National Video Resources ( NVR ) today announced the recipients of the Technical Assistance Awards for Fall 2005. In this year’s second round of grants, 10 film, video and new media artists will be awarded grants of up to $3,000 each to aid with the completion and marketing of their projects. Additionally, 3 artists will receive in-kind web development assistance.

The supported projects represent a wide range of formats and mediums, and cover a broad array of topics: an experimental documentary about the Mexican border; a narrative about two sisters’ ruptured relationship; an interactive installation about reversing time; and an animated feature film about the intersecting lives of inhabitants in an industrial city, to name a few. “We are pleased to offer additional funding and support to these very unique artists and projects,” says Tania Blanich, Director of the Program for Media Artists. “We hope that others will take note of these projects and join us in supporting these independent media projects.”

“The competition for these grants shows that artists need support from a variety of funding mechanisms,” continues NVR Executive Director, Brian Newman . “Small grants can give new life to many artists” projects “whether by assisting its transfer to digital media, hiring a publicist for a festival or making a website to promote and sell their work.”

The Technical Assistance Awards receive support from the Ford Foundation, and were created to further aid the completion and dissemination of Media Arts Fellowships-funded projects and generally support the Fellows in their work. The Media Arts Fellowships is the cornerstone of the Program for Media Artists. Each year following a nationwide nomination process, 14 film and video artists and 6 new media artists are selected to receive $35,000 each. Additionally, through the Media Arts Fellowships in Mexico , up to 6 media artists are awarded $20,000 each year.

Since its inception in 1988, the Program for Media Artists has awarded $12 million to 375 gifted media artists working in the U.S. and Mexico . The program is one of the most prestigious fellowships in the fields of film, video and new media, and is funded by the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations. More information about The Program for Media Artists can be found at www.mediaartists.org.

Many Media Arts Fellowship and Technical Assistance Award recipients have gained international recognition and won key awards at film festivals, including Rodney Evans (BROTHER TO BROTHER), Craig Brewer (HUSTLE & FLOW), Ira Sachs (FORTY SHADES OF BLUE), Thomas Allen Harris (THE TWELVE DISCIPLES OF NELSON MANDELA), and Jem Cohen (CHAIN).

In January 2006, several Media Arts Fellows will attend the Sundance Film Festival with feature and short films in the Documentary and World Cinema Competition, as well as the Spectrum and Frontier sections: A LION IN THE HOUSE (Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert); WIDE AWAKE (Alan Berliner); SOLO DIOS SABE (Carlos Bolado); IN THE PIT (Juan Carlos Rulfo); BATTLE IN HEAVEN (Carlos Reygadas); JOURNEY FROM THE FALL (Ham Tran); PINE FLAT (Sharon Lockhart); LOT 63, GRAVE C (Sam Green); and VISCERA (Leighton Pierce). Of these projects, 4 were made with direct funding support from the Program for Media Artists: A LION IN THE HOUSE, BATTLE IN HEAVEN, JOURNEY FROM THE FALL and VISCERA.

The 2006 Sundance Film Festival slate makes it clear that The Media Arts Fellowships in Mexico has become an important source of funding and career support for Mexican media artists. Three of the seven Mexican filmmakers at Sundance this year are NVR Fellows, Carlos Reygadas, Juan Carlos Rulfo and Carlos Bolado. “Latin American filmmakers have been receiving greater international exposure and acclaim in recent years,” says Lucila Moctezuma , Fellowship Program Associate. “We are proud our efforts to support Mexican filmmakers have proven valuable to the artists, as well as the public.”

Artists of all professional levels are eligible for the fellowships, but a glance at the emerging artist Fellows each year can introduce the public and industry professionals to some of the most promising media artists today. Some of the previous “emerging filmmaker” Fellows who are earning kudos this year include Miranda July, who received several Spirit Award and Gotham Award nominations for ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW; Gregg Araki, a 1993 Fellow nominated for a 2006 Best Director Spirit Award for MYSTERIOUS SKIN; and Guillermo Arriaga, a 2001 Fellow who is a Spirit Award nominee for Best Picture and Best Screenplay, THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA.

National Video Resources (NVR) is a not-for-profit organization established in 1990. NVR fosters independent artistic expression by supporting the creation, dissemination and public awareness of independent media in all forms. NVR encourages media artists to redefine, explore and create innovative visions that reflect our diverse culture and helps connect those works to a broad audience. Visit www.nvr.org for information about current programs and projects.

The names of the Fall 2005 Technical and In-Kind Assistance Award recipients and brief descriptions of their projects follow.

Technical Assistance Awards - Fall 2005

Elizabeth Barret
$1,200 toward migration from video to DVD, including authoring, replication and design fees for Stranger With a Camera, about the complex intersection of community, culture and cameras.

Bill Brown
$2,600 toward the costs of the 16 mm answer print, optical track and release print for The Other Side, a meditation on the border as a culture, political and geographical landscape.

Paul DeMarinis
$3,100 toward the costs of spare parts for the installation Firebirds, which uses an unusual technology that uses gas flames as loudspeakers exploring how technologies and new media grow out of dreams.

Ken Feingold
$2,700 toward the preservation of the computer-driven installation The Animal, Vegetable, Mineralness of Everything, in which three lifelike animatronic heads in a sculptural/installation arrangement appear to be discussing an amorphous object in front of them.

Monteith McCollum and Ariana Gerstein
$1,500 toward promotional materials and the Beta SP and Digi Beta Dubs of All Consuming, a film about how food and culture are bound in mysterious ways.

Nina Menkes
In-kind web assistance to update the artist�s website to include information about Heatstroke, a surreal drama about two sisters� ruptured relationship. The site will provide potential financial backers of the feature film with information about the artist and samples of previous work.

Leighton Pierce
In-kind web assistance to create a website to promote the artist’s recent installation projects, Pivot and Warm Occlusion (both funded by the Fellowship), as well as the artist’s other work.

Suzan Pitt
$2,800 toward the cost of the first 35mm answer print for El Doctor, an animated film set in Mexico. Set in 1940s Mexico, the character-driven story is told in both Spanish and English.

Scott Snibbe
$3,000 toward post-production of the video component of the interactive narrative work Shadow and Substance, about the life of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science.

Vibeke Sorensen
$2,700 toward equipment to more easily travel the interactive installation Sanctuary, based on cross-cultural interpretations of “safe haven,” focuses on natural and spiritual sanctuaries.

Caspar Stracke
$3,000 toward post-production of an installation version of Out of Joint, a video essay that comprises various attempts of reversing time.

Christopher Sullivan
$2,400 for the timed digital master of Consuming Spirits, a two-hour experimental feature animation about three people in a small industrial city who uncover their unlikely roles in each other’s lives, constructed by dysfunctional family practices and social service intervention.

Iverson White
In-kind web assistance to create an artist website to display a catalog of his films, video, audio, photography and poetry, including clips from his Fellowship-funded work, The Johnson Girls, about a group of successful women who try to convince their strong-willed friend to pursue the man who has gone astray.