Courtesy of BAVC Media
Today, BAVC Media announces the 2025 cohort of its longstanding MediaMaker Fellowship, which is known for betting on emerging artists and early projects as a “first-in” supporter. Selected filmmakers will receive US$10,000 in unrestricted funding, mentorship, industry access, feedback sessions, and workshops over the next 9 months. The Fellowship kicks off with an in-person intensive convening in San Francisco in April before continuing at select film festivals across the U.S.
The six MediaMaker Fellows are Alex J. Bledsoe (OAKLEAD), Luca Capponi (What Lies Over the Mountain), Joua Lee Grande (Spirited), Anna Clare Spelman (Meant to Be Maddie), Thanh Tran (Finding Má), and Hao Zhou (All Fixed Up).
“These films and their filmmakers demonstrated a high level of artistic and storytelling vision. Many of the stories are personal, demonstrating that personal stories have the ability to explore larger social issues,” Dawn Valadez, co-director of the BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship, said via a statement.
Jin Yoo-Kim, also co-director of the BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship, added, “This cohort dedicated years to their stories but are at a critical point in their production phase to receive the resources and mentorship the fellowship will provide. We are excited to see the synergy between each fellow and how they will build a meaningful relationship with each other that will undoubtedly carry them through their careers.”
The BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship was established in 1991 through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The program is currently supported by grants from the NEA, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, the Perspective Fund, Film SF, SF Grants for the Arts, the California Arts Council, NBC Universal, and BAVC Media’s Artist Development Donor Circle Members..
The Fellowship has incubated films such as Paige Bethmann’s SXSW-premiering Remaining Native, Brittany Shyne’s Sundance-winning Seeds, and Lagueria Davis’s upcoming Black Barbie, which was snapped up by Shondaland for Netflix following a WIP screening at SXSW.
The 2025 BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship was selected by BAVC MediaMaker Fellowship co-directors Brittney Réaume, Jin Yoo-Kim, and Dawn Valadez; Julia Robertson; Ray Santisteban; Maria Santos (IDA Funds Program Officer); Colleen Thurston, Dawn Valadez, and Kevin D. Wong.
The condensed bios and project synopses of the selected filmmakers are below.
Alex J. Bledsoe is a director, producer, and multidisciplinary artist whose work illuminates daily life on the frontlines of racial capitalism, and the portals we create for our physical and psychospiritual liberation. Alex is the co-founder of Breaktide, an all-women-of-color film production company that creates liberatory stories while practicing collaborative, decolonial filmmaking. Breaktide’s debut documentary feature, Standing Above the Clouds, directed by co-founder Jalena Keane-Lee, won the Hot Docs 2024 Bill Nemtin Award for Best Social Justice Documentary.
Project: OAKLEAD
In Oakland, California, we fight to protect our children from lead poisoning in our own homes and schools – and confront over a century of environmental racism. OAKLEAD is a feature-length documentary, currently in post-production, about the longest, ongoing pediatric epidemic in U.S. history.
Luca Capponi is an Italian-Ecuadorian filmmaker from a small village in the Bergamo province, Italy. Growing up in a bicultural environment, he developed an early curiosity about identity, migration, and the experiences of marginalized communities. Luca is a graduate of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (CSC), Italy’s National School of Cinema. During his final year at CSC, his short film Chronicles from Dusk, created in collaboration with Laura Poitras and Field of Vision, was selected for Critics’ Week at the 2018 Venice Biennale.
Project: What Lies Over the Mountain
A deeply personal story of love, resilience, and belonging, this film chronicles an immigrant mother’s journey to a small conservative Italian village. It explores a family’s struggles with identity and acceptance, and their rediscovery of roots, offering a universal story of connection, the triumph of humanity over adversity.
Joua Lee Grande (she/they) is a filmmaker and community connector who tells compelling stories that highlight underheard perspectives and experiences. Her work has been seen on WORLD Channel and PBS. Her short film On All Fronts received an Honorable Mention for the Loni Ding Award for Social Justice Documentary and was the opening episode of a series nominated for a Daytime Emmy. She has previously worked as a Producer-Editor at Twin Cities PBS and an Editor at WCCO TV 4 News (CBS).
Project: Spirited
Under a backdrop of colliding belief systems, a skeptical Hmong-American filmmaker is told she has been chosen to become a shaman, setting her on a decade-long journey to understand her community's ancestral spiritual traditions. Spirited is a poignant and introspective documentary following Joua over a decade of her life as she struggles to reconnect with her people’s belief system and grapples with the decision to accept or reject this calling.
Anna Clare Spelman (she/her) is a filmmaker, cinematographer, and editor who believes deeply in the power of stories to create social change. She is passionate about healthcare and human rights, particularly within the queer community. Her work has been nominated for multiple News and Documentary Emmys, named a Vimeo Staff Pick, and has been recognized by the GLAAD Media Awards, the Webby Awards, the Edward R. Murrow Awards, Pictures of the Year International, and NPPA Best of Photojournalism.
Project: Meant to Be Maddie
Meant to Be Maddie chronicles a decade in the life of a North Carolina transgender teenager as she navigates her identity and adolescence with the unwavering support of her family. An intimate and funny coming-of-age story, Maddie’s journey unfolds against the backdrop of growing anti-trans rhetoric, legislation, and conservative backlash against the LGBTQ community.
Thanh Tran is an Amerasian-Vietnamese and Black filmmaker, music artist, and criminal justice organizer from Sacramento, California. While incarcerated, he co-founded Uncuffed, an award-winning podcast amplifying incarcerated voices; ForwardThis Productions, a pioneering film collective inside San Quentin; and the Inside/Outside Fellowship with the Ella Baker Center, supporting incarcerated organizers. He is the Interim Executive Director of the Asian Prisoner Support Committee (APSC) and sits on advisory councils for New Breath Foundation, APSC, and Uncuffed.
Project: Finding Má
After 20 years apart, an Amerasian - Vietnamese/Black family shattered by the foster care and prison systems reunites to heal old wounds and rebuild their family, starting with finding their unhoused mother in the streets of Sacramento.
Hao Zhou is a filmmaker from southwest China, currently based in Ohio. Zhou’s work explores queer and feminist themes through a range of nonfiction, narrative, and experimental forms. They wrote/directed a no-budget feature, The Night (2014), as well as several short films, including Correct Me If I’m Wrong (2025), Like What Would Sorrow Look (2024), and Wouldn’t Make It Any Other Way (2024). An alum of Berlinale Talents, Zhou has screened at the Berlinale, Locarno, Rotterdam, and SXSW, and received support from ITVS, Firelight Media, IF/Then × Hulu, and other organizations.
Project: All Fixed Up
After attempting to change their wayward queer heir, a desperate family resorts to a masquerade that tests the limits of love, generational ties, and transnational understanding.
The full bios of the 2025 MediaMaker Fellows will be posted at this link.