$1 million-plus to documentaries, web series

Six films, art projects and artists with Latino connections are among more than 50 recipients of over $1 million in grants from the Sundance Institute in 2016. Originating from 10 countries on six continents, this year’s grantees explore issues like police violence, natural disasters, income inequality, family legacy, trans rights and education in the developing world. CITIZENSHIP, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & TRANSGENDER RIGHTS Among the films awarded funds while still in production are the documentaries “Hispaniola” from the Dominican Republic, and “Recovering Irma” and “Sylvia and Marsha,” both from the United States. “Hispaniola” follows Haitian families whose members have lost their citizenship in Dominican Republic in spite of having been born in that Spanish-speaking Caribbean island nation. In “Recovering Irma,” first-time director Sandra Salas embarks on a trip across the American Southwest, from California to Texas, to tell a comprehensive story of her mother, who died a victim of domestic violence. And “Sylvia and Marsha” pays tribute to two friends who founded the trans right movement–two trans women of color, a Latina and an African American.

BUSINESS OF IMMIGRATION DETENTION Amidst post-production works stands out the immigration docu-thriller “The Infiltrators” by directors Alex Rivera and Cristina Ibarra about a group of activists who got themselves apprehended by the Border Patrol to expose the world of for-profit detention centers. AMAZONIAN TRIBE, RACISM IN USA In the category Stories of Change, the virtual-reality immersive artwork “Awavena” takes the viewer to the forest land of the Yawanawá, an indigenous people of Brazil, while the interactive film “Racial Terror in America: A History in Three Acts,” about the connection of today's structural oppression on communities of color in America with the legacy of slavery and white supremacy. TWO WEB SERIES Also, two other U.S. Latino artists received funds for combining diverse platforms in innovative ways under Sundance’s New Frontier section. André Pérez’s “America in Transition” is a web series, interactive documentary and community engagement campaign about social change from the perspective of trans people in marginalized communities. And Marisa Morán Jahn’s “CareForce” is a transmedia public art project, web series and mobile studio about caregivers. Morán Jahn is of Chinese and Ecuadorian descent. The funds are awarded though the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program to documentary projects and artists “at the forefront of global nonfiction storytelling, whose subjects and forms reflect the inclusive range of the Institute’s mission,” according to a press release.

–CESAR ARREDONDO