2 months ago
EXCLUSIVE: Catapult Film Fund has named its 2026 Research Fellows, a distinguished group of 5 filmmakers who will person $10,000 each to create their documentary projects.
The cohort includes Isabel Castro (Mija, Selena Y Los Dinos), Oscar-nominated shaper Lauren Domino (Time), Oscar-shortlisted head Amber Fares (Coexistence, My Ass!), Emmy-winner Ivan MacDonald (Bring Them Home), and Oscar-shortlisted shaper Igor Myakotin (Queendom, Welcome to Chechnya). In summation to nan 10K successful nonstop support, nan fellows will person bespoke advising arsenic they create their caller films, pinch Academy Award-winning shaper Diane Becker (Navalny) serving arsenic lead advisor.
“In a section wherever early investigation is some basal and chronically underfunded—often nan infinitesimal erstwhile backing is hardest to unafraid and considered riskiest to give—the Catapult Research Grant positions this shape arsenic foundational to nan storytelling process,” notes a release. “The programme supports filmmakers while ideas are still taking shape, giving them clip and abstraction for nan benignant of exploration and kick-start imaginative find that yet determines a film’s direction, sound and impact.”
Scroll for much connected nan Research Fellows and their projects.
“Some of nan astir important moments successful a documentary’s life hap agelong earlier a camera is rolling,” commented Megan Gelstein, co-director and main programme serviceman of Catapult Film Fund. “They hap erstwhile a filmmaker is still sitting pinch a question—following threads, gathering people, imagining what nan communicative could become. The Research Fellowship exists to protect that vulnerable early stage. This year’s cohort will person nan bonzer opportunity to research that infinitesimal pinch Academy Award-winning filmmaker Diane Becker, whose imaginative instincts and generosity of tone pinch filmmakers will make this an particularly rich | twelvemonth for nan program.”
Becker’s credits see The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, nan characteristic documentary directed by Daniel Roher and Charlie Tyrell that conscionable opened theatrically, NatGeo’s Blink (2024), King Coal (2023), Tina (2021), and Whirlybird (2020). She served arsenic an executive shaper of 2023’s Hollywoodgate.
“The early shape is wherever existent find and magic happen,” Becker said successful a statement. “Before a movie finds its shape, its voice, and its wings, filmmakers are listening, researching, and accent testing their instincts astir what guidance nan communicative wants to move in. It’s a privilege to walk clip pinch this talented cohort arsenic they research these important questions and statesman laying nan foundations for nan films ahead.”
Catapult was founded 15 years agone “to reside nan deficiency of early support and sustainability successful nan documentary field.” Catapult launched its artist-centered Research Grant programme successful 2020 “after conversations pinch U.S.-based filmmakers astir nan barriers they faced erstwhile creating caller work, specifically nan deficiency of funding, time, and consciousness of organization during nan investigation phase.”
2026 Research Fellows
Isabel Castro
Project: Untitled Los Angeles Film
Description: Untitled Los Angeles film is composed of a bid of vignettes of migrants uncovering their footing successful a fractured American Dream.
Bio: Isabel Castro is simply a five-time Emmy®-nominated Mexican-American filmmaker and photographer. Her latest documentary, Selena y Los Dinos, had its world premiere astatine Sundance Film Festival 2025 successful nan U.S. It won a Special Jury Award for archival storytelling successful nan Documentary Competition, aggregate assemblage awards and premiered connected Netflix. Her first characteristic film, Mija (Sundance Film Festival 2022) was a New York Times critics pick, connected nan DOC NYC shortlist, won a Cinema Eye Award and it won nan Grand Jury Prize astatine nan Champs-Élysées Film Festival. She directed, produced and filmed nan Emmy®-nominated, award-winning documentary short USA v Scott (Tribeca 2020, The New Yorker), Emmy®-nominated Darlin (Tribeca 2019, NYT OpDocs), GLAAD award-winning Crossing Over (Univision/Participant Media) and connected nan Emmy®-nominated Netflix docu-series Pandemic. She’s worked connected dozens of stories arsenic an sentiment contributor, producer, cinematographer and multimedia journalist for The New York Times, as an Edward R. Murrow-award winning shaper astatine The Marshall Project, and arsenic an Emmy®-nominated shaper covering civilian authorities and argumentation astatine VICE connected HBO. Castro was named 1 of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and DOC NYC’s “40 Under 40”, and she was nominated for an Independent Spirit award. She is processing her first scripted characteristic pinch The Department of Motion Pictures and moving on Untitled Los Angeles, a photography and movie project.
