Dart Documentary Film Fellowship
The second annual Dart Center Documentary Film Fellowship is an immersive, weeklong fellowship for senior and mid-career documentary filmmakers who wish to deepen their knowledge of emotional trauma and psychological injury, delve into documentary ethics and craft challenges, and enrich their engagement around violence, conflict and tragedy.
Open to professional documentary filmmakers from all over the world, the Dart Center Documentary Film Fellowship will take place February 9-15, 2025 in Orlando, Florida.
“Today’s documentary filmmakers immerse themselves in the most difficult human experiences, bringing audiences into intimate engagement with stories of violence, crisis and tragedy,” said Bruce Shapiro, executive director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. “This Dart Center fellowship harnesses the energy and innovative spirit of documentarians committed to trauma-aware storytelling, equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to work with vulnerable individuals and communities ethically and effectively, and to advance the well-being of documentary teams on these demanding and crucial projects.”
The week-long fellowship will bring 14 filmmakers together with leading experts on core issues of trauma science as well as innovators in documentary practice, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences and challenges in the profession.
Seminars will focus on ethical documentary reporting and engagement of vulnerable people in all stages of production; narrative and craft challenges specific to documentary film; duty of care to subjects and sources; self-care and resilience; as well as organizational and peer support from pre-production through film distribution.
The program will equip filmmakers with the knowledge and skills to approach victims and survivors with sensitivity and depth; understand the complexity of trauma survivors' experiences; tell more insightful, multi-dimensional and nuanced stories about those impacted by trauma; make more informed, ethical choices when covering traumatic events; and create self-care and peer support plans that span development through distribution, awards and streaming runs.
The fellowship covers round trip travel, seven nights of lodging, meals and expenses directly related to participation, such as ground transportation in Florida. The program does not cover health or travel insurance, visa costs, additional nights of lodging beyond the program’s duration or ground transportation in fellows’ home cities.