Eight female filmmakers have been selected to take part in an inaugural development program as part of Geena Davis’ Bentonville Film Foundation, the organization said Wednesday, as part of an initiative to foster voices from underrepresented groups.
The See It, Be It Filmmaker Fellowship, a joint program between Bentonville and the Coca-Cola Foundation, offers a yearlong program for eight Bentonville Film Festival alumni, who will receive resources from the industry.
The selected filmmakers — ?McKenzie Chinn ?(?Olympia?), ?Jenna Laurenzo ?(?Lez Bomb), Amber McGinnis ?(?International Falls)?, Diane Paragas ?(?Yellow Rose?)?, ?Ursula Taherian ?(The Brownlist?), Emily Ting ?(?Go Back to China?), ?Dawn Valadez ?(?The Pushouts)? and Fanny Veliz ?(?Our Quinceanera?) — will spend a year developing their next projects with support, including financial backing.
“?When the images we see in our daily lives don’t reflect the real world, a powerful and unconscious bias is perpetuated,” Davis, who is the co-founder and chair of the Bentonville Film Festival and founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media?, said in a statement. “Together with the Coca Cola Foundation, the Bentonville Film Festival Foundation is proud to accelerate change by amplifying intersectional female voices, addressing pipeline issues and providing support that is both creative and financial.”
The eight fellows will be recognized at the annual Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas, which is set to run April 29-May 2.
