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9 months ago
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The Sundance Institute on Thursday named the eight storytellers selected for the 2024 edition of its Momentum Fellowship, a full-year program supporting the professional development of mid-career artists. The list includes Aitch Alberto, Raven Jackson, Savanah Leaf, Sing J. Lee, Laura Moss, A.V. Rockwell, D. Smith, and Erica Tremblay.
Now in its sixth year, the fellowship is accessible to creatives working across fiction and nonfiction, and specifically targets those hailing from historically marginalized backgrounds, offering support and resources tailored to the individual. Led by the Institute’s Women at Sundance and Artist Accelerator programs, it offers participants access to an unrestricted artist grant, as well as professional coaching through Renee Freedman & Company, and access to the workshops and sessions put on through Sundance’s professional development track, Elevate.
Additionally, as part of an ongoing partnership with Universal, the studio provides support for select fellows working on fiction projects, offering access to creative executives and producers, which could potentially lead to directing opportunities across the company’s portfolio.
In a statement on the latest edition of Momentum, Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, Director of Artist Accelerator and Women at Sundance, called the fellowship “one of our most unique fellowship programs for its recognition of a challenging reality within our industry.”
Added Molnar-Szakacs, “Even artists with one or two successful projects still require substantial support to advance both creatively and professionally. This program meets that need in a customized manner, catering to talented and diverse storytellers seeking mentorship and community. We are thrilled to see where this year’s cohort will lead.”
An invite-only program launched in 2018, the Momentum Fellowship has previously supported notables including Minhal Baig, Linda Yvette Chávez, Christina Choe, Cristina Costantini, Yance Ford, Natalie Erika James, Nikyatu Jusu, Shalini Kantayya, Bing Liu, Ekwa Msangi, Edson Oda, Mariem Pérez Riera, Eva Vives, Charlotte Wells, Angel Kristi Williams, and Malika Zouhali-Worrall, to name a few.
For more information about this year’s participants, read on.
Aitch Alberto is a writer-director born and raised in Miami, Florida. She is a Sundance Episodic Lab fellow and one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch for 2022. She wrote and directed Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe with Lin-Manuel Miranda producing. She has also written on Duster from J.J. Abrams and Little America.
Raven Jackson is an award-winning filmmaker, poet, and photographer from Tennessee. Her debut feature, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, made in partnership with Maria Altamirano, PASTEL, and A24, world-premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and was recently nominated for two Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Savanah Leaf has transitioned from 2012 Olympian to award-winning filmmaker. Her directorial feature debut, Earth Mama, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Her film The Heart Still Hums (2020) won Best Documentary Short at the Palm Springs International ShortFest. Her music video “This Land” for Gary Clark Jr. was nominated for Best Music Video at the 2020 Grammys.
Sing J. Lee is an award-winning writer-director. Following recognition from BBC’s Best of the North, Cannes Lions, Clios, and MTV VMAs, Lee was selected for Variety’s 2019 10 Storytellers to Watch and received the 2023 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Directing Award for his directorial feature debut, The Accidental Getaway Driver.
Laura Moss is a filmmaker from New York City whose work has screened at Sundance, Tribeca, Rotterdam, and SXSW. Their debut feature, birth/rebirth, was distributed in theaters by IFC. Their short film Fry Day is featured on the Criterion Channel. Their award-winning screenplay Gordon, co-written with Brendan J. O’Brien, is currently in development.
A.V. Rockwell is a screenwriter, director, and producer from Queens, New York. Her directorial debut, A Thousand and One, won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The film was released theatrically by Focus Features and most recently received the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Director.
D. Smith is a two-time Grammy-nominated producer, singer, and songwriter and made her film debut as the director of the documentary Kokomo City, released by Magnolia Pictures. The film earned awards at several major festivals, including Sundance and Berlin. Smith was recently nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award.
Erica Tremblay is a filmmaker from the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. Her feature film Fancy Dance premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Tremblay has written and directed on the FX series Reservation Dogs as well as AMC’s Dark Winds. Tremblay lives in upstate New York, where she studies her Indigenous language.
