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March 10, 2022

Announcing the 2022 Diverse Voices in Docs (DVID) Fellows

Kartemquin Films and the Community Film Workshop of Chicago today announced the six new 2022 Diverse Voices in Docs (DVID) fellows.

Welcoming the 9th cohort, DVID is a professional mentorship program for Midwestern documentary filmmakers of color, created by Kartemquin Films and the Community Film Workshop of Chicago. Fellows are chosen from a pool of applicants with a demonstrated commitment to social issue documentary.

The 2022 fellows are:
Amber Love, Cindy Martin, Cynthia Martinez, Donnie Seals, Jason Rhee, and Sadia Uqaili.

“After a year spent in conversation and reflection with our alumni and community, we are excited to relaunch the DVID program renewing our commitment to our fellows and their needs,” said DVID Creative Lead Anuradha Rana. “We aim to provide the creative and professional scaffolding that amplifies their voices, creates a space to question and reflect on their creative choices, and illuminates a path to a sustainable career.”

In the DVID program, fellows receive hands-on support from experienced Kartemquin and Community Film Workshop staff, award-winning filmmakers, and invited experts before pitching to a panel of major funders, which in previous years has included representatives from ITVS, Sundance Institute, Doc Society, POV, Black Public Media, and WTTW Channel 11. The program culminates with a graduation showcasing the fellows’ work and featuring a keynote speaker.

Founded in 2013, DVID aims to inspire collaboration and skill-sharing among its fellows, and among the larger Midwestern independent documentary filmmaking community.

Previous DVID fellows include Bing Liu, director of Sundance award-winning and Academy Award nominated, Minding the Gap; Kelly Richmond Pope, director of award-winning All the Queen’s Horses, which held the #1 spot for most-streamed documentary on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon Video for a week after its VOD release; Jiayan “Jenny” Shi, director of Finding Yingying, acquired by MTV and later winning the China Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Documentary; and Ashley O’Shay, director of Unapologetic, named as part of the prestigious 2020 IDA Documentary Series and acquired by POV’s Independent Lens.

2022 support for Diverse Voices in Docs is provided by is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Prince Charitable Trusts, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the ​​Voqal Fund.

The 2022 Diverse Voices in Docs Fellows and projects in their own words on the Kartemquin blog Camera One.

Learn more about Diverse Voices in Docs (DVID) here.

ABOUT KARTEMQUIN

Sparking democracy through documentary since 1966, Kartemquin is a collaborative community that empowers documentary makers who create stories that foster a more engaged and just society. Kartemquin’s films have received four Academy Award® nominations, and won six Emmys® and three Peabody Awards, among several other major prizes. In 2019, Kartemquin was honored with an Institutional Peabody Award for “its commitment to unflinching documentary filmmaking and telling an American history rooted in social justice and the stories of the marginalized.” Recognized as a leading advocate for independent public media, Kartemquin has helped hundreds of artists via its filmmaker development programs and championing of documentary. To learn more about Kartemquin Films, visit www.kartemquin.com.

ABOUT COMMUNITY FILM WORKSHOP

For over 50 years Community Film Workshop has been providing access to hands-on media training and mentoring people of color, women, and other disenfranchised groups in the film and media arts industry. Many graduates have gone on to work successfully as technicians at local and national television stations, on feature films, commercials, and on made-for-television movies. Others have become independent filmmakers, art administrators, teachers, and college professors. All citizens have the capacity to use the media to tell their stories, archive their histories, and transform where they live. CFWC programs include Youth In Motion, Diverse Voices In Docs, Reel Black Filmmakers, CFWC Collective, and the Production Institute. To learn more about Community Film Workshop, visit www.cfwchicago.org.