Bridging Cultures through Film
Independent producer Ben Loeterman received two Bridging Cultures through Film grants to develop and produce his film 1913: Seeds of Conflict, currently in production. He explains that “NEH grants allowed us to develop and produce a film that incorporates new scholarship about the earliest origins of the modern Mideast conflict. ” Loeterman’s documentary examines the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire and its effect on the ground to the diverse people of Palestine. 1913, Loeterman says, was only made because he was able “to work with young scholars scouring newly-aaccessible archives in Turkey and elsewhere to shed light on the social history of Palestine at the end of the Ottoman regime, on the eve of World War I.”
The grant category, supported by NEH’s Bridging Cultures initiative, seeks to spark Americans’ engagement with countries and cultures outside of the United States. Since 2010, NEH’s Bridging Cultures through Film grants have supported twenty-two documentary filmmakers exploring a diverse array of international topics. "Bridging Cultures through Film,” Loeterman observes, “is a unique catalyst for getting films made on important subjects that broaden American views of our wider world.”
Attached is a list of films funded by Bridging Cultures through Film grants. The next deadline is June 11, 2014.