Loreen Arbus Disability Awareness Completion Grant for Female Filmmakers

“Through the generosity of Loreen Arbus, New York Women in Film and Television has established the Loreen Arbus Disability Awareness Grant. The film completion grant for $7,500 will be awarded to a woman filmmaker for a film on physical or developmental disability issues. Directors and producers are eligible to apply.”

Find out more about grants and funding in the grants and funding category.

To purchase a download of the Funding Your Dream Documentary seminar, click here.

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Female Eye Film Festival Open For Film and Script Entries

Film Entry information

All films MUST be directed by a woman. All genres accepted. Script Development Program is open to both men and women (screenwriter entry forms available ).

Awards are presented for Best Feature, Best of Show; Best Short, Best, Documentary, Best Animation, Best Experimental, Best Foreign Feature and Best Debut Filmmaker (all films are eligible for Best of Show). An Honorary Director Award is also presented annually.

EARLY DEADLINE: June 30th, 2011, $50.00 (postmarked)

REGULAR DEADLINE: Aug. 31st, 2011: $65.00 (postmarked)

EXTENDED DEADLINE: Oct. 31st, 2011: $75.00 (postmarked)

IN COMPETITION: $100.00 Final Deadline Oct. 31st, 2011

Script Entry Information

Script Reading Workshop & the Good to Go is comprised of two programs, The Script Reading Workshop and the Good To Go. The Script Reading Workshop is a competitive program whereby professional actors read select scenes from screenplay and/or teleplays followed by feedback from industry guests. Script Reading Awards are presented for “Best Screenplay”, “Industry Choice Award” & “Crowd Pleaser” (audience choice award)

Good To Go is a by invitation industry event for writers with feature screenplays, teleplays or MOW’s that isgood to go into production. Good To Go Awards are presented for “Best Low Budget Feature”, “Best Script” and “Best Fresh Voice”.

EARLY DEADLINE: June 30th, 2011, $50.00 (postmarked)

REGULAR DEADLINE: Aug. 31st, 2011: $65.00 (postmarked)

EXTENDED DEADLINE: Oct. 31st, 2011: $75.00 (postmarked)

Click Here for general information about the Female Eye Film Festival.

 

 

Review: Good Hair

One questions: how can I keep my daughter off of the “creamy crack?”  Yes, I am referring to a perm or relaxer that turns afro hair into straight hair, (a la Whitney Houston and Oprah Winfrey).  Chris Rock posed a similar question as he set out to produce the documentary Good Hair.  In my post entitled Comedians and Docs, I touched on the issue of well known-funny guys producing funny documentaries.  In the case of Rock’s Good Hair, he did a good job using humor to tackle what has been a taboo topic in the black community.  He’s got us talking about our hair in a very open way.  I’m sure his appearance on Oprah was a big help.

Using the flamboyant, hyped up, super charged Bronner Brothers hair show in Atlanta as the through-line added a since of drama, educational moments and a fair share of surprises. But the movie raises some good points too: why do black women straighten their hair?  Why do the men who love them bankroll thousand-dollar weaves?  What is the chemical process for making relaxers?  And, where does all that hair come from to make a good weave?  The most pertinent point for me was that the industry of whitening black hair is a billion dollar industry with only four black manufacturers.  The industry is largely controlled by whites and Asians.  As Reverend Al Sharpton points out, giving that kind of money away is like volunteer slavery.

Good Hair had a couple of uncomfortable moments when Chris Rock played a buffoon for the benefit Asian shop keepers to draw out a point. But perhaps the ends justified the means.  I was disappointed at the lack of discussion about WHY so many people seek perms and weaves.  Is there a disconnect for black women to proudly love our lips and hips but not our hair?  Also, lot of my sisters with natural hair were disappointed that the movie did not discuss natural hair at length. But that’s not what the movie was about.  The movie was about getting “good hair.”

Kudos to Chris Rock for getting celebrities like Ice-T, Raven Symone and Nia Long to talk about this touchy subject.   Good Hair gets a thumbs up from me because as a black woman, I learned a lot about the black women’s hair care industry and had a couple of laughs to boot.  In the meantime, I’ll prepare myself for my daughter’s style and fashion decisions to be what they will. When do I start worrying about body piercing?