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Here at Film Independent, we like our creative visions bold. We like our thinking outside-the-box. We like our filmmakers loud. That’s why we made six of them Amplifiers.

Film Independent is proud to announce and welcome the 2025 Amplifier Fellows. This cohort six of Black or African American filmmakers working as writers, directors and/or producers will each be given an unrestricted grant of $30,000, with the support of Netflix’s Fund for Creative Equity.

On top of the grants, the Amplifier Fellowship will include a twelve-month program where Fellows will receive personalized support to propel their selected projects and careers both creatively and strategically as well as customized mentorship pairings with Industry Advisors as well as a Film Independent board member.

Each Fellow will also receive professional coaching in partnership with Renee Freedman & Co, and financial and business advisement in partnership with The Jill James.

Past Amplifier Fellows include Contessa Gayles,...

The fourth annual Amplifier Fellowship from Film Independent has unveiled six Fellows receiving $180,000 in cash grants for independent film and TV series.

IndieWire exclusively announces all six, and among them is “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” writer/director Raven Jackson for the fiction series “Scar Tissue.” Jackson made her narrative directorial debut with the 2023 Sundance feature “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”; the film went on to be nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award (for Best First Feature) and a Gotham Award (for Breakthrough Director) with distribution from A24.

“Reservation Dogs” writer/actor Chad Charlie; “Victim/Suspect” and “The Fire That Took Her” producer Tracy Jarrett; and J.M. Harper, who edited the Emmy-nominated Netflix docuseries “Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy,” are additionally among the Amplifier Fellowship grant recipients. Berlinale filmmaker Skinner Myers (“Before You Fade Away Into Nothing”) and Doc NYC “40 Under 40” participant producer Jameka Autry received grants as well.

The 2024 Doc NYC festival has unveiled its winners.

The critically acclaimed festival, which is the largest documentary festival in the U.S., marked one of its most successful in-person editions yet, with more than 20,000 viewers having watched films over nine days in New York alongside more than 1,500 filmmaker and industry guests participating in screenings and panels.

The juries for each respective award, along with the coveted Audience Award, had tough competition among this year’s festival.

Among eight international features, Areeb Zuaiter’s feature debut “Yalla Parkour” was selected as the winner. “Yalla Parkour” had its world premiere at the festival, and centers on young parkour athletes in Gaza who practice the sport on a “conflict-scarred” landscape.

“The jury was unanimous in its choice for best international documentary,” the Doc NYC international jury, consisting of “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” filmmaker Moses Bwayo, “Little Richard: I Am Everything” director Lisa Cortes,...

As rap lyrics have increasingly been introduced and weaponized in the courts as evidence against defendants, rap artist Kemba takes a look at rap music and the criminal justice system and how the two have kept colliding over the past few decades. Via conversations with fellow artists, academics, legal experts, and more, Kemba builds the case for Black artist protection and whether lyrics should be used for conviction. Following its world premiere screening at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the new feature-length documentary “As We Speak Rap Music on Trial” premieres on Paramount+ on Tuesday, Feb. 27. You can watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Paramount Plus.

How to Watch 'As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial' When: Tuesday, February 27, 2024 Where: Paramount Plus Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Paramount Plus. Get 30 Days Free$5.99+ / month paramountplus.com

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"We can criminalize rap all we want, but that's not going to resolve the issue." Paramount+ has revealed the official trailer for a fsacinating documentary film titled As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial, arriving for streaming in February. This just premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival to some great reviews, and P+ already has it set to launch in only a few more weeks. Directed by filmmaker J.M. Harper, As We Speak features Bronx rap artist Kemba who explores the growing weaponization of rap lyrics in the United States criminal justice system and abroad - revealing how law enforcement has quietly used artistic creation as evidence in criminal cases for decades. Journeying through meccas of hip-hop, building the case for rap lyrics & Black artist protection via intimate conversations with rappers, academics, politicians, legal experts, and industry execs. Sundance adds that, "Harper's sophisticated and immersive journey merges style and substance,...

With its academic interviewees and mini-histories, J.M. Harper’s directorial debut “As We Speak,” about the weaponizing of rap lyrics in the courts, has the trappings of rigor. But not unlike its subject, the documentary’s power, beauty and complexity lie in Harper’s use of rhetoric and lyricism. The film editor of the Emmy-nominated series “Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy” has made a willfully creative work that mimics the ways rap can be intimately observational, seemingly confessional even, but is also a feat of artistic expression.

