Music on Film - Film on Music (MOFFOM) Documentary Grant

Sisters with Transistors

SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS is the remarkable story of electronic music’s female pioneers who embraced machines and their liberating technologies to utterly transform how we produce and listen to music today. SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS breaks down the prevailing misconception that early electronic music was dominated by males by showcasing the innovative work of females in the field. The film features songs created by female artists, and songs that use techniques pioneered by females. SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS was set to premiere at 2020’s canceled South By Southwest. More news is forthcoming as to when and where these canceled premieres will take place.

Kids Can Spit

KIDS CAN SPIT follows five student teams as they tackle their personal dramas through lyrics written for a science-themed hip hop competition. As competition escalates, the documentary accentuates the challenges, hopes, and fears these teenagers’ experiences as they come of age in the Black Lives Matter landscape. Throughout the film, original and professional hip hop music is central to the subject as well as the documentary’s construction.

The Letter

THE LETTER follows Karisa as he journeys from Mombasa to his Kenyan hometown to clear his grandmother’s name after she has been accused of witchcraft. Ultimately, he discovers a systemic plot to disenfranchise older landowners to benefit their younger heirs. Karissa must come to his grandmother’s defense in this intimate family portrait. Throughout the film, an original score by co-director Maia Lekow is combined with the folksongs of the Mijikenda community to create a musical portrait of Kenyan life. Ms. Lekow is one of Kenya’s most prolific musicians, performing both locally and internationally with her band Maia and the Big Sky.

Sweetheart Deal

SWEETHEART DEAL follows four women on Aurora Avenue, Seattle’s infamous prostitution track, who befriend a self-proclaimed healer offering to help them through the horrors of Heroin withdrawal. SWEETHEART DEAL journeys into a dangerous and hypnotic world, following some of the most vulnerable populations left behind by a rapidly gentrifying city. SWEEHEART DEAL uses more than 50 songs throughout the film, created by three original composers.