MOUNTAINFILM ANNOUNCES 2024 COMMITMENT GRANT WINNERS
Telluride, CO – Mountainfilm is committed to supporting filmmakers and advancing filmmaking excellence through its annual granting programs, the Commitment Grant & Emerging Filmmaker Fellowship initiatives. Projects selected for this year’s grants feature expansive global topics that range from the captivating story of the lifecycle of a violin beginning in the rainforest in Cameroon, to DACA recipients re-connecting with their roots in the outdoors, to Rohingya refugees rebuilding their lives in the U.S. Each of these projects align with Mountainfilm’s mission to inspire audiences to create a better world.
This year, Mountainfilm received a record number of applications. The grant review committee had the monumental task of reviewing and narrowing down an outstanding list of documentary film projects. In total, $62,550 will be granted to 20 projects selected for this year’s Commitment Grant and one film will be the recipient of the Emerging Filmmaker Fellowship. Funding for these programs is provided by Mountainfilm’s Filmmaker Fund and Torri & Mark Savoff, who have generously more than doubled the grant funding. Additional contributions are provided by Jess Stevens and Stephen Pollard in honor of the life of Isabella de la Houssaye.
“We are absolutely blown away by the caliber of the projects submitted this year. The stories selected reflect the passion, creativity, and commitment of filmmakers who are not only telling powerful narratives but are also pushing boundaries and amplifying voices that need to be heard,” said Lauren Howie, Mountainfilm’s Program Manager.
Mountainfilm has a long history of supporting filmmakers through its Commitment Grant initiative, which began in 2010. Many grant recipients have debuted their projects at Mountainfilm, and grantees make up some of the festival’s most memorable screenings. Past winners include Skye Fitzgerald’s Oscar-nominated Hunger Ward and Lifeboat, Public Defender, A Good Wolf, The Orchestra Chuck Built, Apaqauq, Patrol, When Lambs Become Lions, The Last Honey Hunter, Uranium Drive-In, Frame by Frame, Mending the Line, Albatross, The Crash Reel and many more.
The 2024 Commitment Grant Winners are:
All Fixed Up
Hao Zhou
Desperate to carry on their male lineage, a Southwest Chinese family takes their queer heir on a series of mystical interventions in an effort to expel dæmonic 'yin' (feminine energy) and replace it with virile 'yang' (masculine energy).
Braking Ground
Ben Knight & Berne Broudy
Braking Ground follows adaptive mountain bikers navigating the challenges of their disabilities and embracing the tremendous support of their rural riding community. On The Driving Range trail network, adaptive mountain bikers regain independence and able-bodied and disabled riders recreate side-by-side, which dismantles ableism, builds community, and is a blueprint for new trails anywhere.
Cabras y Chivas
Palmer Morse & Nick Stone Schearer
Every summer, California’s golden hills are dotted with herds of goats grazing on invasive plants and dry brush to protect communities against wildfire. Told through the women and men who shepherd them, this is a story about solutions for a warming world and the intricate web of relationships that inform them - amongst family, between cultures and across landscapes.
Chasing The Lion
Debra Atieno Aroko
Chasing the Lion follows Kenyan climber Peter Naituli as he reconnects with his heritage and embraces the warrior spirit of his ancestors through rock climbing. Along the way, he forms a deep bond with a Samburu warrior and takes on the daring feat of free-soloing Mt. Ololokwe. By centering an African climber this film seeks to reimagine courage, identity, and brotherhood in the climbing world.
CT High Fives
Jenny Schweitzer Bell
A fierce team of women in their 80s defies stereotypes as they gear up to win gold at the 2025 National Senior Games in basketball, celebrating their resilience and vitality while challenging ageism head-on.
Drokpa Youths in Exile
Tsering Wangmo
This film follows Tibetan nomads in Ladakh, India, as they navigate life in exile to offer an intimate glimpse into the experience of being a refugee today, highlighting the unique challenges posed by geography, climate change, and geopolitics. Despite these hardships, the individuals portrayed in the film exude great dignity and unique forms of agency and power.
El Oaxaqueño
David Zlutnick
After 13 years in prison, Leyver Martinez’s release became his deportation. This intensely intimate portrait follows Leyver from a California prison to Oaxaca, Mexico to explore the complex intersections of incarceration and immigration, and their impact on one man searching for home.
