TFI Documentary Fund Filmmakers & Projects

ALL OF ME (2012, Post-Production)
Alexandra Lescaze, Director and Producer

The "girls" have been friends, and morbidly obese, for years. Now they are choosing to have weight-loss surgery in an effort to lose hundreds of pounds. The experience presents a host of issues and consequences -- some they knew they were in for, some they feared, and some they never could have imagined. Their health, marriages and friendships are all at stake.

CUTIE AND THE BOXER (2012, Post-Production)
Zachary Heinzerling, Director
Sierra Pettengill & Patrick Burns, Producers

Cutie and The Boxer is a love story that explores the bond between two New York-based, Japanese artists, Ushio and Noriko Shinohara. Set over the course of their chaotic forty-year marriage, this candid look at two headstrong, yet ultimately complimentary personalities forms a graceful rumination on companionship, sacrifice, and the creative spirit.

HOMEGOINGS (2012, Post-Production)
Christine Turner, Director and Producer

Homegoings explores the African American way of death through the story of an undertaker in Harlem and the families he serves. 

I WUV YOU (2012, Development)
Alma Har'el, Director and Producer

Following Bombay Beach, Tribeca Film Festival winner Alma Har'el will continue to push the documentary genre into new realms. Her new film will follow real people alongside their imaginary young and older selves (portrayed by actors), in the midst of a love story that shapes their lives. The result is an exploration of our past and future through re-enactments of our inner dialogues. The actors that will portray the young OR older selves of the documentary’s protagonists, will come in and out of scenes and slowly blur the line between fiction and nonfiction.

THE LOVERS AND THE DESPOT (2012, Development)
Ross Adam and Robert Cannan, Directors
Sandra Whipham, Producer

Following the collapse of their glamorous, movie-world romance, a celebrity director and actress are kidnapped by loony dictator Kim Jong-il. Forced to make films in the world’s weirdest state, they get a second chance at love, but only one chance at escape...

THE MANOR (2012, Production)
Shawney Cohen, Director
Paul Scherzer, Producer
Mike Gallay, Co-Director
Laurie Gwen Shapiro, Executive Producer

After years apart, filmmaker Shawney Cohen returns home to find his once "normal" family gone, replaced by a strip-club-owner father, anorexic mother, and sociopathic brother.

112 WEDDINGS (2012, Production)
Doug Block, Director and Producer
Lori Cheatle, Producer

For the past two decades, documentary filmmaker Doug Block (51 Birch Street, The Kids Grow Up) has supported his work by videotaping weddings. Approaching his own 25th anniversary, Block revisits some of his most memorable couples to see how their marriages are faring. Juxtaposing intimate wedding moments with revealing current-day interviews, 112 Weddings is a fascinating look at love and long-term marriage.

OUR NIXON (2012, Post-Production)
Penny Lane, Director and Producer
Brian Frye, Director and Producer
Dan Cogan, Executive Producer
Jenny Raskin, Executive Producer

Forty years after Watergate, the forgotten Super 8 home movies of Richard Nixon's closest aides -- and convicted Watergate conspirators -- offer an intimate and surprising new glimpse into his presidency.

THE RACE (2012, Production)

Daniel Gordon, Director and Producer
John Battsek, Executive Producer

The 100m final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics was the fastest -- and most thrilling -- ever run. But within 48 hours, gold medalist Ben Johnson had tested positive for anabolic steroids and scandal reigned.This one race still haunts the eight men who took part.

TEATRO (2012, Development)
Jeff Malmberg, Director and Producer
Chris Shellen, Producer

Teatro is the story of an Italian farming town that turns their lives into a play in order to solve their problems and save their way of life. Told through intertwining portraits of the town’s characters, the film examines the power of art to heal and transform.

VERY SEMI-SERIOUS (2011 TFI/HBO Fellowship)
Leah Wolchok, Director
Davina Pardo, Producer

Very Semi-Serious takes an inside look at the colorful personalities behind the celebrated New Yorker cartoons. A stylized blend of documentary and animation, the film transforms the iconic black-and-white images into a vibrant comic world. Along the way, the film explores the evolution of the cartoonists’ humor and how it reflects the changing social and political landscape of urban life.

THE GENIUS OF MARIAN (2011 TFI/HBO Fellowship)
Banker White, Director
Anna Fitch, Co-director and Producer

The Genius of Marian follows Pam White in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease as her filmmaker son documents her struggles to hang on to a sense of self. The film deals with the gradual loss of a parent--both a tragedy and gift--and explores the ways our memories shape our personal identities and our legacies.

A CONTEMPLATION OF A SERIOUS MATTER (2011 TFI/HBO Fellowship)
Vladi Alpin, Director

A Contemplation of a Serious Matter is a docu-adventure film that focuses on two friends that discover the tumultuous secrets behind a strange video clip that was posted on YouTube. As more and more details are revealed, the immediate consequences of this investigation start to endanger their own friendship.

TEENAGE (2011  TFI/Insurgent Fellowship)
Matt Wolf, Director
Jon Savage, Writer

Teenage is an unconventional historical film about youth culture based on an acclaimed book by the punk author Jon Savage. The film examines the invention of modern teenagers in wartime America with profiles of extraordinary adolescents.

OF MONSTERS AND MEN (2011 TFI/Insurgent Fellowship)
Morgan Matthews, Director

Of Monsters and Men is a fascinating and touching portrait of men who are obsessed with monsters and their adventures to find them.

SMASH & GRAB: THE STORY OF THE PINK PANTHERS (2011 TFI/Insurgent Fellowship)
Havana Marking, Director
Mike Lerner, Producer

Smash & Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers, in their own words, the most successful jewel thieves of all time take you into their world: the post-Milosovic Balkans, the modern diamond trade and a 21st Century crime gang.

DON'T STOP BELIEVIN': EVERYMAN'S JOURNEY (2011 TFI/Insurgent Fellowship)
Ramona Diaz, Director

Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey follows the real life rock-n-roll fairy tale story of Filipino Arnel Pineda, who was plucked from You Tube to become the front man for iconic American rock band, Journey, thereby becoming the latest performer to go from the Internet to real life celebrity.