09/16/2025
The Berkeley FILM Foundation is very proud to announce the recipients of our 2025 documentary grant awards. This year, BFF is distributing $364,500 to 29 documentary projects, including five grants to student filmmakers enrolled at local universities. These remarkable projects tackle some of today’s most pressing and multifaceted issues, using inventive and nuanced techniques to bring these vital stories to life. Several of these films are already gaining recognition, and BFF is proud to help amplify their impact.
Please read our full press release for more information and take a look below at our full list of winners! Link here: https://tinyurl.com/4wnf2sb3
We wish to extend profound thanks to the City of Berkeley, The Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation, Wareham Development, the Nancy P. and Richard K. Robbins Family Foundation, the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, Paul Zaentz, the Robertson Family Foundation, and all our generous supporters. None of this would be possible without you.
We also thank our Grant Review Committee for their time and work in helping to select these BFF award-winners.
The full list of BFF’s 2025 Documentary Award finalists:
An Independent Spark – The Zona Roberts Story – Nina Rappaport Rowan, Producer, Donna Mitroff, Producer, James Buchanan, Director, Dr. Victor Pineda, Co-Producer.
Barren Grounds: The Final Expedition – Matthew Boyd, Director and Producer.
Belly of The World – April September, Director, Lucia Palmarini, Producer, Dana Eshi, Producer.
Between The Sun And The Sidewalk – Helen De Michiel, Director and Producer.
El Oaxaqueño [working title] – David Zlutnick, Director and Producer, Armando Aparicio, Producer, Angela Reginato, Producer.
Fighting Forward – Rivkah Beth Medow, Director, Jen Rainin, Director, Juli Vizza, Editor.
Handmade Death: An Intimate Rendezvous with Mortality – Jan Stürmann, Director, Gina Leibrecht, Editor.
I Do: Finding Love Behind Bars – Rahsaan Thomas, Director, Writer, Producer, Brian Gonsoulin, Producer, Editor.
In the Red: Changing Lives to Save Lives — Mimi Chakarova, Director, Aisha Knowles, Producer, Julias Canada, Producer.
Instrumental: The Elayne Jones Project – Grace Wang, Director, Producer, Jameka Autry, Producer, Julie Wyman, Co-Director and Co-Producer.
Living Harriet Tubman – Matty Lynn Barnes, Producer, Brandon Tauszik, Co-Director, Theo Schear, Co-Director.
Make A Circle – Jen Bradwell, Co-Director, Todd Boekelheide, Co-Director, Rebekah Fergusson, Producer.
Power & Light – Kelly Duane de la Vega, Director, Jessica Anthony, Producer, Joey Horan, Associate Producer.
Rebel Without A Pause – Maya Cueva, Director.
Relative Strangers – Deann Borshay Liem, Director and Producer.
Rematriate The Land – Christopher "Toby" McLeod, Director.
Revolución Sin Mu***os /Revolution Without Death – Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi Producer, Director, Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi, Producer.
The Chaplain & The Doctor – Jessica Zitter, Director and Producer.
The Coral Rescuers – Jason Spingarn-Koff, Director, Joanna Rudnick, Producer, Bonni Cohen, Executive Producer.
The End of Isolation – Sarah Shourd, Co-Director, Bobby Field, Co-Director, Suotonge Emile DeWeaver, Producer.
The Tallest Dwarf – Julie Forrest Wyman, Director and Producer.
The United States of Urvashi – Nancy Kates, Director and Producer.
Untitled Alexandra Billings Project – Nico Opper, Director and Producer, Jude Hope Harris, Producer.
Untitled Education Documentary – Zachary Stauffer, Co-Director, Producer, Joanna Rudnick Co-Director, Producer, Jameka Autry, Producer.
Student Projects:
The Glacier Wedding – Thomas Sawano, Co-Director, Amin Muhammad, Co-Director, UC Berkeley.
The Unclaimed – Xingyu Wu, Director,Editor, Kelly Liu, Associate Director, Cinematographer, UC Berkeley.
Strangers on Our Land – Zane Karram, Producer, Co-Director, Kelsey Oliver, Producer, Co-Director, UC Berkeley.
City of Smoke – Producer and Director: Nadia Akbar, Co-Director, Co-Producer, Alicia Chiang, Co-Director, Co-Producer, UC Berkeley.
Allensworth Rising: A Fight For Water – Isabella Marzban, Co-Director, Neenma Ebeledike, Co-Director, UC Berkeley.
Congratulations, filmmakers!
