BAVC Media accepts only a few film and media projects per year to be fiscally sponsored.
We are looking for projects that have momentum and potential for social impact. Sponsored projects are approved on an individual basis and are very often already connected to other BAVC Media programs or initiatives. Starting in 2021 BAVC Media is once again acceptinging unsolicited applications. The application for Fiscal Sponsorship is based on the Documentary Core App and is very similar to the application for our MediaMaker Fellowship. As such if you have applied to the Fellowship in the last year, or are a Fellowship Alumni, you do not need to fill out the application again. Just reach out to the Filmmaker support team.
BAVC Media continues to offer professional development opportunities, grants, seminar programs, innovation salons, new media and technology consultations, subsidized postproduction services, technical support and certified classes for independent producers.
Looking for more Fiscal Sponsorship options? The online Fiscal Sponsorship Directory provides comprehensive information on other local and national fiscal sponsorship programs.
To make a secure, tax-deductible donation to a project currently fiscally sponsored by BAVC Media click on the corresponding “Donate” button below.
Current Projects
Beyond the Gap
Steve Youn & Keith Battle – Though there is no shortage of data about the Achievement Gap and its impacts on students, we rarely get a chance to speak to young people who have reached success despite the odds. Beyond the Gap was started from the premise that in order to solve the Achievement Gap problem, we need to talk to young people first and listen to their suggestions on how to fix our broken system, a system which often ignores the wisdom of our youth.
The Birth of a Poet: The Life of Bill Everson
Pablo Frasconi – Throughout his life and work, one poet, William Oliver Everson (1921-94), was at the “avant garde” of pacifism, spiritual liberation, sexual revolution and ecological consciousness.
Black is Blue
Cheryl Dunye / Jingletown Films – BLACK IS BLUE is set in dystopian Oakland, where an ex-techie trans woman uses pirated AI technology to control a young trans lover, but their love and revenge plot against a DNA-harvesting corporation unravels, leading to a tragic end for all. Against the dystopian backdrop of another Bay Area tech boom gone bust, this is an erotic tale of a black trans couple brought together by technology. Their tragic love story is witnessed by a bot who stands by — eager to learn and protect— until it is transformed by them. Epic in presentation, taut and tense in character and story, BLACK IS BLUE incorporates real and fictional accounts from the lives of transmen and women of color from around the globe and the ongoing public policy fight around identity, gender, and technology.
Chanh Sả Salon
Anh Le –When her younger sister forces her to go to a nail salon, goody two shoes Trắc unexpectedly finds belonging in a group of mythical misfits who teach her that “perfection” is a relative concept. “Chanh Sa Salon” is a heartwarming, fantasy short that brings in different mythical Vietnamese creatures to discuss about the model minority myth in a modern setting, opening avenues for the Vietnamese community to destigmatize mental health and most importantly, ask for help.
Follow the Light
Follow the LightAdam Haas – In 1969, 8th grader Adam Haas got his hands on some used video equipment and shot a film about his classmates. Forty-eight years later Haas is returning to his filmmaker roots to track down his original subjects, to find out where they are now and what happened to them along the way. In discussing what has brought meaning to their lives – along with the disasters, the regrets, and the joys— they reveal the impact of the shared educational experience that brought them together in the first place.
Growing up in America: Life After the Taliban
Isabel Soloaga – After narrowly escaping from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in August 2021, 9 year old Masoma and her family begin a new life in Sacramento, California. Growing up in America: Life After the Taliban, is an intimate documentary following her family’s journey of building home after war.
Henrietta the Dragon Slayer
Beth Barany – In a desolate high desert battlefield, Franc, a knight far from home, vanishes after being plagued by nightmares. His friend and a valiant, decorated war veteran, Henrietta discovers clues that lead her to a treacherous cliffside cave and a menacing chimera. Henrietta confronts the creature to rescue Franc, but can’t succeed with force alone. She must trust in her magical necklace if she wants to have a fighting chance.
If you’d like to show your support for the Henrietta Film through other means reach out to Beth Barany here at bethbarany@gmail.com
Home is a Hotel
Kevin D. Wong, Todd Sills, and Kar Yin Tham – Amidst attention grabbing headlines of apps and IPOs, Home is a Hotel tells a different San Francisco story: an intimate portrait of a day in the life of four people living in San Francisco residential hotels as they strive for a better tomorrow. Through the stories of four diverse residents: a middle aged jazz singer in the Tenderloin, a single mother in Chinatown, an aging gay man in the SOMA, and a Latino family in the Mission; this documentary takes it’s viewers into the largely invisible world of San Francisco’s SROs shedding light on this quickly disappearing last bit of affordable housing in the city.
The Jerome Project
Anthony Cianciolo – The Jerome Project preserves, protects, and perpetuates the artistic legacy of Jerome Caja (1958 — 1995). The mission is to bring greater visibility and accessibility to Caja’s paintings and performances. The project includes several moving parts: a digital catalogue raisonné, a repository of art and ephemera available for academic research, and a feature-length documentary film about Caja, with an accompanying exhibition of his art.
Painting the Back of the Hill
Abhi Indrekar & Michaela Henry – Founded in 1974, Boston’s African American Master Artist in Residency Program made history, becoming an artistic and community hub and smoothing relations between Northeastern University and its Black neighbors. In 2018, Northeastern locked the artists out of their building and AAMARP’s battle for survival began. What will Boston lose if AAMARP is gone?
Shakti
Nani Sahra Walker – To tame her mischief, a single mother enrolls her nine-year-old daughter in private painting lessons in Kathmandu until she suddenly catches a mysterious illness. When doctors are unable to pin down a diagnosis, her strong-willed mother turns to a local shaman who reveals shared trauma that leads mother and daughter down a path of redemption.To tame her mischief, a single mother enrolls her nine-year-old daughter in private painting lessons in Kathmandu until she suddenly catches a mysterious illness. When doctors are unable to pin down a diagnosis, her strong-willed mother turns to a local shaman who reveals shared trauma that leads mother and daughter down a path of redemption.
Untitled Lorena
Rodrigo Reyes, Dawn Valadez, Ike Rofe, and Davi Merchan – After losing her 12-year-old daughter Fátima to a horrible attack and fleeing her home in a small town in Mexico, Lorena leads her family on a quest for justice against a corrupt system preying on thousands of women and girls each year, taking her fight all the way to the country’s Supreme Court.
Way of Life
Specific Pictures – Interweaving the stories of one of Montana’s only abortion and trans healthcare clinics and diverse Montanans fighting to define and defend individual freedoms, the feature documentary in-progress WAY OF LIFE explores ideological complexities and contradictions in the country’s rapidly intensifying battles over privacy and bodily autonomy–dangerous frontlines in a polarizing America.
We Belong
Susannah Smith – The Lexington Club was the only dyke bar in San Francisco for 18 rowdy years (1997-2015). Ten years after its closure, WE BELONG tells the story of the bar, the patrons that found strength in its walls, and its impact on three profound decades of LGBTQ+ history. More than just a safe space, The Lexington Club was the breeding ground for a generation of Queer women-centered rebellion.
Year of the Cat
Tony Nguyen –YEAR OF THE CAT follows filmmaker Tony Nguyen on an extraordinary quest to solve the mystery of his father, lost in the chaos of the Fall of Saigon 50 years ago. Told as an investigative home movie, this powerful documentary weaves together moments of humor and heartache, offering an intimate look at how the children of refugees are shaped by war and loss. As Tony delves into his family’s history, the film reveals the emotional lengths we go to in confronting the ghosts of the past—and the possibility of healing as we reclaim and transform our futures.
