2024 Sundance Documentary Film Grant
The Sundance Institute Documentary Fund supports the work of nonfiction filmmakers globally. This year, 28 projects have been selected to receive an unrestricted grant, with the total granting pool standing at $1,450,000 — almost half a million dollars more than last year’s fund thanks to increased support for our granting. This granting cycle’s recipients represent all stages of the process, with five projects in development, 15 in production, seven in post-production, and one completed project in its impact campaign. The Documentary Fund seeks to serve as a stable source of support for inventive nonfiction works that create cultural and social impact by tackling a variety of timely and pressing issues. Grants are made possible by Open Society Foundations, John Templeton Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Sony Music Entertainment thanks to Sony Music’s Global Justice Fund.
In 2024, thanks to new support from the John Templeton Foundation, the Institute is able to increase the size of the Documentary Fund’s granting pool by $500,000 per year. Through this new generous support the Fund is providing grants that support innovative and daring nonfiction storytelling projects aligned with Templeton’s mission of supporting interdisciplinary research and catalyzing conversations that inspire awe and wonder.
The Fund includes the first grantees selected by the Sundance Institute | Sony Music Vision Initiative, a new partnership between the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program and Sony Music Entertainment, funded by Sony Music’s Global Social Justice Fund. Through granting and engagement opportunities, including educational sessions on music in film, this initiative is aimed at elevating documentary film projects by BIPOC filmmakers that demonstrate a significant music component or innovative approach to audio and sound.
Through careful craft and fearless vision, projects in this year’s slate have the power to instill resilience through family and community legacies, transcend new frontiers in ritual and belief, spotlight the impact of grassroots activism, explore tender reconnections with loved ones through the arts, and empower personal expression in the face of oppressive policies and governments.