Netflix has handed 10 film-makers £40,000 each to make a documentary short that fits the brief ‘Britain’s not boring and here’s a story’.
Several TM members are among the cohort selected for the streamer’s inaugural documentary talent fund, which is backing films that feature a range of under-represented voices and tackle a range of topics from race and masculinity to London’s markets and Britain’s Nigerian party culture.
These include:
Dhivya Kate Chetty, a director who was nominated for an RTS Scotland award for her BBC Scotland doc Glasgow, Love and Apartheid (pictured). Her film Bee Whisperer is described as “a tale of conservation, community and solidarity through one man and his bees”
Aodh Breathnatch, a self-shooting producer/director who has worked on docs including Dragonfly ob docs Ambulance and Paramedics: Britain’s Frontline Workers. Breathnatch is collaborating with Ngaio Anyia on Tegan, which follows Tegan Vincent Cook, an equestrian with cerebral palsy hoping to compete in the 2024 Olympics
Precious Mahaga, who is teaming up with fellow film-maker Jason Osborne for Love Languages, which attempts to debunk masculinity myths by depicting five men in an Afro-Caribbean barbershop talking about their ‘love languages’
Beya Kabelu, an assistant producer who worked on BBC1’s recent documentary Subnormal: A British Scandal, who was named one of 51 future TV leaders earlier this month by the TV Collective, Fremantle and Indigo Talent. His short, The Detective and the Thief, follows the investigation of Britain’s missing pets
The 10 pitches were selected from a shortlist of 21 and will initially be distributed via Netflix’s social channels. The film-makers will receive mentoring and access to a network of industry figures.
Netflix director of original documentaries Kate Townsend said the winning entries offer “an exciting glimpse into the future talent of UK documentarians and we look forward to collaborating together to empower each team to fulfil the potential of documentary filmmaking.”
Netflix launched the scheme in December, through its Hardship Fund, which supports creatives hardest hit by the pandemic, along with fund partner WDW Entertainment.
Other recipients:
HYFIN (Sean Mullan & Michael Barwise) – a profile of a Northern Irish rapper
Peach Paradise (Shiva Raichandani & Shane ShayShay Konno) – a film about a non-binary Japanese-Irish drag artist making waves in the UK’s cabaret scene
ÓWÀMBÈ (Tobi Kyeremateng & Tania Nwachukwu) – a ‘docu-fiction’ look at Nigerian party culture
Twinkleberry (Daisy Ifama) – a light-hearted look back at Ifama’s school year, which included more than 30 queer students in the middle of the West Country
Seal In The City (Jakob Lancaster & Sorcha Bacon) – how a seal who has visited London’s oldest fish market for breakfast every day for 15 years could help the site being redeveloped into luxury flats
Women Of The Market (Tavie Tiffany Agama) – a look at the entrepreneurial women who operate in London’s markets
