Catapult Film Fund

07/10/2026

A sincere thank you to Catapult & True/False Film Fest's 2026 Rough Cut Retreat mentors. Each film team is matched with a primary mentor, though mentors engage with all participants over the five days of intensive screenings and discussions. We appreciate all your advice and support!

This year’s mentors are:
• Malika Zouhali-Worrall
• Davis Coombe
• Yance Ford
• Erin Casper
• David Teague

07/07/2026

As announced in a Realscreen exclusive, Catapult and True/False Film Fest are excited to share the cohort for the 2026 Rough Cut Retreat. The five film teams were selected for our signature mentorship program, designed to serve early career filmmakers in search of an engaged, creative atmosphere. The retreat takes place July 19-23 at Hilltown Commons in New York.

💡Mentors:
Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Erin Casper, Yance Ford, David Teague, Davis Coombe

🎞️ Projects:
A Bird With A Knife (producers/directors Cecilia Brown, Winslow Crane-Murdoch)
Dear You (director Aurora Brachman, editor Nathan Punwar)
Finding Má (director Thanh Tran, editor Aldo Velasco)
The River (director Caitlyn Greene)
Vestibule (director/editor Riley Hooper, editor Claire Ave’Lallemant)

Exclusive link in bio 🎉

06/18/2026

📣 Subscribe to our newsletter before next week's issue, where we'll be announcing our 2026 Rough Cut Retreat cohort! This summer, the selected filmmakers will receive hands-on mentorship in a supportive, collaborative environment.

Don't miss the reveal! Subscribe here: https://buff.ly/dgzJfXS

Catapult Film Fund Email Forms

06/15/2026

Catapult had a wonderful time at this year's Tribeca Film Festival! Our Co-Director/Chief Program Officer Megan Gelstein participated in two panels at the Tribeca Storytelling Summit. We hosted a cocktail party in celebration of our 15th anniversary and the six Catapult-supported projects that premiered at the festival!

Congratulations to all of the filmmakers! 🗽✨

05/26/2026

Don’t miss these three upcoming panels! Our Co-Director/Chief Program Officer Megan Gelstein will be participating in two panels at the Tribeca Storytelling Summit and a panel at the DC DOX Festival Reality Check Forum:

⭐️ Tribeca:
🎬 Friday, June 5: "From Spark to Structure: Developing Nonfiction That Breaks Through" featuring Tracy Jarrett (director, RETRIEVAL), Reid Davenport (director, LIFE AFTER), Jessica Harrop (Sandbox), moderated by Megan Gelstein
🎬 Saturday, June 6: "Who Gets the Camera? New Voices in Documentary from Inside Institutions" featuring Rahsaan “New York” Thomas (Ear Hustle, San Quentin Film Festival), Nathan Stenberg (director, THE HAUNTING AT PENNHURST), Daniel Forkkio (Represent Justice), Megan Gelstein (Catapult Film Fund), Kevin Nadal, Erika Dilday (American Documentary/POV), moderated by Thomas Allen Harris (Family Pictures Institute for Inclusive Storytelling)

⭐️ DC/DOX:
🎬 Saturday, June 13: "Seed Money: A Funding Case Study" featuring Dawn Bonder (The deNovo Initiative), Megan Gelstein (Catapult Film Fund), Jenni Wolfson (Chicken & Egg Films)

Development funding is among the hardest — and most consequential — support for documentary filmmakers to secure. It comes at the stage when a project is still unproven: before production, before footage, before certainty. Yet the choices made in development often determine everything that follo...

05/22/2026

We are excited to share that six Catapult-supported projects will be screening at this year's DC DOX Festival! Our Chief Program Officer, Co-Director Megan Gelstein will join the forum panel "Seed Money: A Funding Case Study," and 2017 Development Grantee Penny Lane will lead the master class "Ideas are Cheap: What Development Really Means."

🎥 AMAZING LIVE SEA MONKEYS (2017 Development Grant)
Director/Producer Mark Becker, Aaron Schock

🎥 KIDS LIKE ME (2023 Development Grant)
Directors/Producers Cynthia Lowen and Jon Cohrs

🎥 THE OLDEST PERSON IN THE WORLD (2016 Development Grant)
Director Sam Green
Producers Alison Byrne Fields, Josh Penn

🎥 SEIZED (2024 Development Grant)
Director/Producer Sharon Liese
Producers Sasha Alpert, Paul Matyasovsky

🎥 TheyDream (2021 Development Grant & 2025 Rough Cut Retreat)
Director/Producer William D. Caballero
Producers Erin Ploss-Campoamor, Brad Jones, Elaine del Valle

🎥 TO HOLD A MOUNTAIN (2021 Development Grant & 2024 Rough Cut Retreat)
Directors/Producers Tutorov Biljana, Petar Glomazic
Producers Quentin Laurent, Rok Biček
Co-Producer Dijana Cetina Mlađenović

http://www.dcdoxfest.com

DC/DOX is a documentary film festival in the nation’s capital, celebrating bold voices, innovative visions, and dedicated truth-seekers in the art of non-fiction storytelling.