Lauren Domino
Project: Butts: A Backstory
Description: Whether we emotion them aliases dislike them, deliberation they’re sexy, deliberation they’re strange, see them excessively big, excessively small, aliases anyplace successful between, humans person a analyzable narration pinch butts. Part heavy dive reportage, portion verité movie pursuing nan creation of a depository exhibition, Butts: A Backstory is an entertaining, illuminating, and thoughtful introspection of why definite silhouettes travel successful and retired of fashion—and really larger ideas astir race, control, liberation, and powerfulness impact our astir backstage feelings astir ourselves and others.
Bio: Lauren Domino is simply a writer and Peabody, PGA, and Grammy award-winning shaper pinch a attraction connected nan treatment powerfulness of film. Her activity arsenic a shaper includes nan Academy Award® nominated TIME (Amazon Studios), and BAFTA and Oscar® Shortlisted American Symphony (Netflix), arsenic good as Alone, The Earth is Humming, Black Folk Don’t, Like, and America. She has produced branded contented and unrecorded events for The New Yorker, Elle Magazine, nan Oscars®, Microsoft, and Essence Festival. She is simply a personnel of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Doc Branch, Producers Guild of America, The Documentary Producers Alliance and nan Writers Guild of America. Butts: A Backstory is her first foray into Directing.
Amber Fares
Project: Untitled Alberta Project
Description: An exploration of governmental personality and ideology successful Alberta, Canada.
Bio: Amber Fares is an Academy Award®–nominated documentary director, producer, and cinematographer whose activity explores power, identity, and governmental narratives done character-driven storytelling. Her latest film, Coexistence, My Ass!, premiered astatine Sundance 2025 and was shortlisted for an Academy Award®. Her directing credits include Speed Sisters (Hot Docs 2015), We Are Ayenda (Amazon, 2023), Reckoning pinch Laughter (Al Jazeera Witness, 2021), and Convergence: Courage Under Crisis (Netflix, 2021), which she co-directed. As a cinematographer and producer, she has worked connected nan Peabody Award–winning The Judge (PBS, 2017), nan Sundance Special Jury Award–winning Life After, and nan Academy Award®–nominated short The Devil is Busy (HBO, 2025). She is simply a Sundance Momentum Fellow and Pillars Artist Fellow, and is based betwixt New York and Montreal.
Ivan MacDonald
Project: Blackfeet Heavy Metal
Description: Suicide is 1 of nan starring causes of decease for indigenous youth. A mini group of precocious schoolhouse students connected nan Blackfeet preservation usage dense metallic euphony arsenic a measurement to heal, reside trauma and item their resiliency. Their activity is group against nan backdrop of a dense metallic euphony show that takes spot connected nan reservation.
Bio: Ivan MacDonald is an Emmy® Award-winning filmmaker and an enrolled personnel of nan Blackfeet tribe. His astir caller documentary project, Bring Them Home, which is astir his tribe’s efforts to found nan first tribally managed chaotic bison herd, aired nationally connected PBS successful nan autumn of 2025. Bring Them Home is executive-produced and narrated by Oscar®-nominated character Lily Gladstone. He was an inaugural chap for nan Netflix and Illuminative Producers fellowship and was an inaugural recipient of nan Hulu and Firelight Kindling fund. He was besides nan 2024 Mark Silverman honoree for nan 2024-2025 Sundance Producing Lab. With his sister Ivy, he is directing When They Were Here which is simply a feature-length documentary astir nan missing and murdered indigenous women and girl’s situation told done nan lens of their family and community. Sundance, ITVS, and IDA person supported his work.
Igor Myakotin
Project: The Russia Solution
Description: Confidential.
Bio: Igor Myakotin is an Emmy®-nominated, BAFTA- and Peabody-winning filmmaker drawn to stories of queer endurance and liberation successful restrictive and vulnerable environments. His activity follows group who garbage nan roles imposed connected them, uncovering beauty, defiance, and governmental unit successful acts of becoming.
He produced Queendom, shortlisted for nan 97th Academy Award for Documentary Feature, and Welcome to Chechnya, shortlisted for nan 93rd Academy Awards® for Documentary Feature and Visual Effects, nan first documentary ever recognized successful nan Visual Effects category.
Igor is presently directing his debut characteristic documentary. A 2025 Berlinale Talents participant, 2022 Sundance Creative Producing Lab fellow, and NextDoc alumnus, his films person screened astatine Sundance, Berlinale, BFI London, CPH:DOX, True/False and others. He has served connected nan world juries of DOC NYC and nan Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, and was named 1 of DOC NYC’s “40 Under 40.”
