June 10, 2020 10:00 am
Kartemquin Films is delighted to receive two Arts Works grants from the National Endowment for the Arts to support initatives addressing sustainability of the documentary field in the Midwest and support for the artistic and professional development of documentary filmmakers.
As part of a related but separately funded project, Kartemquin is working to formalize partnerships with media arts organizations that support emerging filmmakers working in the vibrant but underserved midwest region, outside of coastal industry hubs. The goal of the partnerships is to increase coordination between organizations working to tackle the pressing barriers to sustainable careers that face emerging filmmakers. The $20,000 Sustain Grant will support KTQ in the execution of virtual workshops that will bring together industry leaders and filmmaker panelists to provide practical and timely insights to addressing the most pressing challenges faced by filmmakers - generally as well as in response to the pandemic, which has only served to amplify the challenges facing early-career makers.
As part of the $45,000 KTQ Collaborative Grant, the work will include supporting the artistic and professional development for documentary filmmakers in a time where the field is having to reimagine the process of filmmaking. Kartemquin will pivot in light of COVID-19 to host a virtual Creative Summit - a series of virtual workshops with a focus on helping filmmakers learn how to shift their work in a pandemic.
"These awards demonstrate the continued creativity and excellence of arts projects across America and the nimbleness of our nation’s arts organizations in the face of a national crisis that shuttered their doors for months," said Mary Anne Carter, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “By funding arts projects in every U.S. state, territory, and the District of Columbia, the National Endowment for the Arts again celebrates the opportunity to make the arts available to every corner of the country and to see how the arts can heal and unite us.”
"This pledge of support from the NEA is vital to ensuring that Kartemquin can continue to serve our filmmaking community when regional voices are most vulnerable while opening up space for innovation and transformation during an unprecedented moment," said Executive Director Jolene Pinder.
National Endowment for the Arts has approved more than $84 million in grants as part of the Arts Endowment’s second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2020. Art Works is the Arts Endowment’s principal grantmaking program that support artistically excellent projects that celebrate creativity and cultural heritage, invite mutual respect for differing beliefs and values, and enriches humanity. The agency awarded 1,144 new awards to organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and each of the five U.S. territories.
For more information on this National Endowment for the Arts grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.
UPDATE (JULY 8):
We're excited to announce that KTQ was approved for a $50,000 award as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, & Economic Security (CARES) Act, providing vital support to sustain KTQ's staffing and their work to support filmmakers. Thank you, National Endowment for the Arts. Read more.