05/16/2026

We’re thrilled to be back as a co-host at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival and to spotlight the six Catapult-supported films heading to New York this summer! 🎬

Use code tfcatapult26 for 20% off your ticket at checkout. More news and events in our latest newsletter: https://buff.ly/eK6orbd

https://buff.ly/Tk4PYTO

The core of the festival program is our main slate of feature and short films, highlighting politically, culturally and socially relevant films from diverse storytellers.

05/12/2026

The Mountainfilm festival returns this Memorial Day Weekend, bringing together films, storytellers, and audiences to spark meaningful conversations and inspire connection and activism. Two Catapult-supported documentaries will make their world premieres at this year’s festival.

🎥 BURN, SCAR (2023 Development Grant)
🎞️ World Premiere
Director/Cinematographer Hillary Bachelder
Producer Sarah Strunin

🎥 PAPERTOWN (2023 Development Grant)
🎞️ World Premiere
Director Jeremy Seifert
Co-Director Benjamin James Roberts
Producers Chris Pruett, Colby Sexton

Telluride, Colorado (April 23, 2026) – From electrifying adventures and soaring high-peak ascents to gripping investigative stories and urgent environmental issues, audiences attending Mountainfilm’s 48th annual festival will be the first audiences in the world to watch a standout selection of d...

05/07/2026

🎉 Catapult is heading to New York this summer to attend the 25th Tribeca Film Festival. Don’t miss our Co-Director/Chief Program Officer Megan Gelstein who is participating in two panels at the Storytelling Summit! In addition, six Catapult-supported films will be screening at the festival including:

🎥 AMERICAN ZOO (2023 Development Grant)
🎞️ World Premiere | Documentary Competition
Director Tim Travers Hawkins
Producers Julia Nottingham

🎥 Colors of White Rock(2022 Development Grant)
🎞️ World Premiere | Documentary Competition
Director Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig
Producers Tessa Louise Salomé, Chantal Perrin

🎥 CROCODILE (2019 Development Grant)
🎞️ North American Premiere | Viewpoints
Director/Producer Pietra Brettkelly
Co-Directors THE CRITICS
Co-Producer Clan Yujo

🎥 THE HAUNTING OF PENNHURST (2022 Development Grant)
🎞️ World Premiere | Escape From Tribeca
Directors/Producers Nathan Stenberg, Michael Attie, Katarina Poljak
Producer Daniel J. Chalfen

🎥 KIDS LIKE ME (2023 Development Grant)
🎞️ World Premiere | Documentary Competition
Directors/Producers Cynthia Lowen and Jon Cohrs

🎥 RETRIEVAL (2022 Research Grant, 2022 Development Grant)
🎞️ World Premiere | Documentary Competition
Director Tracy Jarrett
Producer Emma Moley

The core of the festival program is our main slate of feature and short films, highlighting politically, culturally and socially relevant films from diverse storytellers.

05/01/2026

Sheffield DocFest, the leading documentary festival and market in the UK, returns this June with four Catapult-supported titles in the lineup!
For more details: https://buff.ly/f01OtGc
Check out the projects below 👇

🎥 COLORS OF WHITE ROCK (2022 Development Grant)
🎞️ International Competition
Director Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig
Producers Tessa Louise Salomé, Chantal Perrin

🎬 CROCODILE (2019 Development Grant)
🎞️ Youth Jury Award
Director/Producer Pietra Brettkelly
Co-Directors THE CRITICS
Co-Producer Clan Yujo

🎥 QUERIDA FÁTIMA (2023 Development Grant)
🎞️ Rebellions
Directors Rodrigo Reyes, Dawn Valadez, Davi Merchan
Producers Ike Rofe, Su Kim, Inti Cordera

🎬 THEYDREAM (2021 Development Grant, 2025 Rough Cut Retreat)
🎞️ People & Community
Director/Producer William D. Caballero
Producer Erin Ploss-Campoamor, Brad Jones, Elaine Del Valle

3 Lost In Towers After a real estate collapse in a small Chinese city, a man who took his own life lingers as a ghostly presence among the unfinished buildings. Jingyuan Liang, Shizhao Ye 2026 Film Programme Film