Four projects by Columbia filmmakers have been chosen as finalists for this year’s renowned SFFILM Raining Grant. The Engineers, co-written by alumnus Mayuran Tiruchelvam '13, Gulaab (Rose), co-written and directed by alumnus Saim Sadiq '19 and produced by alumna Apoorva Charan '18 as well as Our Father, The Devil, co-written, directed and produced by alumna Ellie Foumbi '17, and Luzzu, produced by Associate Professor Ramin Bahrani, are all among the thirteen projects shortlisted as contenders to receive a grant in various stages of production. Foumbi’s and Tiruchelvam’s scripts compete for screenwriting support, Sadiq’s and Charan’s projects are in the race for development money and Bahrani’s project applied for the post-production funding.
The SFFILM Rainin Grant program is the largest granting body for independent narrative feature films in the US, and supports films that address social justice issues. Awards are handed out twice a year with cash grants of up to $50,000 and an additional two-month residency at FilmHouse.
Tiruchelvam’s The Engineers plays in 1777 and follows Black freeman Agrippa Hull and exiled Polish engineer Tadeusz Kosciusko as they join the Continental Army — a ragged force of indigenous, Black, and poor white fighters. Forging an unlikely brotherhood amidst the War for Independence, Agrippa and Kosciusko battle the festering racism of the nascent United States.
Our Father, The Devil follows a reserved African refugee’s quiet existence in a sleepy mountain town in the south of France that is upended by the arrival of a charismatic Catholic priest, whom she recognizes from her past.
Luzzu is set on the island of Malta, where desperate fisherman Jesmark fights the cutthroat fishing industry in order to change his family’s fate.
All finalists now have three weeks to submit more information about their projects. The winners will be announced at SSFILM’s Award’s Night on December 9.
