The Rooftop Films 2024 Filmmaker Fund winners have officially been unveiled, with buzzy titles like Eliza Hittman‘s fourth feature “MOTHERLOVE” and Debra Granik and Alex Mallis’ collaborative documentary among the top titles.
This year, twenty-three cash and service grants will be provided to independent filmmakers to support the production of their next short or feature film, including two Rooftop Films Water Tower Feature Film cash grants, generously supported by the Laurence W. Levine Foundation. In the past 24 years, Rooftop Films has awarded over $2,300,000 in cash and services to notable films and filmmakers including Alex Ross Perry, Carlos López Estrada, Nikyatu Jusu, and David Lowery.
Among the 2024 grantees are Eliza Hittman for her highly-anticipated fourth feature film, “MOTHERLOVE,” and Debra Granik and Alex Mallis for their untitled collaborative documentary investigating the past, present, and future of legalized marijuana in New York state.
Hittman’s acclaimed third feature “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” previously received grant funding from Rooftop Films. The Rooftop Filmmakers Fund grants are available to Rooftop Films alumni directors who have previously had their work screened during the annual Summer Series in New York City.
Additional 2024 feature film grantees include new works from exceptionally talented filmmakers Todd Chandler (“Trade”), Malika Zouhali-Worrall (Untitled Dystopia Film [working title]), Dan Perlman (“Cramming”), and Daniel Zvereff (“Drago”).
“We’re thrilled to announce the recipients of our grants this year, representing a rich tapestry of voices and perspectives,” Rooftop Films’ Senior Programmer Maria Rhodes said. “Everything from a prep school-set comedy detailing a sudden rivalry between two best friends, to an insider’s look at the super-niche world of trade shows, we have something here for all tastes. These filmmakers embody the spirit of creativity and authenticity that defines independent cinema, and we can’t wait to witness the magic they’ll bring to the screen.”
Reinforcing Rooftop Films’ commitment to supporting filmmakers of diverse backgrounds, this year’s recipients include over 45 percent women, 30 percent people of color, and 10 percent of people who identify as LGBTQIA+.
“With this year’s recipients, each possesses a unique spark,” Rooftop Filmmakers Fund panelist James Levine, representing the Laurence W. Levine Foundation, added. “Whether it’s Eliza’s plan to breathe life into her brilliant script alongside such a dynamic team, or Debra & Alex’s incredibly immersive exploration of a homegrown story, both projects exemplify the limitless possibilities of independent filmmaking when you’ve got directors of such vision behind the camera.”
Check out the complete list of 2024 Rooftop Filmmakers Fund short and feature film grant recipients below.
Water Tower Feature Film Cash Grants (Feature Film)
● Eliza Hittman, MOTHERLOVE FICTION FEATURE
The story centers around Ana, a Georgian immigrant in Brooklyn, who takes a job caring for Lori, an elderly woman in Manhattan, where she is forced to navigate end of life issues and complex family dynamics, while haunted by the separation from her own young daughter whom she has left behind in Tbilisi, Georgia.
● Debra Granik & Alex Mallis, Untitled NY Cannabis Documentary (working title) DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The promise of legal weed in New York is pushed to its breaking point by an onslaught of illicit opportunists, weaponized stigma, and multi-billion dollar corporations racing to claim a share of the largest cannabis market in the world. By design, newly enacted legislation should benefit those who were disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs, but when idealism meets concrete, who wins and who loses in the future of cannabis in New York State?
The Water Tower Feature Film Cash Grants are made possible by generous support from the Laurence W. Levine Foundation
Eastern Effects Equipment Grant (Feature Film)
Livia Huang, Our Triumphant Future FICTION FEATURE
As a close friendship unravels, Annie exchanges secrets on a counseling hotline with a frequent caller, older photographer Helen.
NYCEDC Brooklyn Army Terminal Production Office Grant (Feature Film)
- Adam Baran, In Loving Brotherhood DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
In Loving Brotherhood presents first-hand accounts of the epic adventures of gay men who formed motorcycle clubs and traveled the open road to find one another from the post-WW2 era today. Together they ignited a movement that continues to impact modern gay identities, politics and queer culture. - Suzannah Herbert (director, co-producer) & Darcy McKinnon (co-producer), Natchez DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Natchez is a feature documentary that explores the history and memory of the American South.
Edgeworx Post Production Effects Grant (Feature Film)
- Harrison Atkins, Sour Minnows FICTION FEATURE, After witnessing a disturbing public ritual, two disaffected cinephiles find themselves helplessly drawn into the designs of an eerie creature beyond human comprehension.
