison • "She's beautiful, artistic, loved — and can't stand to be alive. '32 Pills: My Sister's Suicide' traces the fascinating life and mental illness of Hope Litoff's sister, New York artist and photographer Ruth Litoff, and Hope's struggle to come to terms with her tragic suicide."

• "Angels Are Made of Light" (U.S.), directed by James Longley ("Iraq in Fragments"), produced by Joslyn Barnes • " 'Angels Are Made of Light' is an observational documentary that takes the viewer on a journey into the heart of Afghanistan, following children and teachers in a public school in Kabul over three years at the formal end of U.S. military involvement."

• "City of Ghosts" (U.S.), directed and produced by Matthew Heineman ("Cartel Land") • "This is the story of a new type of warfare: a battle over ideas, over hearts and minds, over clicks and views."

• "Ex Libris — New York Public Library" (U.S.), directed and produced by Frederick Wiseman ("Titicut Follies," "In Jackson Heights") • "The New York Public Library is the dominant cultural and democratic institution in the City of New York. Libraries throughout the U.S. find they must simultaneously sustain their traditional activities, and develop new programs related to the digital revolution all at once. This is the first time permission has been given to make a documentary about this important, vast and complex institution."

• "Fly Away" (U.K.), directed by Lucy Cohen, produced by Julia Nottingham • "When a father took his own life, time stood still for his wife and seven children. As they piece together fragments of a broken past, questions of memory, identity and love must be faced before they can embrace the future."

• "Ghost Hunting" (Palestinian Territories / France / Switzerland / Qatar), directed by Raed Andoni, produced by Palmyre Badinier • "To free himself from the demons from his incarceration, the filmmaker assembles an eclectic group of Palestinian ex-prisoners. From an empty yard and fragmentary memory, they give rise to the famous Israeli interrogation center, and release the ghosts in their midsts."

• "The Infiltrators" (U.S.), directed and produced by Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra • " 'The Infiltrators' is a docu-thriller that tells the real — and surreal — story of a group of immigrants in America who got themselves apprehended by Border Patrol to 'infiltrate' secretive, for-profit detention centers and help other immigrants get free." Supported by the Sundance Institute | John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

• "Mudflow" (U.S.), directed by Cynthia Wade (Oscar winner for the documentary short "Freeheld") and Sasha Friedlander, produced by Tracie Holder • " 'Mudflow' is the story of a community's response to one of the biggest man-made environmental disasters in the world — a giant, unstoppable mud volcano in Indonesia — as experienced by three families who lost their homes to the mud and are banding together to rebuild their lives."

• "People's Republic of Desire" (China), directed and produced by Hao Wu • "China's super-rich and dirt-poor never cross paths in real life, yet in popular virtual showrooms they band together to worship their favorite online stars. In this digital universe where everything seems possible, a karaoke singer, a poor migrant worker and a rags-to-riches comedian seek fame, fortune and human connection, but find the same promises and perils online as in their real lives."

"United Skates" (Australia / U.S.), directed and produced by Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown • " 'United Skates' follows an underground subculture growing inside our country's last standing roller rinks. Through the eyes of two unassuming leaders, Reggie and Phelicia battle in a racially charged environment to save a community and culture still undiscovered by the American mainstream before it disappears."

• "Untitled Missouri Film" (U.S.), directed by Rebecca Cammisa ("Which Way Home"), produced by James B. Freydberg, Larissa Bills • " 'Untitled Missouri Film' is an environmental justice story of two communities in St. Louis who are mobilizing themselves to get answers. One community is adjacent to an out-of-control, underground landfill fire that is moving towards a legacy nuclear waste site, and the other is experiencing high rates of cancer possibly due to ionizing radiation poisoning from the same nuclear waste source buried there since the 1940s."

• "Whose Streets?" (U.S.), directed by Damon Davis and Sabaah Jordan, produced by Flannery Miller and Jennifer MacArthur • " 'Whose Streets?' is an intimate portrayal of the Ferguson story told by the people who lived it." Supported by the Sundance Institute | John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

• "Women Leaders of the First Intifada" (Brazil / U.S.), directed by Julia Bacha, produced by Rula Salameh and Rebekah Wingert-Jabi • "In the spring of 1988, a clandestine network of Palestinian women emerged to lead a vibrant nonviolent social movement that put the Palestinian people on the map. Their identities have remained hidden... until now."

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Impact:

Awarded to a project for its audience engagement campaign.

