Northwest Film Forum Awards Jing Zou $25,000 as the 2024 Recipient of the Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant
Northwest Film Forum (NWFF) is proud to announce Jing Zou as the recipient of the fifth annual Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant. Zou will receive an unrestricted cash award of $25,000 to support her first narrative feature film, A GIRL UNKNOWN.
“I am absolutely honored to be selected as the recipient of the 2024 Lynn Shelton ‘Of a Certain Age’ award for my first feature, A GIRL UNKNOWN. Thank you for this recognition and for your support. I am committed to making the most of this award and to creating a film that honors the spirit of Lynn Shelton,” Zou said.
Co-founded by Duplass Brothers Productions and NWFF, and with major ongoing support from COLOR, Eliza Flug, CB Shamah, Lacey Leavitt Gray, Megan Griffiths, Olivia Newman, Marc Maron, Jennessa & Rob West, Sean Donavan, Michaela Watkins, and additional community members, the Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant is now in its fifth year. It champions a U.S.-based female, non-binary, and/or transgender filmmaker – age 39 or older – in the process of developing and directing their first narrative feature.
“Knowing that there are now five extraordinary filmmakers ‘of a certain age’ that have received support for their work and affirmation of their dreams through this grant would have brought Lynn so much joy,” filmmaker and NWFF Board Member Megan Griffiths said. “I’m so grateful to Northwest Film Forum and all of the people who make this grant possible, and thrilled to be introduced to the work of Jing Zou and the rest of this year’s amazing finalists.”
“This grant does something absolutely unique in the context of the United States by offering support to a woman or gender diverse filmmaker 40-and-over embarking on their first feature length narrative film,” said NWFF Grants Manager Emily Zimmerman. “It has been a singular honor to be part of this award.”
This year’s Award Selection Committee was comprised of Jennifer Phang, Sarah Smith and Avril Speaks. They have provided a collective statement:
We were overwhelmed and overjoyed by the sheer volume of talent that submitted their projects to this grant. There were countless artistic reasons to get behind each filmmaker and their project, so it was challenging to select the finalists, let alone the final awardee.
Ultimately we as jurors shared a deep appreciation for Jing Zou’s distinctive filmmaking style and the subject of her next project A GIRL UNKNOWN. The story follows the tumultuous journey of a young Chinese girl who has three names as she navigates the complexities of her past, present, and future amidst a tapestry of three distinct family dynamics. This work and Jing Zou’s subject of choice stood out in the global relevance of a story about how women are collectively undervalued around the world.
2024 Finalists
Including Zou, fifteen filmmakers made it into the finalist round of the grant process. Those with an asterisk (*) received an Honorable Mention from the Award Selection Committee.
- Cat Solen
- Catya Plate *
- Cynthia Wade
- Elizabeth Sargent *
- Fatemeh Hosseini
- Gabriela Garcia Medina
- Jing Zou
- Kate Marks
- Katrina Whalen
- Lana Wilson
- Marissa Chibas
- Masami Kawai *
- Michele Atkins
- Missy Hernandez
- Sonia Malfa
The Award Selection Committee provided these statements about the filmmakers singled out for Honorable Mention:
ALMA by Catya Plate for its unique and charming approach of stop motion and world building. In this story, a brilliant bird who’s a healer, is on a mission to get Earth back on track.
Liz Sargent’s TAKE ME HOME for its tender attentiveness to the challenges of navigating sisterhood, caregiving, and neurodiversity. In Sargent’s script, Anna, a disabled caregiver, quietly navigates the sudden shifts in her family’s life as she searches for her own path forward.
Masami Kawai’s filmmaking approach and her project VALLEY OF THE TALL GRASS for creating a poetic multi-protagonist story with special focus on indigenous stories. In Kawai’s script, a TV/VCR combo set is thrown out in an Oregon town, but it survives and circulates through the lives of various Indigenous characters of color.
👉 READ MORE ABOUT ALL 14 FINALISTS (via IndieWire magazine)
Chinese filmmaker Jing Zou, director of the narrative feature film “A Girl Unknown,” has been named as the winner of the fifth annual Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant from Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum (NWFF). This grant includes an unrestricted cash award of $25,000 to support her directorial debut, which follows a girl from age six through her 30s as she’s passed between multiple families and is inspired by the true story of generations of Chinese girls who were abandoned as a result of the country’s defunct one-child policy.
“I am absolutely honored to be selected as the recipient of the 2024 Lynn Shelton ‘Of a Certain Age’ award for my first feature, ‘A Girl Unknown.’ Thank you for this recognition and for your support,” Zou said in a statement. “I am committed to making the most of this award and to creating a film that honors the spirit of Lynn Shelton.”
