We're thrilled to announce My Underground Mother was one of 11 media projects awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities!
For those unfamiliar with the documentary funding world, applicants have a 1-2% chance of getting an award from most grantors -- and that's if you even qualify. But with subjects like ours who reopened old wounds to share their stories at a time when the echoes of the past are resounding loudly, you don't give up. Though the NEH application is so rigorous, it required more time, research and writing than my Master's degree -- no exaggeration -- I was grateful there was a federal fund as generous, impartial and based on artistic and historical merit as this one.
To be honest, I've applied to the NEH various times throughout the past five years. We were awarded an NEH development grant two years ago. This time, they awarded us a production grant that will enable us to complete our film with the resources we need and in time to premiere next year!
We're also hugely grateful to the Karma Foundation and another Jewish funder who we can't announce just yet for awarding us yet more funding so we can power through the film festival circuit, educational outreach and impact strategy.
We received the good news just as we paused to take a much-needed break from nonstop editing, grant writing and submitting applications. We admit, it hasn't felt like much of a summer at all. It does now.
We're also so grateful to you for supporting us on this arduous journey and cheering us along. We couldn't have lasted this long without you!
Tomorrow marks the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, an event that has particular meaning as civil rights and democracy are under attack--everywhere. I couldn't be prouder of my family and friends in Israel for standing up for democracy and for Jewish groups here, like the ADL and the National Council of Jewish Women for marching together with our Black and Brown sisters and brothers and standing up against hate, antisemitism, misogyny and fighting for voting rights, citizenship and choice over our bodies and who we love.
Though yesterday's mugshot moment felt like sweet vindication and some much-needed justice, it also was a sad day for our country and an eerie reminder of an incident that took place 100 years ago--the Beer Hall Putsch, when Hitler led an ill-fated coup in Germany and was convicted of high treason a year later. Though he was sentenced to five years, Hitler only served eight months and emerged more popular than ever. He won the public relations battle. Like far-right autocrats today, he played the martyr and exploited simmering grievances and polarization to fan the flames of terrorism and incite violence. He used his prison time to write the first volume of Mein Kampf, which laid the groundwork for the Holocaust.
I don't think history should dissuade any judge, prosecutor or jury today from enforcing the full extent of the law when it comes to inmate PO1135809, but I do think we need to wake up to the real threats we and our democracy are facing. Whether you tuned into the RNC debate or Tucker Carlson's "interview" with the former guy, you should be alarmed by what certain candidates are willing to say and do to stoke those same base instincts. The 2024 election won't be a test of Democrats vs. Republicans, but of democracy versus autocracy. And that's yet another reason why I'm so grateful for these new grant awards, which will allow us to release our film next year and get it out there at a time when its message couldn't be more vital.
Thanks for supporting My Underground Mother
Shabbat Shalom and happy weekend!
xoxo
Marisa
©Marisa Fox ~ My Underground Mother 2023