Sundance Institute has introduced the eight artists chosen for the third inaugural Women at Sundance | Adobe Fellowship. Elizabeth Ai (“A Woman’s Work: The NFL’s Cheerleader Problem”), Deidre Backs (“Little Chief”), Aisha Bhoori (“Ms. Marvel”), Zandash Brown (“Horror Noire”), Joie Estrella Horwitz (“Alejandro & Miguel”), screenwriter Miciana Hutcherson, writer-director Meghan Ross, and Jin Yoo-Kim (“Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust”) comprise this yr’s cohort, per a press launch.
In addition to a $6,250 money grant, fellows obtain skill-building workshops and trade introductions, plus referrals to profession growth alternatives. Each of the fellows has beforehand participated in a Sundance Institute Lab or program related to their profession path.
“Any artist can speak to how practical support paired with a nurturing community makes all the difference this is especially true for women filmmakers, who are notoriously underrepresented in the industry. Providing multi-faceted assistance to our fellows as they develop their creative practices is our goal,” mentioned Adella Ladjevardi, Sundance’s Associate Director for Women. “Our collaboration with Adobe has had a profound impact on the careers of so many talented storytellers in the past were very excited to see how the new group advances with this customized and robust support.”
Past fellows embody Jiayan “Jenny” Shi, whose documentary Finding Yingying received the Special Jury Award at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival.
Bios for the 2022 Sundance | Adobe fellows are beneath, courtesy of Sundance Institute.
Elizabeth Ai is a documentary and fiction filmmaker, present creator, and fellow of Berlinale Talents, Center for Asian American Media, Film Independent, Firelight Media, Tribeca Institute and Sundance Institute. Shes at present in post-production along with her documentary characteristic New Wave and is concurrently creating the dramatic collection adaptation.
Deidre Backs labored at Alexander Paynes growth firm earlier than transitioning to impartial producing. She was an affiliate producer on Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, then served below Daniel Lupi on Spielberg movies and Jordan Peeles Us. She produced Little Chief, premiering at Sundance 2020 and is a 2021 Sundance Producing alum.
Aisha Bhoori is a Pakistani-American author who has written on MS. MARVEL (Disney+) and THE STAIRCASE (HBO Max). She is a 2021 Sundance Episodic Lab Fellow. She graduated from Harvard, the place she was a three-time recipient of the Edward Eager Memorial Fund Prize for Best Creative Writing.
Based in New Orleans, Zandash Brown is a author/director born-and-bred in and impressed by southern Louisiana. Her work raises a Black femme lens to the custom of southern gothic horror by exploring the axis of catharsis, spirituality, and Black southern expertise. She lately participated within the Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Labs.
Joie Estrella Horwitz is a filmmaker, author and producer based mostly in Los Angeles. Her work employs a mix of analysis based mostly fieldwork with a collaborative method to filmmaking to discover the area between truth and fiction at the intersection of bodily and emotional borders.
Miciana Hutchersons characteristic script, Nancys Girls, led to the 2019 and 2021 Sundance Institute Indigenous Program Fellowships. Her second characteristic, Fancy Dance (co-writer), was supported by the 2021 Sundance Screenwriters Lab, 2021 SFFilm Rainin Grant, and was featured on the Indigenous List hosted by The Black List and the 2022 Scripted Cannes Screenplay List.
Meghan Ross is an Austin-based author/director and Sundance Episodic Lab fellow. Her shorts have been featured in The New Yorkers Best Shouts of 2020 and nominated for The Webby Awards 2021. Her writing has been printed by Reductress, VICEs Broadly, TV Without Pity, The Toast, and different defunct however beloved websites.
Jin Yoo-Kim is producing Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust. She directed and produced for Take Out with Lisa Ling on HBO Max, and is in growth for her docuseries, Cult Foods. She was a Sundance Producers Fellow, Firelight Media Impact Producing Fellow, and took part within the Film Independent Doc Lab.