• "Newtown" (U.S.), directed by Kim A. Snyder, produced by Maria Cuomo Cole and Kim A. Snyder • "Joining the ranks of a growing club to which no one wants to belong, a cast of characters within Newtown, Conn., interconnect, weaving an intimate story of resilience and tracing the aftermath of the worst mass shooting of schoolchildren in American history, the traumatized community and their new sense of purpose." Supported by the Sundance Institute | Kendeda Fund.

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Spotlight Award:

Spotlight Awards serve as a prize for the best pitch at select international forums in the Global South.

• "Hatim's Dreams" (Uganda), directed by Matthew Bishanga, co-directed and produced by Nathan Magoola • "A tenacious 13-year old child in rural Uganda, Hatim Sebanja, who suffers from sickle-cell anemia, embarks on a journey to Kampala, the big city, to compete in a robotics competition despite the odds stacked against him."

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Art of Nonfiction Fellows: Year Two

Artist-based support including an unrestricted grant and a year-long slate of activities and encounters designed in response to particular creative needs. In partnership with Cinereach

• Khalik Allah, a New York filmmaker and photographer, whose previous film was "Field Niggas." He is in production on his next film, "Black Mother."

• Kitty Green, from Austalia, directed the feature-length "Ukraine Is Not a Brothel," and her short "The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul" won the non-fiction jury prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Her second-feature, "Casting JonBenet," just completed post-production.

• Kirsten Johnson, a longtime director and cinematographer of documentaries, particularly on issues of human rights and visual creativity. Her film memoir, "Cameraperson," premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and is nominated for a Gotham Award.

• RaMell Ross, based in Rhode Island and Alabama, focuses his work on the contemporary Historic South. He is in production on the feature "Idiom (Hale County This Morning, This Evening)," and is a professor at Brown University.

• Brett Story, a writer and nonfiction filmmaker who hails from Canada and is based in New York. Her most recent documentary, "The Prison in Twelve Landscapes," will air on PBS's "Independent Lens" series next year. She is developing her next project, "The Hottest August."

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Art of Nonfiction Fund (new):

Project-based recognition of work that pushes the formal boundaries of creative nonfiction.

• "Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (in development), directed by The Ross Brothers ("Western"), produced by The Departmen t of Motion Pictures, Matt Sargeant, Chere Theriot.

• "Caniba" (in production), directed by Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel (who made the 2012 documentary "Leviathan"), produced by Sensory Ethnography Laboratory.

• "Realm of Satan" (working title, in development), directed by Scott Cummings (who made the 2014 short documentary "Buffalo Juggalos").

• "Untitled" (in development), directed by Joshua Oppenheimer (who directed "The Act of Killing" and "The Look of Silence"), produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen.

• "Untitled" (in development), directed by Amanda Rose Wilder ("Approaching the Elephant"), produced by Chris Boeckmann.

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Stories of Change Content Fund:

Encouraging development and production of films (feature-length, shorts, episodic, documentary and scripted, immersive and interactive) that work toward positive change on urgert social issues. Supported by the Skoll Foundation.

• "Accidental Anarchist" (post-production), directed and produced by John Archer and Clara Glynn Scollay. Subject: Independent Diplomat. • "A look at how the contemporary system of governments and capitalism is failing to solve problems like inequality, global warming and political instability, and one man's belief in a solution: Anarchism. From Spain to Kurdistan, 'Independent Diplomat' Carne Ross pursues this belief."

• "Awavena" (development), directed by Lynette Wallworth, produced by Nicole Newnham. Subject: The Sociocultural Association of Yawanawá. • "A virtual-reality immersive artwork that travels the viewer/visitor to the Amazonian forest home of the Yawanawa people."

• "Cross My Heart" (development), directed by Kip Oebanda. Subject: Visayan Forum Foundation. • "A scripted episodic crime series about a college student who tries to find his missing sister he suspects has been the victim human trafficking."

• "Francis" (production), directed by Judy Korin, produced by Zoë Adams and Cori Shepherd Stern. Subject: Basic Needs. • "Based on the true story of Francis Pii Kugbila, a husband, father and teacher in northern Ghana, this VR project addresses the importance of global mental health treatment."

• "Kailash Satyarthi Project" (production), directed by Pankaj Johar. Subject: Kailash Satyarthi. • "A short documentary about the child labor activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner and the battle to end child slavery."

• "Logs of War" (production), directed by Anjali Nayar and Hawa Essuman, produced by Steven Markovitz. Subject: Global Witness. • "With a network of dedicated citizen reporters and mobile technology, seasoned Liberian activist Silas Siakor determines to change the status quo of big business by fighting for local communities."

