{"id":21949,"date":"2024-04-26T15:29:30","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T13:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=21949"},"modified":"2024-04-26T15:29:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T13:29:32","slug":"doris-duke-foundation-announces-1m-grant-to-sundance-institute-expanding-commitment-to-uplifting-muslim-storytelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2024\/04\/26\/doris-duke-foundation-announces-1m-grant-to-sundance-institute-expanding-commitment-to-uplifting-muslim-storytelling\/","title":{"rendered":"Doris Duke Foundation Announces $1M Grant to Sundance Institute Expanding Commitment to Uplifting Muslim Storytelling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Doris Duke Foundation Announces $1M Grant to Sundance Institute<\/strong>
Expanding Commitment to Uplifting Muslim Storytelling<\/strong>
With New Building Bridges Fellowship and Completion Fund<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Six artists announced as inaugural cohort of Building Bridges Fellowship<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Doris Duke Foundation is pleased to announce its  continued commitment to uplifting Muslim stories through a $1 million grant to Sundance Institute. Through a three-year commitment, the grant establishes the Building Bridges Fellowship and Completion Fund. The fellowship aims to provide financial and creative resources, mentorship, and support to filmmakers, producers, and other creators focused on telling Muslim-related stories while also offering community and network support with other creatives in the industry. The Completion Fund for features, shorts, and episodic content will offer non recoupable grants to support the launch of Muslim-focused films and episodic content. The fellowship and fund not only foster creativity but also equip fellows with the necessary skills and financial resources to navigate the entertainment landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreat stories change hearts and minds \u2014 but only those hearts and minds they can reach,\u201d said Sam Gill, President and CEO of Doris Duke Foundation. \u201cThe Building Bridges Fellowship and Completion Fund will elevate the fresh voices and stories we so desperately need in our fractured society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor nearly 20 years, the Doris Duke Foundation has worked to create inclusive spaces for artists and creators to tell authentic Muslim stories,\u201d said Zeyba Rahman, Director of the Building Bridges Program at the Doris Duke Foundation. \u201cWe are thrilled to expand our partnership with the Sundance Institute and Islamic Scholarship Fund to create the Building Bridges Fellowship program, ensuring these emerging talents have access to the very best the industry has to offer and greater opportunities to bring their stories to life. The Building Bridges Completion Fund aims to reduce the barriers for filmmakers to connect with their audiences to ensure that their stories reach and resonate with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to embark on this transformative three-year partnership with the Doris Duke Foundation, dedicated to uplifting Muslim stories and voices through the Building Bridges Fellowship and Completion Fund. This visionary program not only offers support from project inception to audience engagement but also nurtures a vibrant pipeline of artists and the diverse narratives that enrich our world,\u201d said Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, Director of Artist Accelerator and Women at Sundance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conducted in collaboration with the Islamic Scholarship Fund, the Building Bridges Fellowship offers emerging voices the opportunity to develop their artistic skills and gain exposure in an industry that often overlooks their collective power and talent. In addition to an unrestricted artist grant of $10,000, fellows will benefit from a customized slate of services tailored to their creative, career, and project goals; a Sundance Collab Community Package; and access to Sundance Institute\u2019s ELEVATE program for year-round professional and project development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Building Bridges Completion Fund will offer crucial funding to support post-production, marketing, public relations, or attendance costs associated with premiering at the Sundance Film Festival each January for the next three years. Eligible directors, writers, or producers with films or episodic content will have the opportunity to apply for up to $25,000 in support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selected by a panel including representatives from Sundance Institute, the Islamic Scholarship Fund, and the Doris Duke Foundation, this year\u2019s distinguished Building Bridges fellows are filmmakers with a variety of backgrounds whose projects tell stories of complex family dynamics, ancestral exploration, redemption, healing, and much more. In addition to financial support, Building Bridges fellows are receiving a Sundance Collab Community Package, curated in-person Sundance Film Festival experiences including targeted panels, industry meetings, and screenings, and the opportunity to be in a greater community with their cohort peers and alumni mentors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2024 fellows and their selected projects are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n