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Dammed Lives
Tommaso Protti
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Childhood in Romania
Sven Zellner
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The Human Cost of Agrochemicals
Pablo Ernesto Piovano
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Roof
Mario Cruz
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The Uncanny
Léonard Pongo
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No Dignity Without Identity
Laetitia Vancon
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Death Metal
Kai Löffelbein
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Kopankas
Giorgio Bianchi
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On the Brink of an Abyss
Fabio Bucciarelli
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Puppet Show
Anik Rahman
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The Bats
Aleksandra Kulak
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Shrinking Shores
Adolphus Opara
The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation For Documentary Photography & Film
Past Finalists
2015 Photography Grant Finalists
2015 Photography Grant Finalists
Italy
Kopankas – Uncovering the relationship between Ukrainian separatist militias and oligarchs operating thousands of small illegal coal mines. Supporting the fragile economy, these mines run with no health or safety standards.
Italy
On the Brink of an Abyss – Documenting a deeper view of the ethnic strife and conflict in South Sudan and the tragic consequences of decades of hidden war and the repercussions on its population.
Portugal
Roof – Lisbon homeless living in partially unoccupied and abandoned buildings. Documenting the fragility of these places and their dramatic alignment with the lives they embrace exposes the reality of their existence.
Russia
The Bats – Following Mennonite colonies in Mexico and beyond, the impact of the reclusiveness, austerity and detached way of life on the lives of the children will be explored.
Germany
Death Metal – Exploring the supply of raw materials for consumer electronics that ultimately become toxic e-waste, the mining of these natural resources is a dangerous setting for the working men with perilous impact on the environment.
Nigeria
Shrinking Shorelines – Devastation of the once pristine Lagos, Nigeria oceanfront and the adverse effect on life after a loaded oil vessel belonging to an indigenous oil company washes ashore and is subsequently abandoned.
Argentina
The Human Cost of Agrochemicals – Fueled by widespread use of transgenic seeds in Argentinian, evidencing the devastating impact of agro-toxin spraying on the farmlands and people.
Belgium
The Uncanny – Depicting the D.R. of Congo beyond its long running conflicts, a photographer documents his own country from an intimate daily life view of its people, their struggles and the impact of the conflict on the younger generations.
Italy
Dammed Lives – Uncovering the social and environmental impact of large dams being built along the tributaries of the Brazilian Amazon where thousands of poor and marginalized people will be forced from their homeland and traditions.
Bangladesh
Puppet Show – Contesting election results in Bangladesh, conflict between ruling and opposition parties is witnessed in chronic violent political demonstrations by opposition allies and endangers the common people.
France/Germany
No Dignity Without Identity – Covering daily struggles of small stateless communities that have fled ethnic and religious conflict as they travel aimlessly across Africa. Surviving without national recognition, they seek identity and dignity.
Germany
Childhood in Romania – Highlighting the plight of the poor in Romania, a family of seven ekes out an isolated existence surviving without electricity and clean water. Return visits document the struggle of the child as they grow up.
2015 Film Grant Finalists
2015 Film Grant Finalists
India
Going Home - Evicted from their home, an Indian mother pays 500 rupees a month to live and survive by a Kolkata railroad track where she cares for her 6 year old son and works to pay his school tuition.
Switzerland
Sounds of Blikkiesdorp - Life, resourcefulness and spirit in harsh temporary housing built to relocate the unwanted to the outskirts of Cape Town prior to the World Cup. Here music binds the structures, alleys and people.
USA
Under Cane - Exposing social injustice in the sugarcane communities of Nicaragua, Chronic Kidney Disease of nontraditional causes has killed over 20,000 Central American men in the past 10 years.
Germany
Existence - The hard work and hard lives of a rickshaw puller, a ropedancer family and a garbage collector are portrayed in the hustle and vibrancy of Kolkata, eastern India’s megacity.
UK
A Paradise - Exploring one family’s trauma and in turn an entire community’s search for reason and affirmation after the loss of their children from a child suicide phenomenon in a remote Cuban town.
Ukraine
Faces - Individual portraits of some masked and faceless protesters in central Kiev fighting for dignity against the Ukrainian dictatorship in late 2013 and early 2014.
India
Where I Can't Be Found - A day in the life of an ascetic as he wanders leisurely through an idyllic valley in southern India where this popular philosopher and sometime teacher accepts events as gifts of fate.