From Rodeo to Polo
Kendi King (Emerging Filmmaker Fellow)
The first HBCU polo team begins its inaugural season at Morehouse College, training a rag-tag team of rodeo-riding cowboys who’ve never played the sport for their national debut against Yale.
Hila Kihimi
Ashlei Payne
In the northernmost settlements on Earth, Greenland’s subsistence hunters face growing restrictions creating a tug-of-war between wildlife conservation and indigenous cultural heritage. This intimate story reveals the hidden lives of the world’s northernmost hunters, causing you to question everything you knew about the modern conservation movement and Indigenous social justice.
Into the Chutes
Jenna Avriel Rice
Into the Chutes follows Lee Knight, a Black, nonbinary bull rider, as they struggle to overcome injury and adversity in order to make their mark in the Gay Rodeo world. Lee’s dream of becoming a champion bull rider is challenged by numerous obstacles, but ultimately Lee proves that perseverance, passion, and grit are what make a winner, not the seconds on a stopwatch.
Legato
Hao Wu
A global, cinematic look at the birth of a violin, from the Cameroon rainforest to a factory outside of Beijing, and the instrument’s subsequent travel across the Pacific to land in the hands of a high schooler in Los Angeles. Along the journey, the lives of strangers are unwittingly connected.
Rebel Without A Pause
Maya Cueva
Rebel Without a Pause tells the story of Dr. Quentin Young – personal physician to Fred Hampton and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Told through the eyes of his granddaughter, Director Maya Cueva, the film follows his involvement in the Black Panthers Party’s health clinics and his advocacy for free health care, all of which brought about intense surveillance and harassment from the FBI.
Remaining Native
Paige Bethmann
Remaining Native is a coming-of-age documentary told through the perspective of Ku Stevens, a 17-year-old Native American runner struggling to navigate his way to college athletics as the memory of his great grandfather's escape from an Indian boarding school begins to connect past, present and future.
Sallie's Ashes
Brennan Robideaux
After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, Sallie Smith forms a team of fellow grandmothers in Alabama to bring awareness to a looming crisis: 21 million tons of toxic coal ash sitting in an unlined pond on the banks of the Mobile/Tensaw Delta, an ecologically vital region known as America’s Amazon.
Sonia
Sarah Colt, Emily Schuman
After escaping Nazi persecution, Sonia Pressman Fuentes sought a life of purpose. But it wasn't until she was 37 while working to uphold the Civil Rights Act, that she discovered her calling as a feminist activist. Her life, shaped by resilience and chance, is a testament to the profound impact one individual can make in the fight for equality.
The Book of George
Danny Schmidt
From Brooklyn’s streets to the Everglades, George McKenzie Jr., a Black photographer, transforms his lens into a force for change. Trading the weight of a gun for the promise of a camera, he captures everything from city pigeons to elusive panthers. As a National Geographic photographer and rare Black voice in wildlife photography, George inspires kids of color to see themselves in conservation.
The Heart Grows Old in Autumn
Rafiuddin bin Jahangir & Michael R. Steves
A multi-generational tale following Rohingya refugees, who survived a genocide in Myanmar, as they establish a new life in the United States. Spanning five years and three generations, the documentary follows the first Rohingya-Americans as they rebuild their lives, and are reborn from the ashes of genocide.
The Return
Jr Rodriguez
The film follows immigrant and Latine amateur mountaineers in New Mexico undergoing six months of alpine training before returning to Mexico to summit Citlaltépetl, the tallest volcano in North America. Alongside Navajo guides and indigenous communities, they discover the journey is as much about exploring their cultural identities as it is about conquering the mountain.
The Track
Ryan Sidhoo
The Track is a coming-of-age journey of three Muslim teenagers chasing their improbable Olympic dreams in post-war Bosnia. Training on their bullet-riddled Luge Track left over from the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo, the heart of the project is found in the relatable, sometimes humorous and exciting portrayal of friends striving for a better life despite religious strife and a murky economic future. Ultimately, the film begs the question: Where does a generation go after civil war?
Untitled film
Conor Smith & Josh Berman
Yu and Me Books
Esther Chan & Claudine Cho
Lucy Yu realized her dreams when opening the first AAPI and female-owned bookstore in New York, located in Manhattan’s Chinatown. When a fire destroys her beloved community bookstore, Lucy is left to face the loss of her dream. With the help of several hundred friends, Lucy builds Yu and Me again and learns that community is necessary for survival.