• "Namati Film Project" (development), directed by Jerry Rothwell. Subject: Namati. • "A feature documentary about legal practitioner Sonkita Conteh, who trains a team of 'barefoot lawyers' that fight to overturn unjust land sales agreements and restore the environmental integrity of their land."

• "Orphans of the Land; Children of the Sea" (development), directed by Garth Cripps, advised by Jerry Rothwell. Subject: Blue Ventures. • "The first installment of a documentary series about the Vezo of southwest Madagascar — one of the world's last truly traditional fishing people and how overcoming the odds to protect their corals reefs and seafaring way of life."

• "Racial Terror in America: A History in Three Acts" (production), directed by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, interactive by Kat Cizek. Subject: Equal Justice Initiative. • "An interactive film trilogy that tells the story of how our present day lived experiences of racial violence and discrimination reflect a long insufficiently acknowledged history of white racial oppression. The trilogy connects the impact of today's structural oppression on communities of color in America with the legacy of slavery and white supremacy."

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Bertha Foundation Fellowship:

A new fellowship, in partnership with the Bertha Foundation, that offers documentary filmmakers a coordinated network of resources — financial, creative, legal and strategic — to enspire effective engagement in storytelling, law and activism.

• "The Hard Stop" (U.K.), directed by George Amponsah, produced by George Amponsah and Dionne Walker • "The racially charged police killing of Mark Duggan in August 2011 ignited the worst civil unrest in recent British history. Duggan's closest friends, Marcus and Kurtis, take us on a tour of their insulated world, which we pass everyday but never really see."

• "Justice for Jennifer" (U.S.), directed by PJ Raval, produced by Marty Syjuco, Sara Giustini, and Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala • "Grassroots activists in the Philippines are spurred into action when a local transgender woman is found dead in a motel room with a 19-year-old U.S. marine as the leading suspect. As they demand answers and a just trial, hidden histories of U.S. colonization come bubbling to the surface."

• "Obstinate" (Afghanistan), directed by Sahra Mosawi, produced by Nicole Levinge • "When a 23-year-old Afghan woman, Khatera, confronts the will of her family and the traditions of her country to seek justice for years of sexual abuse from her father, she sheds light on the faulty Afghan judicial system and the women it rarely protects."

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New Frontier:

A cross-program initiative to find and develop independent artists and creative technology experts to innovate the art and form of story, and to build a community of collaborators across disciplines.

• "America in Transition" (U.S.), directed by André Pérez • " 'America in Transition' is a web series, interactive documentary, and community engagement campaign that takes a real look at social change from the perspective of trans people in marginalized communities. Director André Pérez founded the Trans Oral History project seven years ago, motivated by the isolation he felt growing up in a military family in Virginia. Join this journey across the country to document real life for a two-spirit educator, a suicidal veteran, a woman living with HIV and more." Supported by the Sundance Institute | Arcus Foundation Fund

• "CareForce" (U.S.), created by Marisa Morán Jahn in collaboration with Yael Melamede • " 'The CareForce' is a transmedia public art project, web series, and mobile studio (the CareForce One) that amplifies the voices of America's fastest growing workforce — caregivers. Initiated by Studio REV- (lead artist, Marisa Morán Jahn) in collaboration with Oscar and Emmy-winning filmmaker Yael Melamede (SALTY Features), the CareForce's goal is to spark the public imagination around caregiving relationships. Join the CareForce for hands-on workshops, exhibitions, dance sessions, and pit-stops at museums, parks, libraries, worker centers, transit stops, and public spaces across the U.S." Supported by the Sundance Institute | Rockefeller Foundation Impact Fund

• "Flux" (Denmark / U.S.), created by Suvi Andrea Helminen • "How much of our gender identity is shaped by culture and how much by nature? This is an eternal question which never ceases to intrigue. 'Flux' is an interactive and personalized web documentary in development that will allow users to explore how gender identities are constructed. It is a journey into an alternate society where gender is negotiated and chosen instead of being defined by sex. Fluidity rules! Nothing is definite. 'Flux' is an intimate encounter with gender-fluid people, a path to self-discovery, and the seed for a collective movement of imagining change." Supported by the Sundance Institute | Arcus Foundation Fund.

• "Queerskins" (U.S.), directed by lllya Szilak, produced by Katy Morrison & Oscar Raby • "A diary found in a box of belongings offers a devoutly Catholic mother living in rural Missouri a second chance to know the estranged son she has lost to AIDS. Combining an interactive art installation with a virtual space and award-winning online narrative, this project offers a baroque, magical realist journey through loss, remembrance, desire and fantasy that will challenge user conceptions of love, faith and redemption." Supported by the Sundance Institute | Arcus Foundation Fund.