Call for Proposals: Film Production Grant Program

Voices With Impact is a yearly short film production grant that funds 5 minute films that create transformative conversations around the topic of mental health.

Themes

• This year they are looking for proposals on the topic of:
  • Serious Mental Illness
    • For the 2024 Voices With Impact Film Grant they’re defining Serious Mental Illness as a mental health condition that impairs a person’s ability to function in day to day life
    • People living with serious mental illnesses can live full productive lives with effective treatment but oftentimes the stigma attached to these conditions results in missed opportunities all around: folks living with these conditions do not get the support and treatment they deserve, and the greater public is deprived of opportunities to see the world from different perspective.
    • The hope for this year’s films focused on SMI is to tell authentic stories of people living with serious mental illnesses with the goal of opening opportunities for dialogue and learning.
    • They’re looking for honest, intriguing, humanizing, authentic stories of lived experience on the topic.
  • Cliques & Echo Chambers
    • For the 2024 Voices With Impact Film Grant they’re defining Cliques and Echo Chambers as follows:
      • Cliques are groups of people who define themselves by their exclusivity and intentionally leave others out. These groups exist among people of all ages and identities.
      • Echo Chambers are environments that only include people with the same opinions who actively reinforce existing views without critical reflection and counter viewpoints are not offered or considered.
    • They want your stories on Cliques & Echo Chambers in relation to mental health. Are you part of something you would consider to be a clique or echo chamber? Were you in the past? Do you feel that art preaches to the converted? Do you have a relationship with someone who has completely different beliefs to you? Film proposals on this topic should explore the mental health effects of these vacuums of opinion, their ability to create unsafe environments, and how the lack of compromise can be replaced by a perceived hyper-conflict outside of the space.
    • The hope is that the films that are created through this grant will shed light on the disconnections in the society, find connections and common ground where they exist, and illuminate how the interactions with others affects the mental health.

Funding Information

• They’re offering $7.5k Production Grants to make 5 minute films.

What are they looking for?

• Fresh challenging narratives
• Beautifully memorable visuals
• Accurate Portrayals
• Underrepresented voices
• Unresolved endings
• Embracing short-form
• Enduring relevance

Eligibility Criteria

• You can apply from anywhere in the world!
• They accept any genre of film proposal, from documentary to dark comedy, from drama to experimental animation.
• The proposal must be for a 5 minute film.

For more information, visit AWI.