ARRI Rental Camera Grant (Feature Film)
- Jamil McGinnis, Wahnish Keeps Me Free EXPERIMENTAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Wahnish Keeps Me Free is an immersive hybrid doc.
- Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Untitled Dystopia Film (working title) DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Like a Russian nesting doll, Untitled Dystopia Film unfurls to reveal a story within a story within a story where real-life and fictional dystopias collide in this hybrid documentary that examines an Egyptian novelist’s quest for a home in exile, and the limits of storytelling under authoritarianism.
Parabolic Sound Mix Grant (Feature Film)
Todd Chandler, Trade DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Trade teleports seamlessly between and among over a dozen industry-facing trade shows in a kaleidoscopic exploration of labor, consumerism, community, and an array of market-based solutions to pressing contemporary issues as they are bought and sold within the walls of convention centers across North America.
Kate Geller Casting Grant (Feature Film)
Dan Perlman, Cramming FICTION FEATURE
Close friends Alex and Yan Bo, eighth graders, cram for a test in a prestigious prep school. Once they’re accused of cheating off one another, their friendship is threatened.
Kodak Film Stock Grant (Short Film)
Shuli Huang, News From New York FICTION FEATURE
As day meets with night, we become a fly on the wall to two seemingly innocent strangers entering a rendezvous in the underbelly of New York City.
Adrienne Shelley Foundation Grant for Women (Short Film)
Noemi Sjöberg, City woman DOCUMENTARY SHORT
City woman explores the impact of urban space on women. Urban reconfiguration from a gender perspective is imperative. Women experience limited freedom in public spaces due to factors like apprehension, education, or criminality, leading to the adoption of restrictive routines.
DCTV Grants (Short Film)
- Rebecca Blandón, Morgan Twins (working title) DOCUMENTARY SHORT Retired identical twin morticians, Marvin and Melvin Morgan, search for their great-grandmother’s unmarked grave in the segregated cemeteries of North Carolina while reflecting on those they have laid to rest over 20 years as New York City’s most influential morgue technicians.
- Michael Patten, Auburn DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Harriet Tubman’s final resting place, Auburn’s dual identity—a symbol of freedom and a prison town, encapsulating America’s contradictions.
Untouchable Scoring Grant (Short Film)
Steve Collins, Dust Devils FICTION SHORT
A shy motel maid meets a bold sex worker that causes her to question her life choices. Set in the high desert, Dust Devils uses the vast emptiness to process the loneliness of existence with a bone dry comic bent.
Elkind Lighting & Camera Grant (Short Film)
Michael Patten, Auburn DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Harriet Tubman’s final resting place, Auburn’s dual identity—a symbol of freedom and a prison town, encapsulating America’s contradictions.
Rooftop Filmmakers Fund Short Film Grants
- David Delafuente, Dungeon ANIMATED SHORT Dungeon is a short animated film that journeys through a forgotten place. A quest for what remains hidden, beneath the images of swords and spells, in the common language of fantasy and queerness. Deep down inside, time does not exist.
- Zhen Li, For Everyone’s Safety ANIMATED SHORT
A woman in a black dress visits a disappearing village town. A camel-man searches for water in a reborn landscape. Everyone is waiting for the flood to arrive. - Josh Locy (director, co-writer) & Kristin Slaysman (co-writer, producer, actor), Potato Potato FICTION SHORT
Cynthia is friendless, single, and very pregnant. When she writes a letter to her unborn baby about her hopes for the future, the baby writes back. Potato Potato is a black comedy about motherhood, connection, and the infinite mystery of the uterus. - Claire Read, Penn F-cking Station DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Penn F-cking Station is a gritty city-politics saga that follows the debate over how to fix New York’s Penn Station. But when the battle breaks out between the city’s power brokers and the city’s residents, what’s at stake is not just a train station; it’s the future of New York City. - Daniel Zvereff, Drago ANIMATED SHORT
A young boy’s dream of becoming a doctor is challenged when war forces him and his mother to flee their village and start a new life in New York City.
Rooftop Films Kayla Thomas Filmmaker Grants (Short Film)
- Florentina González, Huesos de Azúcar (Sugar Bones) ANIMATED SHORT In the near future, a new bone degenerative disease derived from the lack of nutrients in food will become pandemic. Reckless, a group of sick friends decide to leave everything behind and go on the road to spend their last vacation together.
- Guy Kozak, Melody of Love FICTION SHORT
The romantic advances of a beautiful damsel trigger a cowboy’s psychosexual nightmare in this surreal exploration into the strange heart of one of Hollywood’s most sacred masculine archetypes.