USA/Spain
Survivors Ink - Branded with tattoos by her pimp, an Ohio woman starts a grassroots project to help formerly trafficked women like herself to cover up their marks with their own symbols of hope and recovery.
Russia
Pod Pokrovom - A film makers’ personal recollection of the tragedies endured by her, her family and the Chechen people during the war in 1995 when she was 15 years old.
2014 Photography Grant Finalists
2014 Photography Grant Finalists
Narayangonj, Bangladesh
Angels in Hell: Young children forced into unimaginable working conditions in Bangladesh from a very early age.
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Garment Workers in Bangladesh: Garment factories are unable to provide life security of their workers.
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Footsoldiers: Many of the poor in Bangladesh villages migrate to Dhaka to work as labourers.
Rome, Italy
A Rose in Madagascar: Deforestation, slash and burn farming and mining are destroying the bio-diversity of Madagascar, and along with it, the rare and unique plant-life that has for years provided important medical cures.
Cairo, Egypt
Quarry Life: In upper Egypt, especially in Minya governorate, 20 thousand quarry workers go everyday to the quarries to earn their bread.
Paris, France
What it is Like to be Visible: Exploring the consequences of the anti-gay propaganda law for young people in Russia.
In her own words: Camille is 26, born in Angers, France. She started photography after graduating from a degree in Journalism in England in June 2012. Auto dictate, she moved to South Sudan in July 2012 to explore her new passion and the newest country on the planet. She covers the conflict in the Nuba Mountains in Sudan, and the evolution of the crisis in the Central African Republic.
Rome, Italy
Haiti, Sons of a Tyranny: For nearly 30 years, Washington supported and sustained one of the bloodiest dictatorships in the western hemisphere, that of François Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude in Haiti.
Italy
In the Republic of Moldova, the poorest country in Eastern Europe, over 100,000 children are growing up without their parents. They are social orphans whose fathers and mothers have to emigrate in search of a job that will enable them to survive.
Braga, Portugal
Mozambico: Environmental issues and the consequences of the uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources in Mozambique.
New York, USA
Disorder: An ongoing project addressing mental illness in Indonesia.
Tehran, Iran
Afghanistan: The people of Afghanistan, their lives affected by decades of war.
Jakarta, Indonesia
The Price of Tin: The small islands of Bangka and Belitung east of Sumatra in Indonesia.
2014 Film Grant Finalists
2014 Film Grant Finalists
Germany
CHOA - A female hockey player from South Korea describes what it takes to compete with the guys. (with Adam Hobbs)
USA
Reporting on The Times - Explores how and why during World War 2 The New York Times buried reports on The Holocaust.
Ireland
20 Years of Silence - Courageous Ixil people in Guatemala speak during the trial of General Jose Efrain Rios Montt on genocide and crimes against humanity.
USA
CHOA - A female hockey player from South Korea describes what it takes to compete with the guys. (with Nils Clauss)
Portugal / UK
A Cure for Homesickness - Explores the meaning of home for people, through growing up in Zimbabwe, and how home relates to identity, childhood and memory.
Spain
A City Without Dreams - Following refugees traveling between Beirut, Lebanon and Aleppo, Syria, dreams of an entire Syrian generation are lost in these two cities.
Canada
Rhythms of Resistance - Artists resist against police brutality and social exclusion through their music and performance art, challenging “Pacification” in Rio de Janeiro.
Portugal
CASALATA - Focuses on the shortage of housing and strategies for improving housing in the tin house neighbourhoods of Cape Verde.
Belgium
The Necessary Evil - Questioning faith, politics, exploitation and religion in the context of independent protestant churches in Congo DR.
France
Maria, Callas - Based on interviews,an imaginary confession of singer Maria Callas, with comments from Italian directors Luchino Visconti and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
India
Prabhat Nagari - Reunion of the last living workers of Prabhat Studio becomes a reflection on celluloid dreams, fathers and sons, and the cyclical universe.
2013 Photography Grant Finalists
2013 Photography Grant Finalists
Italy
The International Trafficking of Organ Trade in Central & South America.
United States
Dangers of Bush Meat Consumption in Cameroon.
France
Lost Childhood: Children Soldiers of the Central African Republic.
Belgium
Jharia,The Burning City: Human Impact of Coal Mining in India.
Spain
Pacification: Impact of pre-Olympic police units in shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
United States
The Water of My Land: Sacrifice in the face of the modern oil industry on the Niger Delta, Nigeria.
