UPDATEDto remove reference to the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.
The termination of your grant represents an urgent priority of the administration…
It was such a shock when it happened because these are highly competitive grants.
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and Donald TrumpGetty
They are rigorously vetted, Holder tells Deadline.
Its just some vague sense that this no longer aligns with the priorities of this government.
What are the priorities of the government?
Documentary filmmaker Tracie HolderCourtesy of Tracie Holder
Denying people access to information, knowledge, to data?
It is written as if we did something egregiously wrong and inflammatory, and its just not the case.
Its not an inflammatory film project and nor are the humanities generally.
Theyre rigorously researched and vetted.
We are now unable to support $650,000 in previous grant commitments to nonprofits, including documentary film projects.
We were also planning to award close to $1 million for FY25.
Another documentary filmmaker who requested anonymity for fear of possible reprisals had earned Cal Humanities grants for several projects.
Weve gotten notice that says Cal Humanities will not be making further payments, the filmmaker notes.
That filmmaker also got word last week that their $150,000 federal NEH grant had been terminated.
To have contracted funding pulled away is a shock, a stab, the filmmaker says.
The NEH did not respond to Deadlines request for comment.
The Endowment describes itself as an independent federal agency that supports the humanities in every state and U.S. jurisdiction.
Through his publicist, Burns declined to comment on the NEH cuts.
That grant of $600,000 to filmmaker Cathleen OConnell is among those reportedly chopped.
In exchange, they take a percentage of grants.
Its totally outrageous, says another of the filmmakers who requested anonymity.
These [grants] were authorized by Congress, echoes Tracie Holder, the director ofThe Peoples Willproject.
The fate of the NEH itself remains uncertain.
Proposals may run upward of 100 pages or more and require the input and validation of academic experts.
Directors liken it to writing a dissertation.
Thats so ironic to me about the administration.
They talk about patriotism, and yet here, so many of these films are about American history.
Its totally just throwing money out the window in my own case.
Some filmmakers tell Deadline the loss of the NEH grant will kill their project.
Others are thinking about workarounds.
Its unclear at this particular moment what exactly is possible, says one director.
I think some filmmakers will find other ways of raising the money.
Well get it done.
Im not sure what the field is going to do.
I wish I could say that we are incredibly creative and determined people.
We have to be, to make documentary films already, says a filmmaker.
This is a group of people that will find ways.
At the same time, this is a lifeline thats being cut, thats being severed.
And theres so few that were so reliant on them.
Its a huge, huge hit.
