The Democratic Republic of Congo documentary film, Spaceman in Kongo has been selected as one of 15 projects to receive funding from the Sundance Institute | Sandbox Fund for the year 2024. A dozen countries are represented this year, Spaceman in Kongo falling into the development category of the fund.
The project was also selected as one of 13 projects to receive funding from the IDFA Bertha Fund, under the IBF Classic – Development category, for which it will receive €7,500.
Directed by Maisha Maene, Spaceman in Kongo tells the story of two rocket engineers, driven by the memory of African dreamers and a resilient belief in their homeland, both men work on building the first Congolese Space Program.
What is the Sundance Institute | Sandbox Fund?
Since its inception in 2017, the Sundance Institute | Sandbox Fund say it has seen a 500% increase in project submissions globally. The fund is targeted at documentaries covering scientific issues.
Also selected for development are Artificial Clouds from Chile, Ever and the Sharks from Peru, Canada’s In Praise of Invasive Species, as well as projects from the United States: My Friend the Bear, Sing at My Wake, Valley of the Night, and the North Macedonia co-production The Vortex of Extinction. (Spaceman in Kongo is a US co-production, also involving the UK and Germany.)
Speaking about the initiative, Paola Mottura, Director of Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Fund said: “Going into the seventh year of this beautiful collaboration with Sandbox Films, it is clear to us in the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program that there is no shortage of groundbreaking nonfiction work being developed and made around scientific topics on a global scale — it is very exciting to be able to support that production demand in an expanded way thanks to increased funding.”
Jessica Harrop, Executive Director of Sandbox Films added: “We have been truly impressed by the caliber of projects this initiative has enabled us to support. One of our key objectives at Sandbox is to promote greater diversity within science documentaries, and through this fund, we’ve connected with artists who are exploring scientific topics in extraordinarily innovative ways.”
