Vote for Project of the Year: Send One Film to the Tribeca Industry Meetings

You have voted all year. Now it’s time to help your favorite project land a spot at Tribeca Film Institute’s Filmmaker and Industry Meetings at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. The TFI Filmmaker and Industry Meetings (known as TFI Network), will be held on April 21 and April 22 during the Tribeca Film Festival. They are a premiere networking forum of one-on-one meetings with members from the industry.

The networking forum encourages the discovery of new projects by introducing industry participants to a carefully curated group of scripted, documentary and new media filmmakers and content creators participating in TFI programs, including Tribeca All Access, the TFI Sloan Filmmaker Fund, the TFI Documentary Fund, the TFI Latin America Fund and the TFI New Media fund.

In recent years, the Filmmaker and Industry Meetings made connections like putting Andrew Bujalski in touch with Jason Ishikawa of The Film Sales Company, who went on to sell Bujalski’s film “Computer Chess.” In 2012, “Elena” director Petra Costa met Orlando Bagwell from the Ford Foundation, who eventually came on for post-production and outreach support for the film. Doug Block and producer Lori Cheatle met Axel Arno from SVT in Sweden who became a co-producing partner of “112 Weddings” during a Tribeca meeting.

2012’s Project of the Year, Justin Simien’s “Dear White People” made its debut at Sundance last January, garnering the Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent. It went on to be acquired by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions and garnered excellent reviews following its theatrical release late last year.

While we can’t guarantee results at these meetings, let’s give a shot to one of our Projects of the Month. Help get one Project of the Month into the Filmmaker and Industry Meetings at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival… vote now!

The ballot is at the bottom of this post.

Here are the nominees (with descriptions courtesy of the filmmakers):

“Land of the Little People”: Four young kids who live in a village of military officers families, form a small gang. An old abandoned army base, located in the surrounding fields, turns into their camp. A war begins and most men are drafted. When the kids return to their camp they discover two soldiers who deserted their units, using their camp as a hideout. Ruthless struggle develops between the groups, and the soldiers, who sought refuge from the war outside, find themselves in another war, which turns to be as dangerous and bloody.

“Black Hat”:”Dandi Chiapetta” is an alternative teen who is into everything anime and the band Slipknot. Bullied for her love of this art form, she still has a dream. To get to a convention halfway across the country where her favorite anime Director, Shinichiro Watanabe, is going to turn one amateur manga comic into an anime. When all else fails, she “kidnaps” her estranged grandfather, in a nursing home, and races to get to the convention in time. Judging by our FB page, which has over 228,000 “likes” already, worldwide, this film and subject matter has huge potential.

“Return to Timbuktu”: “The armed militants sent death threats to local musicians; many were forced into exile. Live music venues were shut down, and militants set fire to guitars and drumkits.” – New York Times

And just like that, the very birth place of modern rhythm and blues suddenly became silent. Manny Ansar, director of the world-famous Music Festival in the Desert, narrowly escaped Timbuktu. Nearly one million Malians remain displaced. So Manny decided to lead a procession of traveling musicians from refugee camps back to their homes in Timbuktu, for a concert that will mark the beginning of a new era in Mali.

“Stones We Throw”: Think Lena Dunham meets Jerry Seinfeld meets awkward family life that keeps evolving. Our film showcases a lot of unique voices that are often not represented in our media such as mental illness, LGBTQA rights, women’s rights and alternative family structures. It follows the story of a female comedian who is struggling with her identity and her long distanced relationship while she attends college and is a coming of age tale that will hopefully leave you feeling either inspired or really uncomfortable…we hope both.

“Sam & Amira”: Most “soldier-coming-home-from-war” films deal with a soldier battling PTSD, we wanted to flip that well-worn premise on its head: What if the soldier who returns if fine, but it’s his country that’s lost its mind? America was built on the backs of immigrants and protected by the courage of veterans – yet both of these groups have grown increasingly marginalized in today’s society. The best way to explore such complex issues in the context of an independent film was to create an intimate love story with universal implications.

“David’s Reverie”: DAVID’S REVERIE, starring Brandon Fobbs (“The Wire,””Walking Dead”), tells the story of an up-and-coming jazz musician whose dream of leading his jazz band to a broader audience is halted when he is diagnosed with epilepsy. With each seizure, David is transported to a fantasy world where he hears music like he’s never heard before. David fights to reconcile managing this disorder while fighting to play the music inside him.

“The Lot”: It’s a heartfelt short set in New Orleans about a lonely cafe owner’s struggle to help an outcast boy by building a fort on an abandoned lot. Inspired by real events, our story explores risk, friendship, and sacrifice and tries to probe the question of why it’s oftentimes so hard to foster community. When the film’s finished, we plan to incorporate it into a larger campaign to purchase the actual abandoned lot and build a playground for local kids.

“To Here Knows When”: What happens when two young women are told that those boobs men drool over are filled to the nipple with cancer? Cassie has played it by the book her entire life, while Lena has never taken a day in her life seriously. Bound by a tragic fate delivered at the hands of death, they reject western medicine’s soul-sucking “treatment,” cash it all in and just drive. “To Here Knows When” is a gut-wrenching story about the discovery of truth, beauty and purpose and a not so gentle reminder that death has no dignity.

“California Dreaming”: It’s the most challenging project I have attempted so far. I am excited because it provides me the opportunity to create a modern day fairy-tale about a bizarre “What if…” situation. An experience that surprises and thrills the audience while being heartwarming. I am inspired the Indian dramatic theory of – “Natyashastra.” It speaks of – “Navarasa” (the nine emotions). It is said that the Navarasa are the basis of all human emotion, that a complete and wholesome story is one that evokes them all. It’s my challenge to take the audience through these emotions within ten minutes!

“The Space Between”: “The Space Between” is a heartfelt comedy that dives deep into tough issues such as intimate betrayal, maternal grief and the art of self-acceptance. I am inspired to bring this film to life in the hope that is just might help a few of us find the humour that lies between all the pain.

“Peacekeepers”: A group of assistants in NYC get texts about grisly accidents to be prevented before they occur–car crashes, lion pit mishaps, jumpers on the Queensboro bridge. But what would YOU do if you got texts from God? Alana isn’t buyin’ it. She likes the cash, but the God thing weirds her out. She started this job six months ago but the gig’s a bit… off. Why can’t they save everybody? If the Peacekeeper IS God with an iPhone, why use twentysomethings to divinely intervene? It’s a s**tstorm, and it’s becoming clear that even a Peacekeeper has enemies.

“Olancho”: Orlin Chirinos is the new leader of “Los Plebes de Olancho,” a narcocorrido band that creates and plays songs for some of the most dangerous narcos of Honduras. Orlin fell into the role about a year ago when his cousin, also the former bandleader, was exiled to the US after one of his songs angered a local cartel boss. Orlin now has to attempt to create a name for himself without angering his dangerous patrons. His songs glorify traffickers who often threaten him and his family, but in a world ruled by narcos, does he have any other choice?

Vote below.

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for Project of the Year&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Note: Votes are confirmed by email. After voting, please look for an email from PollDaddy and confirm your vote. Indiewire nor PollDaddy use your email address after the confirmation, but if you do want to sign up for our newsletter, why DON’T you mosey on over here and do so!



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