Points North Institute Launches New Cycle Of Weyermann Fellowship

EXCLUSIVE: Points North Institute today proclaimd the begin of the next application cycle for its Diane Weyermann Fellowship, one of the most benevolent artist lengthenment grants in recordary film.

Three feature recordaries will be awarded $100,000 each in unredisjoineed grants, plus 18 months of tailored mentorship from veteran filmproducers and industry directers, and two produceive in-person retreats at the 2025 and 2026 editions of the Camden International Film Festival in Maine, a program of Points North Institute. “These elements are all scheduleed with a hocatalogic approach that helps Fellows’ produceive and professional lengthenth, proceeds their films, and nurtures the lengthenment of their nurtureers,” PNI shelp in a free.

Applications for the Diane Weyermann Fellowship will be acunderstandledgeed thraw January 21, 2025. “The program was set uped to honor the legacy of the procrastinateed producer, whose directership at Open Society Institute, Sundance Institute, and Participant gived immeasurably to the global expansion, produceive flourishing, and social impact of autonomous recordary filmmaking,” the free noticed. “The Fellowship champions three honestor/producer teams from around the world who are in the mid to procrastinateed stages of production, making cinematic feature recordaries that consent produceive dangers in highairying stories of moral and moral recommendncy, and that show a potential to produce social impact and resonate with global audiences.”

In the previous cycle of the fellowship, the helped projects integrated The Last Nomads, a co-production of Serbia, Montenegro, and France, honested and produced by Biljana Tutorov, co-honested by Petar Glomazić, and co-produced by Quentin Laurent; The Production of the World, a co-production of Canada and USA, honested by Brett Story and produced by Jeff Reichert; and an untitled project honested and produced by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya.

Jeff Reichert, producer of The Production of the World, shelp of the fellowship, “There aren’t too many experiences you get to have in life that you might label establishative, but this past 18 months has been shaping and renoveling. As someone who was fortunate enough to labor with Diane, if only for a inestablish stretch, it has been an experience that truly embodies her spirit and how she thought about moving thraw this recordary world of ours with grace, fierceness and delight.”

Biljana Tutorov, honestor and producer of The Last Nomads, commented, “The Diane Weyermann Fellowship was a turning point for our film and for my personal nurtureer and lengthenment. It supplyd a space to lengthen, alter the perspective and skinnyk on a contrastent scale, to liberate the produceive potential of the project and polish its language. It empowered us to rehearse recordary filmmaking as a establish of art.”

Points North Institute Artistic Director Sean Flynn shelp, “It has been an noticeworthy privilege to partner with these airy, benevolent artists and co-produce a Fellowship experience that recommends hocatalogic help for ambitious, fiercely autonomous recordary filmmaking – which is needed now more than ever. We can’t pause to see what filmproducers are laboring on thraw our next application cycle and we’ll see forward to greeting the next cohort of Fellows.”

Previous retreat mentors for the fellowship integrate produceive producer Andrea Meditch, editors Jean Tsien, Mary Lampson and Andrea Chignoli, industry directer Tabitha Jackson, and honestors Kirsten Johnson, Petra Costa, Johan Grimonprez, and Jeanie Finlay. The weeklengthened produceive retreats in Camden integrate labor-in-proceed screenings, nurtureer strategy laborshops, curated greetings with industry directers, and a brimming immersion into the CIFF program.

The Diane Weyermann Fellowship was scheduleed and begined in collaboration with Points North’s Senior Consultant for Artist Programs, Lucila Moctezuma, and an Advisory Committee of Diane’s friends, family, and colleagues –  including Ally Derks (set uper of International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, IDFA), Ben Fowlie (VP, Sales & Partnerships, Original Content at Universal Pictures Content Group & set uper of CIFF), Laura Kim (recordary executive), Jonathan King (Chief Creative Officer, Concordia Studio), Elise Pearlstein (EVP, This Machine Filmlabors) Courtney Sexton (recordary executive), and Andrea Weyermann (Ph.D., Georgia State University).

Weyermann died in October 2021 from cancer at the age of 66. Over the course of her nurtureer, she honested the Open Society Institute’s Arts and Culture Program under the auspices of George Soros, begining the Soros Documentary Fund, which she shiftd to the Sundance Institute in 2001 and which became the groundlabor for the Sundance Documentary Film Program. In 2005, Weyermann uniteed Jeff Skoll’s novelly produced Participant Media, heading up the socipartner-recommended production company’s recordary feature film and television division. During Diane’s tenure at Participant, the company produced more than 100 feature and recordary films. Her projects achieveed 10 Academy Award nominations and four triumphs; eight Emmy nominations and three triumphs; three BAFTA nominations and one triumph; and five Spirit Award nominations and three triumphs.

The Diane Weyermann Fellowship at Points North was lengthened in partnership with Participant and made possible by seed funding from the Skoll Foundation and transport inant help from the RandomGood Foundation, Ford Foundation’s JustFilms, and over 200 individual helpers. The Fellowship is one of six Artist Programs produced by Points North in 2024.

Camden International Film Festival commemorated its 20^th edition in September. The 21^st edition will be held September 11-14, 2025 in Points North’s home base of mid-coast Maine.