Nonfiction storytellers and their work have been deeply impacted by recent world events, public health crises, and overdue reckonings. The impact on the field has been far reaching and complex. This has manifested in various ways including the ongoing need to address sustainability, safety, and security, as well as a desire for holistic culture change to make the field more inclusive, accessible, and grounded in a values-based ethics-first filmmaking practice.
Six years ago, Sundance Institute and IDA joined forces to launch the Documentary Core Application Project. The effort sought to create the Documentary Core Application Proposal Checklist which was a set of standardized proposal questions, terminology, and response lengths that funding and fiscal sponsorship organizations could incorporate into their existing application processes for nonfiction funding and fiscal sponsorship applications. As drivers of culture, champions of filmmakers, and institutions that seek to ensure that nonfiction storytelling will thrive, we recognized the need for the Core Application Proposal Checklist to be part of this evolution. This reflection will further the difficult questions that our field is engaging with. With this in mind, we regrouped with the IDA to re-engage with the field in a dialogue around the Documentary Core Application Proposal Checklist to ensure that the culture shifts, market forces and collective movements are reflected in the questions asked in the Proposal Checklist.
In 2021 we held virtual conversations that brought together over 150 individuals from our field representing:
1) Independent filmmakers (directors and producers)
2) Collectives and filmmaker support networks
3) Artist support organizations interested in using the Core Application
4) Funding organizations and fiscal sponsors actively using the Core Application
With tremendous insights and contributions from the field, we are thrilled to share the new Nonfiction Core Application Proposal Checklist v. 2022, with an updated logo and webpage! We are committed to maintaining a process that revises the Nonfiction Core Proposal Checklist regularly, building out resources for filmmakers to support their applications, and for artist support organizations to more successfully implement its adoption.
Below are some key learnings and how these are reflected in the new core:
We heard that the field is deeply committed to the Documentary Core Application Proposal Checklist. As a community of artist support organizations, we want to continue to alleviate the burden of documentary proposal writing, while still maintaining the integrity of the process of selections through a thorough application. Filmmakers also expressed the importance of the Documentary Core Application Proposal Checklist in their workflows.
The new Core Application Proposal Checklist provides an exhaustive set of questions that artist support organizations may use. The questions funders choose to ask from the Proposal Checklist are at the discretion of the funder. Not every question must be utilized.
We heard that much of the language in the original Core Application Proposal Checklist (using film school terminology) is colonial and rooted in western traditional storytelling styles that create barriers to entry and access. There is a need to simplify and clarify the language to be more inclusive and accessible.
The Nonfiction Core Application seeks to use language that is accessible and translatable. In addition to the changes in the language used, over the coming months, we will be developing a glossary of key terms, to provide definitions and additional context for applicants.
A Spanish language translation of the Core Application is available for applicants who prefer to engage with the questions in Spanish. Currently, most funders do not have the resources to accept applications in a language other than English, however we hope to move in that direction as a field.
Additionally, as we work to decolonize the form, we took care to review the language used in the Core Application to ensure that it is free of colonial references and assumptions.
We also took great care to expand the language to be more inclusive of alternative forms of nonfiction (i.e nonlinear and non-narrative) signaling the expansion of the understanding of story and narrative. The expansion of the form is also reflected in the adoption of a new name - Nonfiction Core Application Proposal Checklist.
The Core Application Proposal Checklist should support the advancement of the field and conversations around values based filmmaking practices.
We understand that the rules of filmmaking are being re-written and documentary filmmakers are at the forefront of this change as they adopt a value based approach to their productions. This approach assigns deeper value to community, collaboration, and relationships based on trust, integrity, and partnership. The new Core Application Proposal Checklist aims to address this culture change through a couple of questions including:
Power and Positionality - As the Documentary Accountability Working Group states, Regardless of the power you possess in your daily life based on your own intersectional identity, when you pick up a camera you wield power. This question on the Core Application aims to provide the space for filmmakers to reflect upon the perspective with which they approach their topic, uncovering the experiences and preconceptions that shape their approach and understanding of the work.
Connection and Access - seeks to not only understand the connection that a filmmaker has to their story, but how this access and connection singularly positions them to tell the story. The Documentary Accountability Working Group invites filmmakers to ask themselves the following reflective questions: access does not equal insight
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Nonfiction storytellers and their work have been deeply impacted by recent world events, public health crises, and overdue reckonings. The impact on the field has been far reaching and complex. This has manifested in various ways including the ongoing need to address sustainability, safety, and security, as well as a desire for holistic culture change to make the field more inclusive, accessible, and grounded in a values-based ethics-first filmmaking practice. 
