October 14th, 2021

Images from Through Her Lens: The Tribeca CHANEL Women’s Filmmaker Program Cocktail Celebration (cleared for editorial and social use): 
https://dam.gettyimages.com/assignments/chanel-soho-house-event

Photo Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images

TRIBECA AND CHANEL ANNOUNCE RECIPIENT OF 2021 PRODUCTION FUNDS FROM 7TH ANNUAL THROUGH HER LENS: THE TRIBECA CHANEL WOMEN’S FILMMAKER PROGRAM

Jurors Melissa Barrera, Gayle King, Leslie Mann, and Paula Weinstein Award Honolulu Full Production Funds Along with Support from Tribeca Studios

NEW YORK, NY– October 14, 2021 – Tribeca and CHANEL concluded the seventh annual THROUGH HER LENS: The Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program, announcing the 2021 recipient who will receive full production funding for her original short film at an intimate cocktail reception in New York City. This year’s mentorship program welcomed finalists and jurors for a small in-person celebration and gathered esteemed industry leaders from around the globe for a virtual program of workshops, classes, and peer-to-peer sessions for the filmmakers.

 

Maya Tanaka and Shuchi Talati were the winning recipients of this year’s grand prize for their film Honolulu. Honolulu tells the story of Yuki, a 12-year-old with a vivid fantasy life, who complicates her already morose beach vacation with her father and grandmother.

 

"Throughout this process we had such a strong community of filmmakers,” said Maya Tanaka and Shuchi Talati after receiving the award. “We’re so excited to make our film. And we just want that opportunity for everyone here. Everyone’s work was truly so amazing."

 

A total of $100,000 in filmmaker grants was awarded amongst the five projects. In addition to the winning project, the other program participants each received a development grant to support continued work on their respective films to move them closer to production. They included: director Annalise Lockhart and writer/producer Mary Glen Fredrick for Anything Valuable; director Caroline Lindy and writer/producer Kate Hamilton for How Did I Get Here?; writer/director Tiye Amenechi and producer Satchel Lee for Night Bloom; and writer/director Phumi Morare for Why the Cattle Wait.

 

“The world I came up in has changed thanks to all the great women filmmakers who not only have made extraordinary work, but have demanded changes now in our industry,” said Jane Rosenthal, CEO and Co-Founder of Tribeca Enterprises and the Tribeca Festival, speaking at the reception. “We have finally shone a brave cold light on wrongs and accepted falsehoods that have been so endemic.”

 

Following an intensive, three-day workshop, the filmmakers from the five projects selected pitched their projects to a jury comprised of: actor Melissa Barrera (In the Heights, Vida), Gayle King, Co-Host, CBS Mornings and Editor at Large, Oprah, producer Paula Weinstein (Grace & Frankie, Blood Diamond), and actor Leslie Mann (The Other Woman, This Is 40).

 

“All of the films were incredible. Each of the stories had something really special and moving,” said Melissa Barrera speaking on behalf of the jurors. “Honolulu is a very original story I don’t think we’ve ever seen before, with a very interesting cast that deserves the spotlight, especially right now.”

 

Also supporting the filmmakers was a distinguished leadership committee that was comprised of Master Class Advisors, Mentors, and Writing Mentors:

 

MASTER CLASS ADVISORS: actor/producer Marlee Matlin (CODA, Children of a Lesser God), music composer Laura Karpman (Lovecraft Country, What If), producer Maria Zuckerman (Spencer, 100 Foot Wave), actor/filmmaker Adepero Oduye (12 Years a Slave, Pariah), casting director Alexa L. Fogel (The Prom, Judas and The Black Messiah), and costume designer Jacqueline Durran (Little Women, Pride and Prejudice).

 

MENTORS: producer Frida Torresblanco (Pan's Labyrinth, Disobedience), writer/director/producer Maryam Keshavarz (Viper Club, Circumstance) writer/producer Soo Hugh (Pachinko, The Terror), storyteller/advocate DeWanda Wise (She’s Gotta Have It, Fatherhood) writer/producer Ali Adler (Supergirl, The New Normal).