The hip-hop artist and Bronx native Kemba acts as a guide and a character for “As We Speak,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. Utilizing Erik Nielson and Andrea Dennis’s book “Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics and Guilt in America,” the film follows Kemba as he crisscrosses the nation to speak with fellow artists and then leaps the Atlantic to the U.

Paramount+ will release J.M. Harper’s documentary “As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial,” which debuted at Sundance, on its streaming platform on Tuesday, February 27 in the U.S. and Canada, IndieWire exclusively shares.

“As We Speak” made its premiere on Monday, January 22 in Park City in the U.S. Documentary competition. As the film is a competition title, it will be available on Sundance’s online streaming platform beginning January 25 for the digital portion of the festival. The film will also be available on February 28 in the UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.

While “As We Speak” was not a sales title at the fest, Paramount+’s involvement was kept quiet to the general public until its premiere on Monday, January 22. IndieWire, along with the release date, shares new stills from the film, its official key art, and the first trailer, all of which you can see below.

By Monday afternoon, the buzz hit Main Street: the Seinfelds have arrived at the Sundance Film Festival.

The superstar comedian accompanied his wife, Jessica Seinfeld, to Park City for the world premiere of her Sundance documentary Daughters, held just after noon Monday at the Ray Theatre. And what an event it proved to be. “Daughters received multiple standing ovations at our sold-out premiere today,” Jessica shared on Instagram Stories along with a video showing a packed crowd on its feet. The film marks the entrepreneur, author and philanthropist’s first feature film.

Daughters, directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, focuses a lens on four young girls — Aubrey, Santana, Raziah and Ja’Ana — as they prep for a special daddy-daughter dance with their incarcerated fathers as part of a unique program in a Washington D.C. jail. Per Sundance literature, Daughters is a result of an eight-year doc journey for its filmmakers.

The double standard is almost as old as hip-hop itself. A decorated filmmaker gets laurels for his or her latest bullet-laden gangster movie. A rock or country star is proclaimed a songwriting genius for violent tales of man’s inhumanity to man. But rappers are held to a different standard, their every line held up as some kind of documentary evidence of an artist’s criminal intent. Sometimes, those lyrics are even used in courtrooms by prosecutors eager to take advantage of the public’s built-in prejudices and ignorance of...

Born and raised in the Bronx, rapper Kemba guides viewers through some of the largest issues involving rap lyrics, freedom of speech and the First Amendment in As We Speak, the directorial debut of J.M. Harper. Looking at cases both in the U.S. and internationally, Harper’s documentary poses insightful questions about who is protected, or perhaps left vulnerable, by these legislative battles. Emma Backman, who previously collaborated with Harper on a series of commercials, discusses her experience cutting the film, which served as one of her first major feature-length projects as an editor. See all responses to our annual Sundance […]

The post “The Ending Was Always Clear for Us”: Editor Emma Backman on As We Speak first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Born and raised in the Bronx, rapper Kemba guides viewers through some of the largest issues involving rap lyrics, freedom of speech and the First Amendment in As We Speak, the directorial debut of J.M. Harper. Looking at cases both in the U.S. and internationally, Harper’s documentary poses insightful questions about who is protected, or perhaps left vulnerable, by these legislative battles. Emma Backman, who previously collaborated with Harper on a series of commercials, discusses her experience cutting the film, which served as one of her first major feature-length projects as an editor. See all responses to our annual Sundance […]

The post “The Ending Was Always Clear for Us”: Editor Emma Backman on As We Speak first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Issues concerning freedom of speech and the First Amendment intersect with the world of rap music in As We Speak, the directorial debut from J.M. Harper. The documentary follows Bronx-based rapper Kemba as he unpacks how legal battles involving rap lyrics, both in the U.S. and abroad, might shape the the future of his craft. Married cinematographer duo Logan Triplett and Allison Anderson Triplett discuss the challenges and rewards of collaborating on this project as a unit—the first time they’ve done so on a feature film—with Logan penning answers for both parties. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer […]

