Irish filmmakers also won funding
A transgender artist hoping to start a family with his partner is among the winners of a life-changing documentary talent fund led by global streaming service, Netflix.
Now in its second year, the Netflix documentary fund champions filmmakers from across England and Ireland with five lucky recipients of the £30,000 fund for producing a short documentary.
Each film lasts around 12 minutes and is uploaded to Netflix’s YouTube channel.
As part of his film, Krishna Istha interviews hundreds of potential sperm donors live on stage.
The film follows his journey trying to find the right sperm donor and speaking to people who have been through the process before.
He asks intimate questions that range from political beliefs to philosophical perspectives.
Other winners of the fund include Reading-based filmmakers, Anna Snowball and Abolfazl Talooni who pitched their project called ‘Iranian Yellow Pages‘.
Their project documents the real lives of Iranians who have found a new home in London.
We delighted to be shortlisted for the Netflix Documentary Talent fund for our short film Two Mothers. Excited to be in London! Have butterflies like the Leaving Cert kids here. @netflixuk #netflixdocfund @wdwent @InvisibleThrd @ZlataFilipovic #connection pic.twitter.com/Lz1guktOGf
— Anna Rodgers (@AnnaRodgersDocs) June 9, 2023
“Break down barriers of access for emerging filmmakers”
Dublin-based filmmakers, Anna Rodgers and Zlata Filipovic also won funding for their documentary Two Mothers.
The short film follows the story of Cathy who lost a baby during pregnancy and her Ukrainian surrogate Ivana.
Cathy welcomed Ivana and her family to her home in Wicklow when the war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022.
Netflix created this documentary fund to help small filmmakers get recognised by experts. They said it’s to “break down barriers of access for emerging filmmakers”.
Another aspect of the fund includes training where all shortlisted filmmakers have the chance to take part in lessons that cover all elements of production including legal, creative, HR, production and finance.
According to Irishnews, Kate Townsend, from Netflix’s documentary fund team, said: “We are thrilled today to announce our second year cohort who we are sure will also go on to supercharge their careers too.
“The five films we have selected to support, each offer a unique take on the theme of connection.
“From an amazing story about two mothers with a unique bond in Ireland, to uniting communities as part of the deaf rave scene in Hackney, we are very much looking forward to kicking off production on these documentaries and seeing what these filmmakers can achieve.”