 

WRITING MENTORS: actor Zoe Lister-Jones (How It Ends, BAND AID), writer/ producer Tina Mabry (Mississippi Damned, Pose), writer/director/producer Misha Green (Lovecraft Country, The Mother), writer/producer Amy Schumer (Trainwreck, Inside Amy Schumer), and director/writer/producer Kay Cannon (Blockers, Cinderella).

 

CHANEL’s founder, Coco Chanel, worked with the leading filmmakers of her time, drawing inspiration from and supporting her fellow creative peers. Her legacy of fostering creativity lives on through CHANEL’s dedication to the art of film, which is expressed through programs such as THROUGH HER LENS and the brand’s other long-standing film partnerships.

 

Tribeca has been uplifting women filmmakers and has reached gender parity in programming over the last few years. THROUGH HER LENS: The Tribeca CHANEL Women's Filmmaker Program is an ongoing iteration of Tribeca’s commitment to providing a platform for new artistic voices and continues to provide resources to help empower emerging women storytellers in the industry.

 

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Press Contacts:
Jeff David Gray – Tribeca Enterprises: 212.470.1209  jgray@tribecafilm.com
Annie Buck – CHANEL: 404.771.8501  annie.buck@chanelusa.com

 

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About the 2021 Through Her Lens: The Tribeca CHANEL Women’s Filmmaker Program Recipients:

 

Maya Tanaka is a filmmaker who originally hails from the SF Bay Area. She received her undergraduate degree from Boston University's film program, where she was awarded the Fleder-Rosenberg Filmmaking grant. She enjoys work that focuses on femmes and alternative narratives. Her most recent short, The Price of Cheap Rent, premiered at TIFF 2020 and won the NYWIFT Woman Director award at TIDE Film Festival. Maya’s work has been screened at Urbanworld, New Orleans Film Festival, Atlanta International Film Festival, Cincinnati International Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Cucalorus, Aspen Shortsfest, Hollyshorts, and Blackstar among others.

 

Shuchi Talati is a filmmaker from India whose work challenges dominant narratives around gender, sexuality, race, and Asian identity. Her recent short film, A Period Piece, about an afternoon of period (i.e. menstruation) sex, played at SXSW and Palm Springs. Shuchi’s projects in development include Girls Will Be Girls, a sexual awakening film set in a conservative boarding school in India. Girls has been selected for Berlinale Script Station, Jerusalem Film Lab, Gotham Week, and Cine Qua Non Lab. Her work has been recognized by Berlinale Talents, the New York State Council for the Arts, Women in Film, and Région Île-de-France. Shuchi is also a producer for documentaries and her credits include We Are: Brooklyn Saints for Netflix and Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas for HBO. She has an MFA from the American Film Institute and is a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, Bitchitra Collective, and the Freelance Solidarity Project.

 

About Tribeca Enterprises: 
Tribeca Enterprises is a multi-platform storytelling company, established in 2003 by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. Tribeca provides artists with unique platforms to expand the audience for their work and broadens consumer access to experience storytelling, independent film, and media. The company operates a network of entertainment businesses including the Tribeca Festival; the Tribeca TV Festival; its branded entertainment production arm, Tribeca Studios; and creative production company, m ss ng p eces. In 2019, James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems bought a majority stake in Tribeca Enterprises, bringing together Rosenthal, De Niro, and Murdoch to grow the enterprise.

 

About CHANEL:
Chanel is a private company and a world leader in creating, developing, manufacturing and distributing luxury products. Founded by Gabrielle Chanel at the beginning of the last century, Chanel offers a broad range of high-end creations, including Ready-to-Wear, Leather Goods, Fashion Accessories, Eyewear, Fragrances, Makeup, Skincare, Jewelry and Watches. Chanel is also renowned for its Haute Couture collections, presented twice yearly in Paris, and for having acquired a large number of specialized suppliers, collectively known as the Métiers d’art. Chanel is dedicated to ultimate luxury and to the highest level of craftsmanship. It is a brand whose core values remain historically grounded on exceptional creation. As such, Chanel promotes culture, art, creativity and “savoir-faire” throughout the world, and invests significantly in people, R&D and innovation. At the end of 2020, Chanel employed over 27,000 people worldwide.