Borscht Corporation

TheBorscht Corporationis a501(c)(3) nonprofitthat creates short films and videos in and about the city ofMiami, Florida.In addition to hosting aquasi-annual film festivalthat screens their work,Borscht Corp. provides financial and technical support to its commissioned filmmakers.
Since receiving a challenge grant from theJohn S. and James L. Knight Foundationin 2010,Borscht Corp. has spearheaded productions by untested moviemakers and provided a creative platform for underrepresented (often Latin American) identities in film.
Borscht Corp. hosts a quasi-annual film festival in Miami that functions as a venue to share their work. Named one of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World byMovieMaker Magazine,the Borscht Film Festival has simultaneously been hailed as "the weirdest film festival on the planet."
Borscht Corporation holds open calls asking for project ideas from artists from, living in, or inspired by Miami. They seek out both first-time filmmakers from the community and invite guest filmmakers to collaborate.
Twenty short films commissioned by Borscht Corp. have screened at theSundance Film Festival, with two of them winning Jury Prizes.
In each of the 2016 and 2018 editions of Sundance, Borscht had four projects in competition.
Fourteen Borscht Corp short films have screened atSXSW Film Festival, with three winning jury prizes.
Eight Borscht Corporation short films have screened atAFI Fest, with three winning jury prizes.
Ten Borscht Corp short films have been acquired byThe Criterion Collectionand are streaming onThe Criterion Channel.
As of 2018, Borscht Corp shorts have collectively won fifty-one awards at film festivals.
At least twenty-one Borscht Corp commissions have been selected asVimeoStaff Picks.
Borscht Corp. productions have seen media coverage from sites, television networks, and publications as varied asArt Papers,CBS News,Interview,The New YorkerandVICE.
Their work has screened at hundreds of venues worldwide, from theMuseum of Modern Artand theGuggenheimin New York Cityto theAFI,Rotterdam International,Sundance,SXSW,Toronto International,Tribeca, andVenice Film Festivals.
In 2015, Borscht Corp. was the subject of two retrospectives: one at theCERNin Geneva, Switzerland as part of the Cineglobe International Film Festival,and another at the Independent Filmmaker Project's Media Center in Brooklyn, New York.TheLos Angeles County Museum of Art(LACMA)will host a Borscht Corp. retrospective in 2016.
Thirteen of Borscht Corp.'s core members and alumni—Bernardo Britto,Lucas Leyva,Jillian Mayer,Terence Nance,Celia Rowlson-Hall,Marnie Ellen Hertzler,Barry Jenkins,Alex Lim Haas,Robin Comisar,Sam Kuhn,Faren Humes,Keisha Rae WitherspoonandSebastián Silva—have been named toFilmmakerMagazine'sannual list of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film.
Three were named to theNew York Times' list of 20 Directors to Watch in 2013—Barry Jenkins,Terence Nance, andSebastián Silva.
Borscht Corp. has received grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation,Creative Capital,and Time Warner OneFifty.
Bernardo Britto's animated shortsPlaces Where We LivedandYearbookwere both awarded the Animated Short Grand Jury Prize at the AFI Fest in 2013 and 2014, respectively. His short filmGlovereceived the Animated Short Grand Jury Award at the 2016 SXSW Film Festival.
Britto's animated shortYearbookreceived the Short Film Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014.
Jillian Mayer and Lucas Leyva's (collectively Mayer\Leyva) short videoScenic Joggingwas selected by the Guggenheim Museums in New York, Berlin, Bilbao, and Venice to be a part of their YouTube PLAY exhibition in 2010.
Mayer\Leyva's short filmsLife & Freaky Times of Uncle Lukeand#PostModemwere finalists for the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the 2012 and 2013 Sundance Film Festivals.In 2015, Mayer\Leyva's web seriesNO SEASONS—produced in association withMTV—received aWebby Awardfor Outstanding Reality Series.