Now in its sixth year, the Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant awards $25,000 to a US-based woman, non-binary, or transgender filmmaker, age 39 or older, who has yet to direct a narrative feature. Similar to the previous iterations, the grant will be a national open call, and seeks to recognize a film director for their distinct vision, storytelling, and singularity. The recipient of the 2024 installment was Jing Zou.  

In 2020, Northwest Film Forum, alongside Duplass Brothers Productions, and with major support from COLOR and Eliza Flug, launched their inaugural Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant to honor the legacy of beloved late filmmaker Lynn Shelton. Shelton often spoke of seeing filmmaker Claire Denis at NWFF and feeling inspired that Denis made her first feature at age 40. Soon after that, at age 39, Shelton made her own first feature film (We Go Way Back). She followed that with a prolific canon of feature and television work that has continued to shape the landscape of American cinema.

Megan Griffiths, NWFF board member, filmmaker, and Shelton’s close friend and collaborator, shared, “I’m proud and grateful to be working alongside Northwest Film Forum to usher this grant into its sixth year, especially having just celebrated what would have been Lynn’s 60th birthday. Lynn was an example to an industry that underestimates and overlooks women of a certain age that it isn’t about when you start, it’s about what you add to the conversation.”

ELIGIBILITY & CRITERIA

• Eligible filmmakers must have “director” credit on at least one short film or feature documentary and have a desire to work in the narrative space. Filmmakers with “director” credit on a feature-length (70+ min) narrative film will not be considered.
• Filmmaker should be a woman, non-binary, and/or transgender individual, and be 39 years or older at the time of their application.
• Filmmaker must be able to receive income in the U.S.
• Filmmaker should be at a point in their career where such recognition would be meaningful and provide needed support.
• We strongly encourage filmmakers to apply who identify as either disabled, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color), LGBTQ2IA+, or who live in rural areas.

NOTABLE DATES

• Friday, October 3, 2025 – Application Deadline
• Friday, November 7, 2025 – Finalists Selected
• Week of December 8, 2025 – Award Selection

INFO SESSION

• Friday, September 19, 2025

Northwest Film Forum’s Collective Power Fund returns this year with fourteen grants for individual artists and artist-run collectives who live in unincorporated and incorporated King County. Individual artists will be able to apply for the lower two tiers; the $2,000 grants will be for Research & Development, to compensate artists for intellectual labor and idea development, while the $5,000 grants will be for New Work & Project Grants, to support the creation and presentation of visionary, artist-driven new work and projects. The $10,000 tier will be exclusive to artist teams or artist-run collectives.

Collective Power Fund is presented as a part of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts’ Regional Regranting Program. Collective Power Fund focuses primarily on supporting work that incites public dialogue, pushes boundaries, explores genre fluidity, speaks its truth through an authentic perspective, and is often non-traditional, anti-institutional, socially responsible, or disruptive of existing structures and conventions. It encourages a community-forward environment of resource-sharing, mutual support, and fellowship in the Pacific Northwest arts ecosystem.

“We are so excited to be continuing our partnership with the Warhol Foundation and continuing to support local artists in the state of Washington through the Collective Power Fund,” said Derek Edamura, Executive Director of Northwest Film Forum.