Documentary filmmakers Sabaah Folayan, Loira Limbal, and Peter Nicks have been selected to receive the Catapult Film Fund’s annual research grant. Each recipient will receive $10,000 in grant money and four months of mentorship from industry advisors.
“This year, the selected projects are: Folyan’s “Flowing with Blessings,” about an organization that provides mobile laundry and shower services to Atlanta’s unhoused population; Limbal’s “Between Oceans,” about the lives of Black immigrant women who leave their families in the Caribbean each year to work seasonal jobs in the U.S. through the H-2B temporary worker program; and Nick’s “All My Friends,” a coming-of-age doc that explores how a diverse group of young people navigate the tragic loss of a beloved friend – also the director’s daughter – who died at 16.
Now in its fifth year, Catapult’s research grant program expands upon the organization’s mission to provide essential early-stage support when funding is hardest to find and considered riskiest to give. This year’s program will focus on the needs of mid-career filmmakers. Folayan, Limbal, and Nicks were chosen from 214 applicants.
Folayan has made three feature documentaries. Her last film, “Ratified,” premiered at Atlanta’s BronzeLens Film Festival in 2024. On April 1, Limbal was named president and CEO of Firelight Media. Her film “Through the Night” (2020), a feature documentary about a 24-hour daycare center, premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. In 2012 Nick’s “The Waiting Room” was shortlisted for an Academy Award. His Apple+ doc “Underrated” about Stephen Curry debuted in 2023.
“These are filmmakers who take creative risks and their work is an exploration of certain questions they’ve set up for themselves,” said Megan Gelstein, Catapult Film Fund co-director and chief program officer. “With them, there’s a dedication to in-depth exploration of social and artistic and creative questions. In other words, they build a career, not just a project. And it is a privilege to support them.”
During the fourth month program grant recipients are paired with an advisor based on their specific project needs and goals. This year’s advisors are Oscar-winning director Steven Bognar (“American Factory”), director and cinematographer Stephen Maing (“Union”), and Dawn Porter (“Luther: Never Too Much”).
“These feel like unprecedented times when the most important, personal and daring non-fiction work is needed more than ever, but for which it is so much harder than ever to find support,” said Maing, whose Oscar-shortlisted film “Union” received Catapult development support in 2021.
The Catapult Research Grant program was launched in 2020 and was inspired by conversations with U.S.-based filmmakers about significant barriers to launching new work, specifically the lack of funding, time, and sense of community. In previous years, the Research Grant totaled $50,000, which was awarded to five filmmakers. In an effort to support the unique needs of mid-career filmmakers whose interest is in elevating their artistry to maintain career sustainability, Catapult reduced the recipient group to three projects this year to, according to the org, “go deeper as a cohort and be more intentional and focused on their projects.”
“We live in a culture that often devalues the artist,” said Gelstein. “That gets exacerbated when resources are scarce, and change is rapid. In response, one looks for a community of like-minded people to find both solace and solutions. This year, this uniquely special program is exactly that.”
To date, the org’s research grant program has funded over 30 U.S. film teams from diverse backgrounds. Two-thirds of film teams identify as women or gender nonbinary, and over 90% identify as BIPOC. Previous grantees include Jameka Autry (“Burden of Proof”), Reid Davenport (“I Didn’t See You There”), and directors Sam Osborn and Alejandra Vasquez (“Going Varsity in Mariachi”).
Catapult was founded in 2010 to address the lack of early support and sustainability in the documentary field. The San Francisco-based nonprofit organization is commemorating its 15th anniversary in 2025 with program milestones for its flagship Development Grant, the Rough Cut Retreat partnership launched in 2010 with True/False Film Fest, and the Research Grant program.