The Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation, better known as the organization behind the annual “genius grant” awards, has announced 15 documentary film projects that will receive funding.
One of those films is the documentary “Count Me In” from Chicago filmmaker Ines Sommer. She is the recipient of a $150,000 grant for her chronicle of ordinary citizens taking back some of their tax-paying power. The process is called participatory budgeting, in which the city’s alderman set aside about $1 million in “menu funds” and agree to work with and seek the opinions of their constituents (through a binding vote) about projects and services worthy of funding.
Other documentaries receiving grants include “3 1/2 Minutes” (which examines Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws) and “On the Outside: The Year After Prison” (which follows several inmates in their first months after release).
