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Sponsored Projects

Since 1998, IDA's fiscal sponsorship program has been helping independent documentary projects of all types get funded, finished and seen.


Film Status

Behind the White Glasses is a film that shines a spotlight on the creative, visionary and groundbreaking filmmaker and writer, Lina Wertmuller.

To understand Mennonites, one needs to understand the stories by which they order their lives.

Mashrou’ Leila are indie rock gods in the Arab world. But their fame comes with a price.

Bell’s Angels is the untold story of Coach Franke Ann Bell, a woman who defied all odds to become one of the most famous swim coaches you’ve never heard of.

"Bella," is about the life, influence and impact of California-based artist Bella Lewitzky.

This is the untold story of TV pioneer, Belva Davis, who broke color and gender barriers to become the first Black on-air newswoman west of the Mississippi.

Best of Enemies is a documentary feature about the legendary 1968 TV debates between two great public intellectuals, Gore Vidal and William F.

At America’s busiest port, longshoreman earn white-collar wages for blue-collar work. But trade policy and automation threaten job prospects and their unique community.

People from opposite sides of the Arizona-Sonora border come together despite economic, health care, and political barriers to create a center of wellness and hope.

In the early 1920’s inventor Jacques Bolsey aimed to disrupt the film industry with a motion picture camera for the masses: the iconic Bolex.

"Beyond the Cliff: Navigating Autistic Adulthood", a feature-length documentary, follows the stories of adults on the autism spectrum and explores the various challenges each face during their tran

An inventive feature documentary capturing the vivid life of Bill Traylor, who in his late 80s, living homeless on the street in the thriving segregated black neighborhood of Montgomery, produced a

There can be little doubt that this area ranks as one of humanity's most unusual, exotic and misguided social experiments.

Behind the rise of the iconic Barbie doll, came a twenty-one-year struggle to see the first Black Barbie.

Black Hair Empire is the untold story of the rise and fall of the African American dominated hair care industry, from post-slavery to the current day.   It is the saga of four generations of African-Americans who forged their imprint into American business, their influence upon popular culture, and the fight for racial equality and economic parity.

Bleeding Audio is an intimate portrait detailing The Matches’ promising career, defeating break up, and inspiring reunion as they navigate the digital age of music.

Against all odds, Laura King Edwards — mother, writer, speaker, runner, and passionate rare disease advocate — sets out to break the world record for running a half marathon blindfolded.

Urška recalls the day when she dived into the Lake Prespa, in the middle of the Macedonian mountains, fifteen years ago.

At a moment in time when women’s rights are under increasing threat globally, comes a new documentary that places an intimate, collaborative lens among four Hijra women, whose ancient community is

Love. Perseverance. Faith. How does family endure during uncertain times?

“Boricuas: Debt and Hurricanes in Paradise” is a 90 minute documentary examining the colonial history of the island of Puerto Rico in relationship to the contemporary political moment there with a

The Eastern Professional Basketball League was the second-best pro basketball league in the country during the 1950s and early '60s when the NBA had 10 or fewer teams and only 100 players, an unwri

“In order for women to become fully human,
both in our own eyes and in the eyes of others,
we need to revolutionize the unspoken formal rules of visual representation.

This is a coming-of-age story that shines light on the power of dreams where a young black man realizes his full potential in the crux of unchartered territory in 21st century America.

A cross-cultural montage of stories about women who became breadwinners after their husbands were suddenly no longer around. A school teacher in Oregon, USA...

Sabotage, glamour, death, star power, strong wills and vivid personalities are just some of the elements which factor into the true story behind Rag Wing Derby.

About one of America's leading engineers and how his passion for bridge building contributed to the urbanization of America, transforming cities and commerce through innovation and ingenuity and ho

By custom, thousands of artisans in Mexico still use lead based glazes in their pottery without knowing the damage that this toxic element causes to their health.

BROOKLYN CASTLE tells the stories of five members of the chess team at a below-the-poverty-line inner city junior high school that has won more national championships than any other in the country.

Bulbul: Song of the Nightingale documents the life of a young Banchara girl living off National Highway 79 in Madhya Pradesh, India.

Considered invasive pests by some and friends by others, there are thousands of feral donkeys roaming the Southwestern desert. What is the fate of the wild burro in today's United States?

It is a question that sparks protests and violence, results in crimes and deaths, divides even the most rational thinkers and forces us all to explore our connection to the past and our hopes for t

We pass by them everyday on the subway. Sometimes we drop a dollar. Sometimes we stop and listen.

BY MY SIDE is an intimate portrait of three veterans suffering from the “invisible wound,” PTSD, the most prevalent and unhealed wound suffered by veterans.

Calasag follows two first-generation Filipino-American entrepreneurs , exploring culture and identity through cuisine, as they work to bring Filipino food traditions to Baltimore.

CALIFORNIA LANDSLIDE shares the captivating true story of a devoted dog and two women who develop an unbreakable bond as they are forced to flee their home in Big Sur due to the largest coastal lan