IF/Then American Midwest 2020

Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) hosted its first ever virtual IF/Then Shorts pitch on April 16th, 2020.

This pitch was previously supposed to take place at the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF), but given the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, TFI and CIFF took the show on line.

TFI and CIFF jointly selected 6 finalists to present their projects before a panel of industry judges. The winner will receive $25,000 to be used towards the completion of their films, year-round mentorship through TFI, as well as a festival finishing package from Bruton/Stroube Studios. Our jurors are:

  • Mridu Chandra, Independent Filmmaker
  • Chloe Gbai, Tribeca Film Institute
  • Lucas Harger, Bruton/Stroube Studio 
  • Sheila Nevins, MTV Documentary Films

Bruton Stroube is a proud returning partner of Tribeca Film Institute and will provide a Festival Finishing Package for this year's IF/Then Shorts American Midwest pitch competition winner at CIFF. The short film package is comprised of picture, sound, and deliverables from their award-winning talent.

The winning team was TO BE RECONCILED. Learn more about the finalists below:

A PEACEFUL PLACE
Director & Producer: Paul Szynol
Producer: Risé Sanders-Weir
Location of Production: Michigan
A Marine Corps veteran struggles with PTSD and the American judicial system.

COMRADES OF THE MIDWEST
Director: Hao Zhou
Producer: Tyler Hill
Location of Production: Iowa
The American Midwest is home to more than 30,000 Chinese international students, among them hundreds of LGBTQ+ individuals. Coming from a society that suppresses their true identities, they are challenged, but optimistic, as they adapt to a new environment that celebrates who they are.

THE HOUSE ON THE HILL
Directors: Naeema Torres and Amber Love
Location of Production: Illinois
Oral histories are woven together to examine the legacy and unresolved future of the decaying Crenshaw House - also known as The Old Slave House - in Equality, Illinois, a place of haunting and mystery surrounding its role in the slave trade.

MEMORY CAMP
Director: Suzanne Jurva
Producer: Daniela Cortes
Location of Production: Wisconsin
Memory Camp is a cinema verite short film that follows the story of families attending America’s first overnight wilderness camp for people with memory loss and dementia. By “inspiring awe” through nature, creativity and spirituality, Memory Camp is the story of how people overcome the limits of their diagnosis to thrive with the help of a supportive, caring community.

RIGHT TO FLOURISH
Director: Elizabeth Scheltens
Producer: Anita Kwan
Location of Production: Ohio
When a group of Toledo, Ohio residents gets fed up with their polluted drinking water, they get a crash course in political organizing and learn just how difficult it can be to change the status quo in a state where industrial agriculture is king. This film brings together activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians to ask a fundamental question: In an age of global climate change and economic uncertainty, who has the right to flourish?

TO BE RECONCILED
Director: James Christenson
Producer: Brennan Vance
Location of Production: Minnesota
As Carlos fights a zero-tolerance immigration system and the relentless threat of deportation, he reflects upon faith, recovery, redemption and the possibility of being indefinitely separated from his family.

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