Yahoo Lifestyle Points North Institute Announces Opening Of Applications For Diane Weyermann Fellowship — Doc Program Comes With $100,000 Grant
EXCLUSIVE: Points North Institute today announced the launch of the next application cycle for its Diane Weyermann Fellowship, one of the most generous artist development grants in documentary film.
Three feature documentaries will be awarded $100,000 each in unrestricted grants, plus 18 months of tailored mentorship from veteran filmmakers and industry leaders, and two creative in-person retreats at the 2025 and 2026 editions of the Camden International Film Festival in Maine, a program of Points North Institute. “These elements are all designed with a holistic approach that supports Fellows’ creative and professional growth, advances their films, and nurtures the development of their careers,” PNI said in a release.
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Applications for the Diane Weyermann Fellowship will be accepted through January 21, 2025. “The program was established to honor the legacy of the late producer, whose leadership at Open Society Institute, Sundance Institute, and Participant contributed immeasurably to the global expansion, artistic flourishing, and social impact of independent documentary filmmaking,” the release noted. “The Fellowship champions three director/producer teams from around the world who are in the mid to late stages of production, making cinematic feature documentaries that take artistic risks in highlighting stories of moral and ethical urgency, and that demonstrate a potential to make social impact and resonate with global audiences.”
In the previous cycle of the fellowship, the supported projects included The Last Nomads, a co-production of Serbia, Montenegro, and France, directed and produced by Biljana Tutorov, co-directed by Petar Glomazić, and co-produced by Quentin Laurent; The Production of the World, a co-production of Canada and USA, directed by Brett Story and produced by Jeff Reichert; and an untitled project directed and produced by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya.
Jeff Reichert, producer of The Production of the World, said of the fellowship, “There aren’t too many experiences you get to have in life that you might label formative, but this past 18 months has been shaping and renewing. As someone who was lucky enough to work with Diane, if only for a brief stretch, it has been an experience that truly embodies her spirit and how she thought about moving through this documentary world of ours with grace, fierceness and joy.”
Biljana Tutorov, director and producer of The Last Nomads, commented, “The Diane Weyermann Fellowship was a turning point for our film and for my personal career and development. It provided a space to grow, change the perspective and think on a different scale, to liberate the creative potential of the project and refine its language. It empowered us to practice documentary filmmaking as a form of art.”
Points North Institute Artistic Director Sean Flynn said, “It has been an extraordinary privilege to partner with these brilliant, generous artists and co-create a Fellowship experience that offers holistic support for ambitious, fiercely independent documentary filmmaking – which is needed now more than ever. We can’t wait to see what filmmakers are working on through our next application cycle and we’ll look forward to meeting the next cohort of Fellows.”
Previous retreat mentors for the fellowship include creative producer Andrea Meditch, editors Jean Tsien, Mary Lampson and Andrea Chignoli, industry leader Tabitha Jackson, and directors Kirsten Johnson, Petra Costa, Johan Grimonprez, and Jeanie Finlay. The weeklong creative retreats in Camden include work-in-progress screenings, career strategy workshops, curated meetings with industry leaders, and a full immersion into the CIFF program.
The Diane Weyermann Fellowship was designed and launched in collaboration with Points North’s Senior Consultant for Artist Programs, Lucila Moctezuma, and an Advisory Committee of Diane’s friends, family, and colleagues – including Ally Derks (founder of International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, IDFA), Ben Fowlie (VP, Sales & Partnerships, Original Content at Universal Pictures Content Group & founder of CIFF), Laura Kim (documentary executive), Jonathan King (Chief Creative Officer, Concordia Studio), Elise Pearlstein (EVP, This Machine Filmworks) Courtney Sexton (documentary executive), and Andrea Weyermann (Ph.D., Georgia State University).
Weyermann died in October 2021 from cancer at the age of 66. Over the course of her career, she directed the Open Society Institute’s Arts and Culture Program under the auspices of George Soros, launching the Soros Documentary Fund, which she moved to the Sundance Institute in 2001 and which became the groundwork for the Sundance Documentary Film Program. In 2005, Weyermann joined Jeff Skoll’s newly created Participant Media, heading up the socially-conscious production company’s documentary feature film and television division. During Diane’s tenure at Participant, the company produced more than 100 feature and documentary films. Her projects earned 10 Academy Award nominations and four wins; eight Emmy nominations and three wins; three BAFTA nominations and one win; and five Spirit Award nominations and three wins.
The Diane Weyermann Fellowship at Points North was developed in partnership with Participant and made possible by seed funding from the Skoll Foundation and major support from the RandomGood Foundation, Ford Foundation’s JustFilms, and over 200 individual supporters. The Fellowship is one of six Artist Programs produced by Points North in 2024.
Camden International Film Festival celebrated its 20th edition in September. The 21st edition will be held September 11-14, 2025 in Points North’s home base of mid-coast Maine.
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