August 21, 2023 NEW YORK, NY — The Sundance Institute today announced this year’s grantees for the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund, which supports the work of nonfiction filmmakers from around the globe. Twenty-three projects have been selected for unrestricted grant funding totaling just over $1,000,000. This cycle of granting has projects from notable filmmakers, including Looking at Ourselves directed by Oscar and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Lourdes Portillo, Adam’s Apple directed by artist and filmmaker Amy Jenkins, and Untitled Uvalde Documentary by Anayansi Prado.
Main Content
Spanning almost two decades, ADAM’S APPLE is a personal documentary about a family in transition, intimately filmed from the perspectives of artist Amy Jenkins and her son, Adam. Each equipped with a camera, the film creatively chronicles an ever-shifting dynamic as Adam charts his own path toward manhood.
We are currently in post-production with plans for a premiere in 2026.
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Amy Jenkins (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary artist, whose work focuses on themes such as familial relationships, desire, and gender identity. She was awarded the 2022-23 Harvard Film Studies Center-LEF Fellowship, a 2023 Flaherty Fellowship, the 2019 Ewing Award for Interdisciplinary Art, and the 2018 NHFF Filmmaker of the Year. Most recently, she became a 2023 Grantee of The Sundance Institute's Documentary Film Program. Her work has been presented at museums including MoMA, The National Gallery of Art, The Haifa Museum, The Akron Art Museum and Palm Beach ICA. Her first documentary feature, INSTRUCTIONS ON PARTING, premiered at MoMA Doc Fortnight 2018 and won Best Feature Documentary at Athens International Film and Video Festival, OH. Her short film WISHES premiered at the Camden International Film Festival in 2019, and screened at festivals including Salem, New Orleans, Ashland Independent, Frameline, OutfestLA, Sidewalk, NewFest, Wicked Queer, among others. Her artwork has been reviewed in many publications, including The New York Times, ARTnews, Bomb, Artcritical, Performing Arts Journal, and The Village Voice.
WRITER/COLLABORATOR/ADDITIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHER: Adam Jenkins (he/him)is a full-time student at Columbia University, graduating in Spring 2025 with dual majors in Creative Writing and English. In his free time, he likes to write poetry and produce original songs. He is a Managing Editor of Columbia’s literary magazine of the undergraduate Creative Writing department, QUARTO.
PRODUCER: Brit Fryer (he/him) is a producer and filmmaker from Chicago’s South Side, currently based in Brooklyn, NY. His work includes Crystal Kayiza’s REST STOP, which won the Short Film Jury Award for US Fiction at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. His other credits include Lydia Cornett’s BUG FARM (PBS) and Casey Friedman’s PENTATARMEX RABITULAR (Short of the Week). As a director, his most recent film is THE SCRIPT, which explores the complicated relationship between trans and nonbinary communities and medical providers regarding gender-affirming care. His work also includes TESSITURA, CARO COMES OUT, ACROSS, BEYOND AND OVER, and TRANS·IENCE. He has received generous support from Creative Culture, The Sundance Institute, The Ford Foundation, The Jerome Foundation, The Gotham Film and Media Institute, Points North Institute, GLAAD, and Film Fatales. He is a 2023 Dear Producer Award Mentee and a 2023 Sundance Institute Producers Intensive Fellow.
EDITOR: Kristina Motwani (she/her) is an award-winning film editor, producer, writer, and story consultant working in San Francisco. With Homeroom (2021), Home is a Hotel (2023), Fruits of Labor (2021), First Vote (2020), Midnight Traveler (2019) and After Tiller (2013) Motwani's verité documentary style strives to give intimate portraits of real people. These films were honored with Peabody, Emmy and festival awards. Other personal recognitions include the 2021 Sundance Jonathan Oppenheim Edit Award, 2021 IFF Boston Karen Schmeer Excellence in Documentary Editing, 2023 Karen Schmeer Fellowship mentor, 2019 DOCNYC 40 under 40 honoree, 2018 SFFilm FilmHouse Resident and a 2017 BAVC National MediaMaker Fellow. Her work has screened at the Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca, SXSW, SFFilm festival and has been seen on PBS, Netflix, Hulu and the World Channel.
News
July 24, 2023 PARK CITY, UT — The Sundance Institute today announced 10 producers selected to participate in the Producers Lab and 11 producers for the fall Producers Intensive, including ADAM’S APPLE producer, Brit Fryer.
May 15, 2023 NEW YORK, NY — Amy Jenkins was named the 2023 Harvard Film Study Center Fellow and Brit Fryer was named the 2023 Black Public Media Fellow for the 68th Flaherty Film Seminar titled “Queer World-Mending.”
July 11, 2022 CAMBRIDGE, MA — Harvard University and the LEF Foundation are delighted to announce that Amy Jenkins has been selected as the 2022-23 recipient of the Film Study Center-LEF Foundation Fellowship.
August 18, 2021 CAMDEN, ME — Points North Institute Unveils 2021 Artist Programs in an exclusive feature in VARIETY. ADAM’S APPLE is chosen for a LEF/CIFF Fellowship, to participate in private workshops and industry meetings over five days in September.