About Pangea Day

Pangea Day Filmmaker Retreat

On May 9 at Sony Studios, 100 promising filmmakers from around the world will meet at the Pangea Day Filmmaker Retreat, a groundbreaking event where filmmakers from many cultures and backgrounds will share their stories, experiences, and ambitions.

A dozen top filmmakers, experts in their respective fields, will join the project as gurus and guides. Among them are Academy Award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side), actor and director Matthew Modine, Academy Award-nominated producers Lawrence Bender and Caroline Baron, documentary filmmaker Deborah Scranton (The War Tapes), and director Haile Gerima.

Some sample activities:

• Round-table discussions in small groups with the retreat's team of mentors
• Explorations of cross-cultural storytelling
• Improv filmmaking exercises
• Debate, discussion, and community-building

Pangea Day Grant & Awards

Just as important as the stories shared on Pangea Day are the storytellers themselves. A grant and awards program has been established through a partnership with Participant Productions, the people behind such socially conscious films as An Inconvenient Truth; Syriana; and Good Night, and Good Luck.

The goal of this program is to provide recognition, encouragement, and financial support for outstanding filmmakers. A jury of Pangea Day judges will make its selections based upon the filmmaker's ability to provide "entertainment that inspires and compels social change."