Category: Filmmaker Support – Filmmaker Updates
Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmaker A.K. Sandhu! ALIVE IN BRONZE: Huey P. Newton is nominated for Outstanding Short Form Documentary for the 2024 NAACP Image Awards!
In ALIVE IN BRONZE: Huey P. Newton, sculptor Dana King’s hands and activist Fredrika Newton’s memories come together to build a new monument that honors the Black Panther Party’s vital place in American history.
Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmakers, Jessica Jones and A.K. Sandhu, for being selected as 2024 SFFILM FilmHouse Residents. The FilmHouse Residency is managed by SFFILM Makers, the artist development program at SFFILM, and provides 12-month residencies to local filmmakers actively engaged in various stages of production.
Jessica Jones‘s documentary short, Women Who Ride, profiles Tish Edwards, the founder of Oakland’s first black women’s motorcycle club D’Vious Wayz.
A.K. Sandhu‘s feature documentary, UNTITLED MOTHERHOOD Project, follows women who dare to choose while defying the patriarchy in a time when their reproductive rights are no longer guaranteed.
Congratulations to For Us, By Us fellow, Priyanka Suryaneni, for being awarded the East Bay Fund for Artists grant from the East Bay Community Foundation for her film, Saranam Gacchâmi (I take refuge).
Saranam Gacchâmi is a documentary film about an enterprising Buddhist Monk who defies all odds to set up one of the largest Tibetan Monasteries in the Bay Area to preserve the endangered Tibetan culture and traditions.
For Us, By Us fellow, Chad Santo Tomas, was featured in BAVC Media‘s SF Commons Presents: Personal Docs event on December 14, 2023 at Ninth Street Independent Film Center in San Francisco.
The event highlighted personal documentary filmmaking from local Bay Area filmmakers through a series of snippets from films and moderated discussion with the filmmakers about the challenges and triumphs in their creative process from development to distribution. Other featured filmmakers were Elizabeth Herrera, Mabel Valdevizio, and Vanessa Smith.
Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Jay Gash, for being awarded a Black Women Photographers x Nikon Grant. This grant fund awards monetary grants and Nikon Z gear to Black creatives working in the industry. The grants are marked to aid the completion of visual projects and help with business expenses.
ALIVE IN BRONZE: Huey P. Newton, directed by Re-Take Oakland filmmaker A.K. Sandhu, was acquired by MTV Films and is now streaming on Paramount+.
In ALIVE IN BRONZE: Huey P. Newton, sculptor Dana King’s hands and activist Fredrika Newton’s memories come together to build a new monument that honors the Black Panther Party’s vital place in American history.
Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Pallavi Somusetty, for being awarded the IDA Logan Elevate Grant, for her film, Coach Emily. With this grant, she will receive $30,000, story consulting, dedicated artist support, year-long individualized professional development opportunities and filmmaker-guided public programming.
Coach Emily is a feature documentary that follows Emily Taylor, an Oakland-based Black and queer rock climbing coach, as she battles systemic racism in her professional and personal life. Through her Brown Girls Climbing program, Emily trains young girls of color, including her own daughter, as they resist discrimination in the climbing world and work to define themselves in the outdoors.
Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Jessica Jones, for being selected as a Sundance Contributing Editor Fellow.
The yearlong fellowship spotlights emerging talents committed to the art and craft of editing nonfiction feature films. Contributing editor fellows receive a stipend, a dedicated mentor, and access to curated workshops and small gatherings through the fellowship year.
Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Jay Gash, is now the Strategic Capacity Coordinator for QWOCMAP. Jay’s film, When the Garden Comes, which she started producing in Re-Take Oakland, premiered at the 18th Annual Queer Women of Color Film Festival in 2022. Jay was also a participant in QWOCMAP’s 2014 Film & Freedom Academy and has been a Mentor to other QWOCMAP Filmmakers since 2017.
As Strategic Capacity Coordinator, Jay supports core artistic programs and events including the Film Freedom Academy Filmmaker Training Program (4-Day Workshop), annual International Queer Women of Color Film Festival, Boutique Distribution Program, and the Critical Juncture Program for LBTQIA+ people of color supported by the Dream Keeper Initiative and Human Rights Commission.
Congratulations to Re-Take Oakland filmmaker, Pallavi Somusetty, for winning the $40,000 DocPitch 2023 Jury Award for her film, Coach Emily. Presented by DocLands Documentary Film Festival, DocPitch is an invitation for North American based filmmakers to submit their unfinished feature-length documentary projects currently in early to late stages of production. A jury selected five filmmaking teams to present a verbal pitch and a three-to-five minute trailer.
Coach Emily is a feature documentary that follows Emily Taylor, an Oakland-based Black and queer rock climbing coach, as she battles systemic racism in her professional and personal life. Through her Brown Girls Climbing program, Emily trains young girls of color, including her own daughter, as they resist discrimination in the climbing world and work to define themselves in the outdoors.