Cheryl Hess (WOO ‘03) Named Recipient of AOL Charitable Foundation Award

2016 Gucci Documentary Fund Grantees Announced

$150,000 to be Awarded to Documentaries that Highlight and Humanize Global Social Issues

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AOL Charitable Foundation Awards Given to Projects that Showcase Women’s Impact Around the World

[New York, NY – 7, 26, 2016] – Tribeca Film Institute® (TFI), Gucci, and the AOL Charitable Foundation today announced the 2016 grant recipients for the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund and its subsection, the AOL Charitable Foundation Award. The fund provides production and finishing finances, along with year-round support and guidance, to feature-length documentary films that highlight and humanize critical domestic and international social issues. Seven projects have been selected to receive a total of $150,000 in grants.

Now in its ninth year, the fund has supported 73 films and provided more than $1.15 million in grants. This year the jurors unanimously decided to give larger quantities of financial support to fewer films than in years past in an effort to effect the greatest impact on the grantees’ capabilities to bring their important stories to audiences. 

The AOL Charitable Foundation joins the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund for the second year to present the AOL Charitable Foundation Award grants to three filmmaking teams of the seven total, whose documentaries illuminate the lives of women and youth around the globe, and spotlight the ways they are working to improve their communities and futures.

The grantees were selected by a jury comprised of: filmmaker SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY (SAVING FACE, A GIRL IN THE RIVER: THE PRICE OF FORGIVENESS), Producer DEDE GARDNER (THE BIG SHORT, THE NORMAL HEART, 12 YEARS A SLAVE), SIMON KILMURRY(Executive Director, International Documentary Association), Actor JOSH LUCAS (A BEAUTIFUL MIND, AMERICAN PSYCHO), DYLLAN MCGEE (McGee Media & Founder and Executive Producer, MAKERS).

This year’s grantees showcase a variety of world affairs, domestic issues, and social conflicts, including: the recent Malheur Refuge standoff in Oregon, a group of immigrants’ attempts to be deported to Mexico, a woman fighting to be in the Palestinian Security Force, and a marital counseling center in India. In addition to funding, grantees will each receive year-round support from TFI including one-on-one guidance and consultations to help each film reach completion, enter the marketplace, and find the broadest audience possible.

“At a time of extreme social divisiveness both domestically and abroad, we are proud to be able to grant these filmmakers the opportunity to tell such important stories through the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund and the AOL Charitable Foundation Award,” said Amy Hobby, Vice President of Artist Programs at TFI. “These films tackle issues from around the world, and the backgrounds of the directors and producers reflect a wide diversity of those with important stories to tell. Thank you to our partners on this project – without Gucci and the AOL Charitable Foundation, the support of these films would not be possible.” 

“A key pillar of the AOL Charitable Foundation's mission is centered on improving the lives of women, girls, and underserved youth through cultivating creativity around the world,” said Sara Link, President of the AOL Charitable Foundation. “Recognizing that women and girls are often underrepresented in the stories that are written, produced, and directed, we are proud to work with the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund and Tribeca Film Institute to tell these life-changing stories that are deeply captivating to a global audience. By supporting the work of these ground-breaking filmmakers, it is our aim that their experiences and messages help to empower women and girls from all backgrounds. ”

“The power of a documentary film is its ability to reflect on otherwise fleeting issues that we see or hear about every day in the news,” said Obaid-Chinoy. “It is their ability to draw you in – whether through in-depth interviews or silent poetic shots that speak for themselves. THE INFILTRATORS, MALHEUR, MY COUNTRY, NO MORE, ONE BULLET AFGHANISTAN, MARRIAGE COPS, RADICAL BROWNIES, and WHAT WALAA WANTS each accomplished this flawlessly. ”

2016 Recipients of the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund

• THE INFILTRATORS, Directed and Produced by Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera. THE INFILTRATORS is a docu-thriller that tells the real – and surreal – story of a group of immigrants in America who got themselves apprehended by Border Patrol to 'infiltrate' secretive, for-profit detention centers, and to help other detained immigrants get free.
• MALHEUR, Directed and Produced by David Byars; Produced by David Holbrooke and Morgan Spurlock; Edited/Co-Produced by David Osit. Bitter antagonism between right-wing militia and the federal government has boiled over into rebellion and bloodshed. MALHEUR follows this insurrection, from inception to demise, and explores the elements that made it possible.
• MY COUNTRY, NO MORE, Directed and Produced by Rita Baghdadi and Jeremiah Hammerling. Generations of family farming tradition go up in flames as the North Dakota oil boom leaves human memory, culture, and identity scorched in its wake. MY COUNTRY, NO MORE follows one family’s path of resistance, raising a fundamental question: what are we willing to sacrifice in our pursuit of progress?
• ONE BULLET AFGHANISTAN, Directed and Produced by Carol Dysinger; Produced by Su Kim. One bullet, fired into darkness, hits a boy on a residential street in Afghanistan sending him into the path of a woman filmmaker following the American military. This begins an intimate, longitudinal look at a family in crises through the eyes of its matriarch – Bibi Hajji – and an accidental friendship between two women, worlds apart.

2016 Recipients of the AOL Charitable Foundation Award

• MARRIAGE COPS, Directed and Produced by Cheryl Hess and Shashwati Talukdar. In a small city in Northern India unhappy couples seek relationship advice in the most unlikely of places.
• RADICAL BROWNIES, Directed and Produced by Linda Goldstein Knowlton; Produced/Edited by Katie Flint; Executive Produced by Grace Lee. Radical Brownies follows the creation of a troop of 8 to 12-year-old girls of color – the Radical Monarchs – in Oakland, CA. A social justice-oriented alternative to the Girl Scouts, the Monarchs still earn badges – not for sewing or selling cookies, but for units on Black Lives Matter, Radical Beauty, being an LGBTQ Ally, and Environmental Justice.
• WHAT WALAA WANTS, Directed by Christy Garland; Produced by Anne Köhncke. Raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank while her mother was in prison, Walaa is determined to become one of the few women on the Palestinian Security Forces – a big challenge for a girl who breaks all the rules.

About Tribeca Film Institute

Tribeca Film Institute champions storytellers to be catalysts for change in their communities and around the world.  Through grants and professional development programs, TFI supports a diverse, exceptional group of filmmakers and media artists, providing them resources needed to fully realize their stories and connect with audiences.  The Institute’s educational programming leverages an extensive film community network to help underserved New York City students learn filmmaking and gain the media skills necessary to be productive citizens and creative individuals in the 21st century.  Featuring hands-on training and exposure to socially relevant films, the Institute administers programs to more than 25,000 students annually.  TFI was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in the wake of September 11, 2001 and is a 501(c)(3) year-round nonprofit arts organization.

About Gucci

Founded in Florence in 1921, Gucci is one of the world’s leading luxury fashion brands, with a renowned reputation for creativity, innovation and Italian craftsmanship. Gucci is part of the Kering Group, a world leader in apparel and accessories that owns a portfolio of powerful luxury and sport and lifestyle brands. For further information about Gucci, visit www.gucci.com. 

About AOL Charitable Foundation

AOL Charitable Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private foundation committed to creating opportunities for women, girls and investing in the next generation of young leaders through grant making to exceptional nonprofit organizations focused on these communities. The Foundation allocates its resources in four strategic areas, including fostering leadership and empowerment, improving economic opportunity, increasing access through education and technology, and cultivating creativity. For additional information on the AOL Charitable Foundation please visit http://corp.aol.com/our-values/corporate-citizenship.

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