Germany
The Travellers: Following the largest minority group in Ireland.
Italy
Fukushima: No-Go Zone. Post-nuclear accident social, environmental and health costs in Japan.
Poland
Dead Cities: Survival, sickness and rebuilding in northwestern Syria.
India
Ethnic Unrest, Western Assam - The Aftermath: Ethnic violence in the autonomous regions of India.
Indonesia
ODHA: Living and Dying with HIV/AIDS in Papua, Indonesia.
France
Hong Kong Dockworkers: Exploitation of maritime transport workers.
2013 Film Grant Finalists
2013 Film Grant Finalists
Sri Lanka
The Story of One - Missing priest and boy during time of violence in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka.
Italy
Mother of Hope - Honduran mother of 14 children in the search for one son who disappeared trying to migrate to the U.S.
United States
Magho (Daughter) - “Untouchable” Indian teen who comes from a family of quarry workers, none of whom completed schooling past the eighth grade.
Germany
Urban Island - Hardships of a homeless man in his forties who takes no assistance on the streets and in a small homeless community in Seoul, Korea.
Australia
E-Wasteland - Unregulated recycling of electronic waste from the developed world arriving in Ghana and then illegally exported as second hand goods.
United States
Laal Pari: Not a Fairy Tale - Elected woman leader proving herself in the face of a patriarchal bureaucracy and pervasive gender violence in an Indian village.
United States
Magho (Daughter) - “Untouchable” Indian teen who comes from a family of quarry workers, none of whom completed schooling past the eighth grade.
United States
Strong Enough To Fight - Promoting peace among Kenyan tribes, one man’s challenges in and out of the boxing ring in this positive grassroots movement.
Romania
As You Like It - Romanians facing their gravestone pictures while still alive, reflecting on self image as a threshold of the visible world they leave behind.
Spain
Guatemala: Victims of Genocide - Gender violence inflicted on indigenous Mayans and the killing of over 200,000 and raping of more than 100,000 women.
South Korea
Urban Island - Hardships of a homeless man in his forties who takes no assistance on the streets and in a small homeless community in Seoul, South Korea.
Bulgaria
FREEDOM2DANCE - Vibrant community of dancers skirting the current NYC Prohibition era Cabaret Laws to hold on to their cultural and spiritual dance history.
Spain
Guatemala: Victims of Genocide - Gender violence inflicted on indigenous Mayans and the killing of over 200,000 and raping of more than 100,000 women.
2012 Photography Grant Finalists
2012 Photography Grant Finalists
France
“Crossing the Line” proposed exploring social and political issues around clandestine crossing at the Mexican - USA border.
France
“Being Touareg” proposed following the nomadic life of the
Touareg in northern Mali, their traditions, and socio-economic difficulties.
Ukraine
His proposal was to document patients suffering from
gastrointestinal tuberculosis in the former countries of the USSR.
UK
“In the Shadow of the Pyramids” proposed exploring the essence of Egyptian identity in a time when Egypt is searching for itself.
France
“The Gateway of the Eldorado” proposed tracking the clandestine immigration from Brazil to French Guiana, the new European Eldorado.
Argentina
“The Curse of Insanity” proposed unveiling the invisible wounds of war and the mental health crisis in Iraq.
United States
“Niger Delta” proposed a portrait of the ongoing struggle for power, land and oil in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, Africa’s most polluted oil-producing region.
France
With Virginie Terrasse, “Tasiilaq: An Adolesence in
Kalaallit Nunaat” proposed following two Greenland teenagers, exploring high suicide rates of young Inuit.
Spain
“The Brazilian Far West” proposed documenting the origin of inequality and resulting violence in disputes over land in Brazil.
Mozambique
“The Salience of Street” proposed following street children in African countries laboring as plantation domestic servants, hidden behind walls of workshops.
Portugal
His proposal was to expose the effects of the economic and social crisis on the Kalé gypsy community in Portugal.
France
With Jérémie Jung, “Tasiilaq: An Adolesence in Kalaallit Nunaat” proposed following two teenagers in Greenland, exploring the high suicide rate of young Inuit.
2011 Photography Grant Finalists
2011 Photography Grant Finalists
Prasanta Biswas
Emile Germiquet
Sarika Gulati
Ilkin Huseynov
Olga Kravets
Sebastian Liste
Alfonso Moral
Mads Nissen
Rocco Rorandelli
Majid Saeedi