ABOUT JING ZOU
Jing Zou is a Chinese-born writer/director based out of Los Angeles and Shanghai, member of DGA. She started her career on TV documentaries and commercials before pursuing her dream of writing and directing narrative work.
Her first narrative short Duo Li (Lili Alone) has won numerous international awards and screened at more than 80 international film festivals, including Leitz Cine Discovery Prize for Best Short Film at the 60th Semaine de la Critique Cannes 2021, the Best Fiction Short Film at the 69th Melbourne International Film Festival, Leeds International Film Festival Special Mention, BFI London Film Festival, ND/NF…She’s currently developing her first feature A GIRL UNKNOWN, which has won the Semaine de la Critique’s Next Step Prize 2024 and “Best Talent Project” at Shanghai International Film Festival 2024.
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ABOUT THE LYNN SHELTON “OF A CERTAIN AGE” GRANT
In 2020, The Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant was established by Northwest Film Forum alongside Duplass Brothers Productions to honor Seattle filmmaker Lynn Shelton, who passed away on May 16th, 2020. Lynn Shelton often spoke of feeling inspired after seeing filmmaker Claire Denis speak at Northwest Film Forum and learning that Denis did not make her first feature until age 40. Shelton went on to make her own first feature film (We Go Way Back) at the age of 39. In the years since, she built a prolific canon of feature and television work and made an indelible mark on the landscape of American cinema.
ABOUT LYNN SHELTON
Lynn Shelton emerged from her hometown of Seattle to become a major force in American independent cinema and a prolific television director. She was a vibrant, kind, creative human being. Her work drew acclaim for its compassion, humor, unique voice and wonderful performances. Shelton directed eight features including Humpday (2009), Your Sister’s Sister (2011), Outside In (2018), and Sword of Trust (2019). Shelton also worked in television, directing memorable episodes of acclaimed series, including Mad Men, GLOW, The Mindy Project, and Little Fires Everywhere.
ABOUT THE AWARD SELECTION COMMITTEE
Jennifer Phang
Jennifer began her film career by writing and directing her first feature HALF-LIFE — a magic-real family drama — which premiered at Sundance. Her sophomore feature ADVANTAGEOUS won a Sundance Dramatic Jury Prize and was acquired by Netflix for an exclusive worldwide streaming deal. The sci-fi mother-daughter drama became a cult hit while Phang ventured into television, eventually directing the Iceland episodes of HBOMax’s Emmy-nominated THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT. Jennifer has directed a slew of high-end genre television including AppleTV’s adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s FOUNDATION, RESIDENT ALIEN for Amblin/UCP, the pilot of Disney’s hit series THE SECRET OF SULPHUR SPRINGS, Amazon’s THE BOYS, THE EXPANSE , DC’s STARGIRL, and Marvel’s AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Most recently she returned to Disney as director and co-executive producer to relaunch Disney’s multi billion-dollar franchise through an expansive musical extravaganza DESCENDENTS: THE RISE OF RED. Set in the world of Disney villains, the fantasy film debuted on Disney+ in July 2024 hitting number one on Luminate streaming ratings, Billboard soundtrack charts, and breaking Disney viewership records.
Sarah Adina Smith
The Los Angeles Times calls Sarah Adina Smith “…an exciting, singular filmmaker, who seems able to use genre elements for storytelling that can often take on a more spiritual, mystical tone.” Her debut features were two psycho-spiritual thrillers: THE MIDNIGHT SWIM and BUSTER’S MAL HEART, the latter of which gave Academy Award winner Rami Malek his first lead role in a feature film. Sarah then broke into TV, directing two celebrated episodes of ROOM 104 for HBO: THE KNOCKANDOO and RALPHIE, which the Hollywood Reporter described as “an internalized nightmare… it’s creepy, weird and sticks with you.” Sarah’s first love is darker, psychological fare but she excels across a wide range of genres. She helmed the Emmy nominated, propulsive action-thriller HANNA for Amazon as well as the sweetly sentimental LOOKING FOR ALASKA for Hulu before writing and directing her first studio feature: BIRDS OF PARADISE, a dance drama starring Diana Silvers and Kristine Froseth. Sarah directed the first two episodes of the Golden Globe nominated LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY, starring Academy Award winner Brie Larson for Apple+. She won the DGA award for best directing of a limited series for her episode “Her & Him.” Most recently, she directed half of the first season of A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS for HBO.