The post “A Balance Between Look and Ergonomics”: Cinematographers Logan Triplett and Allison Anderson Triplett on As We Speak first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Issues concerning freedom of speech and the First Amendment intersect with the world of rap music in As We Speak, the directorial debut from J.M. Harper. The documentary follows Bronx-based rapper Kemba as he unpacks how legal battles involving rap lyrics, both in the U.S. and abroad, might shape the the future of his craft. Married cinematographer duo Logan Triplett and Allison Anderson Triplett discuss the challenges and rewards of collaborating on this project as a unit—the first time they’ve done so on a feature film—with Logan penning answers for both parties. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer […]

The post “A Balance Between Look and Ergonomics”: Cinematographers Logan Triplett and Allison Anderson Triplett on As We Speak first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? As We Speak investigates the war between rap lyrics and the criminal justice system by reaching back to the 400-year history of black lyrics in America. In order to communicate, enslaved Africans sang on slave ships in languages that their European captors […]

The post “The Nexus of Art, Money and Violence Makes for a Seemingly Inescapable Loop” | J.M. Harper, As We Speak first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required production ingenuity or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically or creatively? As We Speak investigates the war between rap lyrics and the criminal justice system by reaching back to the 400-year history of black lyrics in America. In order to communicate, enslaved Africans sang on slave ships in languages that their European captors […]

The post “The Nexus of Art, Money and Violence Makes for a Seemingly Inescapable Loop” | J.M. Harper, As We Speak first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

As We Speak, the directorial debut from J.M. Harper, follows the growing phenomenon of rap lyrics being used during legal battles both in the U.S. and abroad. Rapper Kemba acts as a guide through the murky waters of the First Amendment, investigating who it protects—or doesn’t—when musicians and their art stand trial. First-time producer Sam Widdoes, who currently works as an attorney and was formerly a journalist, chronicles how he came aboard As We Speak and the myriad ways that his career background acted as a boon during the development of this documentary. See all responses to our questionnaire for […]

The post “A Level of Determination That Can Border On Insane”: Producer Sam Widdoes on As We Speak first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

As We Speak, the directorial debut from J.M. Harper, follows the growing phenomenon of rap lyrics being used during legal battles both in the U.S. and abroad. Rapper Kemba acts as a guide through the murky waters of the First Amendment, investigating who it protects—or doesn’t—when musicians and their art stand trial. First-time producer Sam Widdoes, who currently works as an attorney and was formerly a journalist, chronicles how he came aboard As We Speak and the myriad ways that his career background acted as a boon during the development of this documentary. See all responses to our questionnaire for […]

The post “A Level of Determination That Can Border On Insane”: Producer Sam Widdoes on As We Speak first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Exclusive: Actress Kerry Washington is boarding the Sundance documentary Daughters as an executive producer, joining a roster of EPs that includes fellow actor Joel Edgerton, and author-philanthropist Jessica Seinfeld, wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

The film directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae focuses on four young girls as they prepare “for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C., jail.” Daughters premieres in U.S. Documentary Competition on Monday.

‘Daughters’

“A moving lesson in empathy and forgiveness, Daughters is a result of an eight-year documentary journey that filmmaker Natalie Rae and Angela Patton, an activist advocating for ‘at-promise’ girls, embarked upon,” notes the Sundance program. “As Aubrey, Santana, Raziah, and Ja’Ana get ready for the special event, they speak candidly about their hopes, dreams, and disappointments. There is an innate wisdom and honesty to what...

Exhibiting Forgiveness.The Sundance Institute has announced the films selected for their 2024 Festival, which will take place January 18-28, 2024, in person in Utah. A selection of the films are available online across the U.S. from January 25-28.U.S. Dramatic COMPETITIONBetween the Temples (Nathan Silver): A cantor in a crisis of faith finds his world turned upside down when his grade school music teacher reenters his life as his new adult bat mitzvah student. World Premiere. DìDi (弟弟) (Sean Wang): In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom. World Premiere. Exhibiting Forgiveness (Titus Kaphar): Utilizing his paintings to find freedom from his past, a Black artist on the path to success is derailed by an unexpected visit from his estranged father,...

It’ll be highly likely that we’ll be talking about these docu films by the end of 2024 – as the cream of the crop easily rises to the top. We find the likes of docu helmers we like in Michael Dweck, Jeff Zimbalist, Stephen Maing & Brett Story returning to the fest with their latest films. Here is the batch of ten!

As We Speak / U.S.A. — Bronx rap artist Kemba explores the growing weaponization of rap lyrics in the United States criminal justice system and abroad — revealing how law enforcement has quietly used artistic creation as evidence in criminal cases for decades.…...