Writing with Fire had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it won two awards: The Audience Award and a Special Jury Award: Impact for Change in the World Cinema Documentary category. It has since received unanimous acclaim from film festivals and critics, winning 28 international awards and critical acclaim from the press. It was named a “Critics Pick” by The New York Times, and hailed by Jason Reizaian at The Washington Post as “The most inspiring journalism movie – maybe ever”.
Ghosh and Thomas are joined at the Lab by a stellar lineup of international mentors, experts and collaborators, including Producer Alice Henty and Impact Producer Alison Byrne Fields from Sundance Jury Prize winning Welcome to Chechnya, a film that is driving innovation in documentary practice and having incredible impact; Sahar Driver who is the driving force with Sonya Childress behind the recently launched Colour Congress; and Andrea Ixchiu, Guatemalan artist and activist, whose struggle for indigenous justice has been captured in 500 Years by Good Pitch alumni, Pamela Yates, that premiered at Sundance in 2017.
Late last year, the Fellowship kicked off with guest speakers and mentors including: Sundance board member & Emmy award-winning, Lynette Wallworth speaking about her innovative practice and the philosophy that underpins her creative work including Collisions and Awavena; Producer Toni Kamau from Kenya, the youngest female African documentary filmmaker invited to be a member of the Academy for Motion Pictures Arts and Science; and Genevieve Grieves, a Worimi woman and Creative Director of Garuwa Media who introduced her ideas on how we can decolonise the documentary industry.
Alongside international mentors and speakers, Art + Impact fellows meet and collaborate with peers participating in Doc Society programs around the world. The intention is to support ambitious story-telling that packs a punch both in Australia and abroad.
Malinda Wink, Global Director of Good Pitch and co-lead with Director of Australian Programs, Hollie Fifer, said: “The connections and insights generated from international experts, mentors and peers are invaluable as the Australian Art + Impact Fellows navigate the production, distribution and impact of their projects. Each of our incredible guests are furthering documentary storytelling in distinctive and innovative ways, demonstrating both what’s possible, and the appetite for compelling stories that have something to say about the world”.
This February the cohort of Australian filmmakers will be joined by filmmakers from Doc Society’s global fellowships including the US-based New Perspectives Fellowship and UK based British Film Institute (BFI) grantees, building peer-to-peer pathways for international creative collaboration, shared learning and market insight.
Founder and Director of GARUWA, Genevieve Grieves speaks of her experience in the Art & Impact fellowship, “Being a part of the DocSociety Impact Lab has been an incredibly rewarding experience for me, I am developing knowledge, language and tools for understanding and enhancing impact in the way that I work. I feel its teachings will really help me to create projects that increase opportunities for social and cultural change. Through the Lab, I’ve been exposed to thinkers and practitioners from across the globe who are doing incredibly dynamic and important work that I wasn’t aware of. The Impact Lab has really expanded my vision of what’s possible and put me directly in touch with these people so I can talk and collaborate with them in the future. One of the best parts of this experience has been building a cohort of like-minded filmmakers who I am inspired by, who I feel supported by and who I will stay connected with in the future. It’s really rewarding to build on my network and to share the challenges of making work in a safe and respectful space.”
Alex Kelly, Filmmaker and Impact Producer based in Castlemaine tells of her time in the Fellowship, “having the opportunity to share the nitty gritty experience of social change filmmaking with people from around the world who are both brilliant at their craft and approach their work with utter integrity is priceless. Firstly, because filmmaking can be a lonely practice at the best of times – and becomes even more so while managing the disruptions the pandemic has caused. None of us make work in isolation and being part of a community of practice strengthens all of our work, our ethics and our creativity. This lab is a balm in a truly wild time. It allows us to reflect and challenge ourselves in ways that will push us to make better work with better processes. At a time of so many intersecting crises when filmmaking is so important, honing our craft is critical and important work.”
The Art & Impact Fellowship could not have happened without the support of Screen Australia’s Enterprise Funding Program that funded Doc Society to provide strategic support for documentary filmmakers in Australia, through lab programs such as the Art and Impact Fellowship.
The Art & Impact Fellowship will open for submissions again for it’s 2022/2023 round in May 2022 taking on another 5 projects through the annual program.
MORE ABOUT DOC SOCIETY
Doc Society is a non-profit founded in the UK in 2005, committed to enabling great documentaries and connecting them to audiences globally. It works with independent storytellers, impact producers and journalists in 37 countries, whilst helping to build the capacity of a network of peer cultural organisations, connecting Europe to India to East Africa, South East Asia and Latin America. Doc Society’s programme activity is centered around initiatives which improve the documentary and media ecosystem globally, such as Good Pitch, Climate Story Lab, Impact Field Guide, Safe+Secure, Doc Impact Hi5.
ABOUT ART + IMPACT FELLOWSHIP
In October 2021, six documentary projects were selected for the inaugural Art & Impact Fellowship Australia run by Doc Society in partnership with the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), including both mixed media projects and feature documentaries.
The aim of the fellowship is to strengthen the storytelling and impact work of diverse voices and advance crucial stories from across Australia to boost the projects creatively, offer new pathways to audience and finance and connect them to Doc Society’s global network of filmmakers and leading international mentors.
Read about the 6 selected project teams here.
MORE ABOUT AIDC
The Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) is a non-profit committed to the sustainability of documentary, factual and unscripted storytelling in all screen and digital forms. Serving both the commercial and creative needs of the industry, AIDC organises a marketplace for documentary and factual product, showcases the work of Australian and international producers, and creates a forum to discuss content, craft, technology and future directions. Its goal is to connect creators, purveyors and viewers of nonfiction screen content in ways that promote business, inspire creativity and ignite social change. AIDC 2022 will take place at ACMI, Melbourne 6-9 March with an online marketplace 10-11 March. www.aidc.com.au
