Chicken & Egg Films has selected 35 filmmakers working on 29 feature documentaries for their third annual $450,000 film research and development grant.
Filmmaking teams will receive either a $10,000 research grant or a $20,000 development grant to use towards their doc projects. The Chicken & Egg Films research and development grant supports women and gender-expansive filmmakers who have made at least one feature-length doc. Recipients of the grant will have access to peer support, mentorship, and relationship-building within the documentary filmmaking community.
This year’s 29 grant projects spotlight urgent issues including genocide and war, LGBTQ visibility and history, journalism and democracy, sustainability, and corporate power.
Filmmakers in the 2025 cohort include Tamara Kotevska (“Honeyland”), Chase Joynt (“Framing Agnes”), Ema Ryan Yamazaki (“The Making of a Japanese”) and Lina Soualem (“Bye Bye Tiberias”). Through this program, Chicken & Egg will continue to support Chicken & Egg Award recipient Jeanie Finlay (“Your Fat Friend) as well as six other filmmakers from the ‘Nest.’ The remaining 77% of this year’s grantees are brand new to Chicken & Egg Films.
The 29 grant recipients represent 17 countries worldwide, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, France, El Salvador, India, Libya, Japan, Macedonia, Myanmar, Romania, Spain, South Korea, the U.K., Ukraine, and the U.S.
Grant recipients are divided into two segments. The research grant recipients are in the ideation period, which includes identifying secondary sources, following storylines, and building foundational relationships. The development grant recipients are in a deeper exploration period, which includes securing access to core subjects and collaborators, solidifying budgets, fundraising, story development, and other tasks.
As it has become increasingly challenging to find doc funding in today’s landscape, it is not surprising that there was a 22% increase in applications over the second year of the grant, totaling 363 applications from 60 countries.
“At a time when the political climate grows increasingly hostile to independent voices, supporting early-stage documentary work is more urgent than ever,” said research and development grant senior program manager Elaisha Stokes. “This grant celebrates the bold diversity of filmmakers and stories that challenge, inspire, and reflect the complexity of our world. By investing in research and development, we’re helping to safeguard a pipeline of vital, untold stories — especially those that might otherwise go unsupported.”
The Chicken & Egg film research and development grant is supported by Netflix’s fund for creative equity, which was launched in 2021 as an effort to help build new opportunities for underrepresented communities within the entertainment industry.
Founded by Wendy Ettinger, Julie Parker Benello, and Judith Helfand in 2005, Chicken & Egg Films champions women and gender-expansive documentary filmmakers worldwide with funding, mentorship, and access. As of 2025, the organization has provided over $15 million in grants and thousands of hours of creative mentorship to more than 500 filmmakers from around the world.
