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EXCLUSIVE: NewFest has revealed the 2024 recipients of the New Voices Filmmaker Grant, an effort in partnership with Netflix to support LGBTQ+ filmmakers.
In its third year, the artist development initiative program awards each of the four recipient filmmakers with a $25,000 grant to support their professional development and create new work. It also provides them with access to network-building opportunities through industry events and a mentorship track facilitated by NewFest, New York’s largest presenter of LGBTQ+ film and media.
The 2024 recipients of the New Voices Filmmaker Grant are Apa Agbayani, Angalis Field, Clementine Narcisse and cai thomas. Read more about them below.
“We are delighted to announce the 2024 recipients of the New Voices Filmmaker Grant, each of whom have showcased an exceptional blend of talent, creativity, and commitment to advancing LGBTQ+ storytelling,” said NewFest Executive Director David Hatkoff and Director of Programming Nick McCarthy. “Apa, Angalis, Clementine and cai are vibrant talents who have presented compelling stories – whether narrative or nonfiction – that reflect the richness of LGBTQ+ experiences, and we can’t wait to introduce them further into the world. As we enter the third year of this program, we are eager to see how this new group of talented filmmakers will leverage these resources to create new impactful work and make lasting contributions to the industry. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Netflix for their unwavering support in championing new voices and fostering a more inclusive film community.”
The grant is eligible to LGBTQ+ filmmakers in America who have not previously made a feature-length film or have never had a film (short, episodic, or feature-length) publicly distributed with an exclusive and compensated agreement.
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In addition to the grant’s funding, each of the four filmmakers will have the opportunity to connect with both creative and industry mentors relevant to their work and engage with partner organizations, industry markets, consultants and leaders in the field. New Voices grantees will also have their work showcased and participate in events during NewFest.
NewFest and Netflix’s partnership began in 2021 and is part of the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, which is an initiative to help support new voices and create more behind-the-camera opportunities for underrepresented communities within the film and TV industries.
Learn more about the New Voices Filmmaker Grant and keep up with the latest program updates at https://newfest.org/new-voices-grant.
Here are the 2024 New Voices Filmmaker Grant recipients:
APA AGBAYANI (he/him)
Apa Agbayani is a Filipino writer-director based in New York and he’s working through his feelings with magic. Apa started out directing music videos for indie artists in the Philippines then continued towards films and commercials. Currently, he’s finishing a Film MFA at ColumbiaUniversity. His latest short Abutan man tayo ng house lights (When the house lights come on) was the recipient of the QCShorts production grant and premiered at the QCinema International Film Festival in the Philippines in 2023. Apa’s previous shorts are Somewhere All the Boys are Birds (2023), which premiered at NewFest35 in New York, and We Kept Warm (2021).
ANGALIS FIELD (he/him)
Angalis Field (b. 1994, Portland, Oregon) is a screenwriter, director, and photographer based in New York City. His graduate thesis film Bust (co-written with Eliza Barry Callahan) premiered at Sundance in 2024. His debut short, The Dalles, premiered at Sundance in 2023. His photography and writing has been shown in various galleries and published in Artforum, Cultured Magazine, Purple Magazine, GQ, Teen Vogue, California Sunday, OUT, The New York Times, and more. He holds an MFA in Filmmaking from NYU Tisch (2019-2024) and a B.A in English and Creative Writing from Columbia University (2012-2016).
CLEMENTINE NARCISSE (she/her)
Clementine Narcisse is a black, transgender, writer/director and editor from New Jersey based in New York City. After spending many years as a freelance video editor, Clementine is now a rising senior studying film directing at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. In 2022, she released her debut short film As We Hold Hands, followed by her sophomore film Girl Blunt, both selections of the NewFest Film Festival. Her next film, a queer lesbian thriller, Blue Moon Angels, will be released in late 2024. Her work primarily revolves around LGBTQ Women of Color, and her primary mission as a writer/director is to expand the types of stories that they typically have on screen. Clementine is also the recipient of the 2023 NewFest Film Festival Emerging Black LGBTQ+ Filmmaker Award.
cai thomas (she/her)
cai thomas is a documentary filmmaker and cinematographer based in Chicago telling intimate stories at the intersection of location, self determination, and identity about Black youth and elders. She grew up in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood and is deeply interested in stories rooted in place. Her filmmaking exhibits how Black folks are agitating and organizing for the world they want, whether that’s a journalist investigating police misconduct (Beneath The Surface, 2023) , a disabled lesbian elder fighting for an accessible apartment (Queenie, 2020) or young folks organizing for parks named after folks that look like them (Change The Name Film, 2021). She’s currently developing a film about Black lesbians and motherhood.
