‘Untitled Ear Hustle Film’ And ‘Indígena’ Earn $50,000 Grants Each From Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Heading Into Camden International Film Festival — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Ellis-Beauregard Foundation awarded its inaugural Documentary Film Award to Untitled "Ear Hustle" Film and Indígena, granting each an unrestricted $50,000 "in recognition of artistic excellence."
- Untitled "Ear Hustle" Film, directed by Erika Cohn and edited by Kristina Motwani, follows Nigel Poor, Earlonne Woods, and Antwan Williams — creators of the Ear Hustle podcast — as they travel to prisons worldwide "sharing stories born on the inside."
- Indígena, written and directed by Siku Allooloo, traces her mother's legacy as a Red Power Movement activist and journalist while illuminating "500 years of Taino resistance and igniting her own journey of reclamation."
- Both filmmaking teams will attend a creative retreat hosted by Points North Institute during the Camden International Film Festival, which runs Sept. 17–20 in Camden and Rockland, Maine.
- Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary of Revelations Entertainment serve as executive producers on Untitled "Ear Hustle" Film, with executive producers Sky Hopinka, Peter Bratt, Benjamin Bratt, and Marie Clements backing Indígena.
- Foundation executive director Donna McNeil said the inaugural award reflects a commitment "to fund an art form that is research-driven truth-telling," with jury members drawn from Firelight Media, Kartemquin Films, and Explore Minnesota Film.
Why it matters: The Ellis-Beauregard Foundation's debut documentary award is structured unusually: unrestricted $50,000 grants paired with a peer-driven post-production retreat during a major festival. For two boundary-pushing projects — one reframing global incarceration storytelling, the other centering Indigenous reclamation — this delivers both funding and dedicated craft time at a moment that can shape a film's final form.
Ask SkimNews
