September 22nd, 2022

Images from Through Her Lens: The Tribeca CHANEL Women’s Filmmaker Program Cocktail Celebration HERE, CURTESY OF TRIBECA

NEW YORK, NY (September 22, 2022) – Tribeca and CHANEL today announced the winning recipient of the eighth annual THROUGH HER LENS: The Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program. Wendi Tang and Hongwei Wu were awarded this year’s grand prize for their film FISHTANK and received full production funding for their original short film. FISHTANK is about a sardonic 28-year-old Jules has been sober for a year, but she can’t stop vomiting fish. Striving to put her life back on track, she must preserve control when a fish enthusiast unexpectedly enters her life.

 

This year’s mentorship program welcomed finalists and jurors for an in-person celebration and gathered esteemed industry leaders from around the globe for a program of workshops, classes, and peer-to-peer sessions for the filmmakers.

 

“Thank you so much for believing in us, and thank you so much to the Tribeca Chanel Through Her Lens Program. Going into this week, we wanted to try hard, do our best, have fun, and learn everything we possibly could. Regardless of the result, we were going to keep moving” said Wendi Tang and Hongwei Wu after receiving the award. “Our writing mentors gave thorough notes from the beginning and helped us see the blindspots in our script. We can’t imagine what our script would look like without the last three days of mentorship. It has evolved so much since the pitch process.”

 

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 BITTERROOT; HOMECOMING AND GOING; THE LAST RAIN CLOUD OF SUMMER; THE QUEEN, THE KNIGHT, AND THE WITCH.

 

Following an intensive, three-day workshop, the selected filmmakers pitched their projects to a jury comprised of: actor and director Jennifer Morrison (“Once Upon a Time” and “This is Us”); producer Bonnie Hammer (“It Just Takes One” and “Erase the Hate”); actor Alexandra Shipp (tick, tick… BOOM! and “Love, Simon”); producer Riva Marker (Whiplash and Drive); actor Thuso Mbedu (The Woman King and “The Underground Railroad”).

 

“This is an incredibly excellent group of talent, and we believe all of these projects can and will be made,” said the jury. “FISHTANK captivated our imaginations with its unique symbolism and universal story.”

 

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

 

MENTORS: actor Annette Bening (American Beauty and 20th Century Women); writer and showrunner Annie Weisman (“Physical” and “Desperate Housewives”); producer Effie Brown (“Dear White People” and But I’m a Cheerleader); producer Haifaa Al-Mansour (Wadjda and Mary Shelley); producer Maria Zuckerman (Nanny and The Mauritanian)

 

WRITING MENTORS: writer Becky Johnston (House of Gucci and The Prince of Tides); producer Kelly Carmichael (The Eyes of Tammy Faye and My Week with Marilyn); writer and showrunner Angela Kang (“The Walking Dead” and “Terriers”); writer and showrunner Deepa Mehta (Funny Boy and “Leila”); writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Thor: Love and Thunder and Someone Great).

 

MASTERCLASSES: director Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body and “Yellowjackets”); writer, director, and producer Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman and Monster); writer and producer Courtney Kemp (“Power” and “The Good Wife”); composer Laura Karpman (“Ms. Marvel” and “Lovecraft Country”); casting director Carmen Cuba (“Stranger Things” and The Martian)

 

About the Tribeca Festival:
The Tribeca Festival brings artists and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, VR, games, music, and online work. With strong roots in independent film, Tribeca is a platform for creative expression and immersive entertainment. Tribeca champions emerging and established voices; discovers award-winning filmmakers and creators; curates innovative experiences; and introduces new technology and ideas through premieres, exhibitions, talks, and live performances.

The Festival was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan following the attacks on the World Trade Center. Tribeca will celebrate its 22nd year from June 7–18, 2023.

In 2019, James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems, a private investment company with locations in New York and Mumbai, 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 2021, CHANEL employed more than 28,500 people across the world.

 

Press Contacts
Corey Wilson, Tribeca | cwilson@tribecafilm.com
Annie Augustine Davis, Tribeca | adavis@tribecafilm.com
Yunjung Seo, Tribeca | yseo@tribecafilm.com
Annie Buck, CHANEL | annie.buck@chanelusa.com