Adriana Imhof , Communications & Program Associate

Chaos and confusion; that about sums up the current U.S. political environment, right? “I think that’s the strategy,” Chicken & Egg Films CEO Jenni Wolfson says. “To unmoor us all.” A longtime MIF member, Chicken & Egg Films is our member spotlight this month. To celebrate their 20th anniversary and their work to support women and gender-expansive documentary filmmakers worldwide, we headed over to their offices to talk to Jenni in person. Reflecting on the current political environment here in the U.S., Jenni shared how Chicken & Egg Films is adapting its strategies to protect and empower filmmakers whose identities and stories are often at the center of ongoing attacks. Operating as a vital intermediary funder, Chicken & Egg is both raising and regranting funds to support, as Jenni says, the storytellers who “represent the world that we live in.” More than just financial aid though, the organization provides crucial mentorship and industry access, enabling filmmakers to craft powerful narratives that remind us of our shared humanity. That reminder is why, despite the chaos and confusion, “Chicken & Egg Films, first and foremost, is staying steady.” Here, Jenni discusses the shifting landscape for both filmmakers and funders,… Read More

 It’s hard to imagine turning a story of unspeakable childhood trauma into a film that can make you laugh and fill you with hope. But that’s exactly what writer, performer and filmmaker Gerad Argeros did with “Fox Chase Boy,” a short documentary based on his one-man show in which he confronts his trauma of being sexually abused as a child. In the early ’80s, when Gerad was 10 years old and served as an altar boy at St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church in the Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood of Fox Chase, he was sexually abused by The Rev. James Brzyski—one of the Philadelphia Archdiocese’s most brutal abusers, according to a 2005 grand jury report. Gerad stayed silent about his abuse for decades until the tragic deaths of two childhood friends, also victims of Brzyski’s, and the death of Brzyski (who evaded prosecution and died as a free man) moved him to speak out publicly. In 2017, he broke his… Read More

Last Spring, Emmy-nominated actor Jonathan Majors and his then-partner Grace Jabbari got into a domestic dispute that ended with Majors’ arrest. Shortly after the case made headlines a firestorm of online debate ensued. A groundswell of support grew for Majors—whose swift ascent to Hollywood stardom positioned him as an A-list celebrity—despite evidence of him assaulting and harassing Jabbari. But last month, Majors was found guilty of misdemeanor assault and harassment. After his conviction, Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Company–which cast Majors as the villain in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and in the “Loki” series–dropped him from all future projects. The verdict, along with the announcement from Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Company, intensified the scrutiny of Jabbari. In the eyes of the public, her claims cost Majors his career; she became the suspect, and he the victim.  Unfortunately, this is how conversations about domestic violence typically play out in the media. People pick sides in the aftermath of a domestic dispute, casting some people as villains but never stopping to unpack the circumstances that led to the behavior in the first place. “If that is the extent of the… Read More