Work-in-Progress Screening and Filmmaker Panel Discussion

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Awards Go to Fifteen Film and Digital Media Projects

Every year LPB invites independent filmmakers to submit proposals for production, post-production and digital support. With the help of public media professionals, we selected a record fifteen new projects! The awarded films will receive funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Current Issues Fund, a generous grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

2019′s funding awardees include twelve documentary projects and three digital shorts; ten of the funded projects are produced and/or directed by women. From three very unique films that shed light on the tenuous situation at our southern border (Exodus Stories: Voices from the Caravan, Borderland and On the Divide) to documentaries that take on issues including health care in Puerto Rico, the rise of women of color in politics, the environmental crisis in Latin America and more, this year’s awardees reflect the richness and breadth of the Latino experience.

“We’re very excited about this year’s funded projects. We have a high percentage of new filmmakers and there’s an urgency and passion and timeliness about their subject matter,” says Sandie Viquez Pedlow, Executive Director of Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB). “We’re proud to support these important filmmakers and bring their work to a national audience on PBS.”

The 2019 awarded projects are:

American Sons

Producer/Director: Andrew Gonzales
Producer: Laura Varela
Category: Production
Genre: Documentary
American Sons
explores the life and death of Marine Corporal JV Villareal, Jr. and
the men who served and died with him in the Helmand province of
Afghanistan. Through verité, interviews, reenactments and recovered
footage shot by JV himself, this film explores what these men endured
during those years and their fight to adapt to civilian life in the
country they fought so hard to defend.

About Latino Public Broadcasting

Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) is the
leader in the development, production, acquisition and distribution of
educational and cultural media that is representative of Latino people,
or addresses issues of particular interest to Latino Americans. These
programs are produced for dissemination to public broadcasting stations
and other public media entities. Latino Public Broadcasting provides a
voice for the diverse Latino community throughout the United States and
is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Latino Public
Broadcasting also produces VOCES, the signature Latino arts and culture
documentary series on PBS devoted to exploring the rich diversity of the
Latino cultural experience. Between 2009 and 2019, LPB programs won
over 125 awards, including two prestigious George Foster Peabody Awards
as well as Emmys, Imagen Awards and the Sundance Film Festival Award for
Best Director, Documentary. In addition, LPB has been the recipient of
the Norman Lear Legacy Award and the NCLR Alma Award for Special
Achievement – Year in Documentaries. Sandie Viquez Pedlow is Executive
Director of LPB; Edward James Olmos is Co-founder and Chairman.

About the Current Issues Fund

The Current Issues Fund (CIF) provides
production and post-production funding to documentary films (60 or 90
minutes only) exploring contemporary civic and social justice issues
that integrate the Latino American perspective, incorporate a
journalistic approach into the filmmaking process and have resonance for
a national audience. The fund is made possible by a grant from the John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.