Avril Speaks
Avril Speaks has been carving out her path as a bold, innovative storyteller for years, not only as a Producer and Director but also as a film mentor and advocate through Film Independent, the Sundance Institute, and Distribution Advocates, and formerly as a professor at Howard University. Avril has produced several award-winning films including JINN, which premiered at SXSW and won Special Jury Recognition for Writing, HOSEA, and the South African film AFRICAN AMERICA, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award, four African Movie Academy Awards and was acquired by Netflix. She also produced the documentary BLACK AMERICA IS…, which premiered at the Afrikana Film Festival and won Best Feature Documentary at various film festivals. As a Director and Showrunner, Avril has worked on docu-series such as UPROOTED on HBOMax, KEEP THIS BETWEEN US on Freeform/Hulu, and FILES OF THE UNEXPLAINED, which debuted as the #1 show on Netflix. Avril is a recipient of the inaugural Dear Producer Award, the Sundance Momentum Fellowship, and is a recent recipient of the Film Independent/Netflix Amplifier Fellowship. She is a recurring creative advisor for Global Media Makers, and is one of the co-founders of Distribution Advocates, where she hosts the podcast Distribution Advocates Presents.
ABOUT NORTHWEST FILM FORUM
Northwest Film Forum incites public dialogue and creative action through collective cinematic experiences. A nonprofit film and arts center located in Seattle, Northwest Film Forum presents hundreds of films, festivals, community events, multidisciplinary performances, and public discussions each year. A comprehensive visual media organization, the Forum offers educational workshops and artist services for film and media makers at all stages of their development. Artist services include access to space, gear, fiscal sponsorship, and an edit lab. Northwest Film Forum is a member-based organization. nwfilmforum.org
ABOUT DUPLASS BROTHERS PRODUCTIONS
Under their banner Duplass Brothers Productions (DBP), award-winning filmmakers Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass and Mel Eslyn create original projects for film, television, and digital media. In television, DBP is under a first-look deal with HBO which has yielded the hit series ROOM 104, TOGETHERNESS, and the HBO animated series ANIMALS. Most recently they produced HBO’s award winning show SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE, starring Bridget Everett which was named an AFI TV Program of the Year in its first season and won a Peabody Award in its second.
In film, Mark and Jay first gained recognition in the early 2000’s for writing, directing and producing several acclaimed independent and studio films, including THE PUFFY CHAIR, BAGHEAD, CYRUS, and JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME. The teams’ numerous feature film credits in the decades following have included THE ONE I LOVE, TANGERINE, SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, CREEP (1 & 2), THE OVERNIGHT, 7 DAYS, OUTSIDE IN, LANGUAGE LESSONS and THE SKELETON TWINS. Last year DBP released Eslyn’s feature directorial debut BIOSPHERE starring Sterling K. Brown alongside Mark, to much acclaim.
The team frequently collaborates with the documentary filmmaker Sam Jones’, most recently on his HBO features TONY HAWK: UNTIL THE WHEELS FALL OFF for which they won the Producers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Sports Program, and JASON ISBELL: RUNNING WITH OUR EYES CLOSED. They also produced the award-winning documentary NOT GOING QUIETLY, which follows the activist and lawyer Ady Barkan as he embarks on a national campaign for healthcare reform. Their most recent documentary LAST STOP LARRIMAH aired on HBO in the states and on Netflix internationally.
DBP is also active in the docuseries television space, best known for producing Netflix’s WILD WILD COUNTRY, winner of the Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series in 2018. Additionally, the team produced the critically acclaimed series THE LADY AND THE DALE on HBO, Hulu’s SASQUATCH and OUT THERE: CRIMES OF THE PARANORMAL, and Netflix’s AMERICAN CONSPIRACY:THE OCTOPUS MURDERS to name a few.
Most recently Eslyn and Mark co-created the series PENELOPE on Netflix, which landed in the Top 10 Most Watched TV Shows in its first week, followed by a Spirit Award nomination for the lead actress Megan Stott. The team also released their latest installment of their CREEP franchise, THE CREEP TAPES, which in its first week became the #2 trending title on AMC+. As well as the final season of SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE, which garnered 2 Critic’s Choice nominations. Next up, Jay will mark his return to feature directing with 2 films, THE BALTIMORONS and SEE YOU WHEN I SEE YOU. Other upcoming releases include Morrisa Maltz’s JAZZY which they produced with Lily Gladstone, Nnamdi Asomugha’s THE KNIFE, and Katie Aselton’s MAGIC HOUR.