2008 Films

Only thirty-seven at the time of his death, Garrett Scott made a distinctive mark in the documentary genre during his brief career. Without any formal training in film, he directed Cul De Sac: A Suburban War Story and went on to make Occupation: Dreamland, co-directed by Ian Olds.

Created by family, friends, and colleagues, this grant recognizes first-time filmmakers, who, like Garrett, bring a unique vision to the content and style of documentary films. The recipients are selected based on their works-in-progress and are provided with travel and accommodations at the festival. Full Frame is honored to host these filmmakers and looks forward to their finished work.

The 2008 Garrett Scott Development Grant is awarded to Rebecca Richman Cohen for War Don Don, Mai Iskander for Garbage Dreams, and Nathan Fisher for The Party After the War. Ian Olds will join the grant recipients for a presentation of ten-minute excerpts from their works-in-progress.

• War Don Don   Rebecca Richman Cohen

  War Don Don follows Issa Sesay, a Revolutionary United Front rebel commander in Sierra Leone, as he stands trial for crimes against humanity. The film interweaves the story of Sesay’s rise to power with a multifaceted account of a man whom some condemn as a war criminal and others praise for persuading the RUF to disarm.

• Garbage Dreams   Mai Iskander

  Known as Zaballeen, or “garbage people,” a group of waste collectors in Egypt earn their living recycling ninety percent of the trash they collect in the streets of Cairo. The film follows the community as multinational corporations hired by the Egyptian government threaten to usurp their painstaking livelihood.

• The Party After the War   Nathan Fisher

  In the largest exodus in six decades, at least five million Iraqis—twenty percent of Iraq’s pre-war population—have fled their homes since the United States and its allies invaded the country in 2003. The film chronicles the lives of several Iraqi refugees from a variety of ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds who now live in Syria and Jordan.