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FOCUS FORWARD

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SHORT FILMS, BIG IDEAS

FOCUS FORWARD - Short Films, Big Ideas is an award-winning series of 30
three-minute stories about innovators—people who are reshaping the world through
act or invention—directed by the world's most celebrated documentary filmmakers.
The films have been viewed in 150 countries and screened to audiences on all
seven continents.


DISCOVER FOCUS FORWARD FILMS NOW

Best known for his Segway Personal Transporter, inventor Dean Kamen is taking on
the world's great challenges one invention at a time. Slingshot is the story of
Kamen, his water purification, and his innovative approach to the planet's safe
water crisis.


THE FILMS

FOCUS FORWARD films debuted online and at major film festivals around the world.
Here are all 30 films in the series, the most recent of which world
premiered at the
2013 Sundance Film Festival

Biologists spent ten years trying to map the structure of the elusive Mason
Pfizer Monkey Virus, a problem that could unlock the cure for AIDS. The
Contenders solved it in three weeks. Using the onlin...
THE CONTENDERS
LUCY WALKER

What do trees know that we don't? 13-year-old inventor Aidan realized that trees
use a mathematical formula to gather sunlight in crowded forests. Then he
wondered why we don’t collect solar energy in t...
THE SECRET OF TREES
ALBERT MAYSLES

Jack Andraka, a high school sophomore, has developed a revolutionary new test
for pancreatic cancer. The future of science is in the hands of our youth.
YOU DON'T KNOW JACK
MORGAN SPURLOCK

Tech entrepreneur Rehan Allawala is on a mission to empower Pakistan’s most
disenfranchised before they’re left behind by the Internet revolution.
TECHISTAN
SENAIN KHESHGI

After waiting 50 years, some exceedingly rare pigs help Dr. Bob Elliott perform
a medical miracle.
THE CLEANEST PIG
DAVID WHITE & PAUL WEDEL

Who would dare to pit one fatal disease against another… inside the body of a
six-year-old patient? The results will shatter all expectations.
FIRE WITH FIRE
ROSS KAUFFMAN

Panmela Castro was born and raised in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
She is the president of Nami Network, a feminist organization that promotes
women's rights through graffiti-art. A tireless...
PANMELA CASTRO
HELOISA PASSOS

Can virtual reality control pain? Interface designer Dr. Diane Gromala has
experienced chronic pain for the last 25 years. Working with concepts of
mindfulness meditation, where a patient focuses on the...
IN YOUR HEAD
PETRA EPPERLEIN & MICHAEL TUCKER

MUSIC MAN tells the story of professor and inventor Ge Wang who teaches computer
music at Stanford University where he began the innovative Stanford Laptop
Orchestra. Wang believes everyone who loves mu...
THE MUSIC MAN
STEVE JAMES

Is the next Steve Jobs living in a remote Russian town? Meet Maxim, the young
inventor of a truly jaw-dropping new technology with limitless applications that
will eliminate the need for screens and mon...
DISPLAIR
VICTOR KOSSAKOVSKY

Dr Edie Widder takes us on a journey deep under the sea. She’s used pioneering
research with bioluminescent sea creatures to help us shine a light on the
levels of pollution we’re producing above the gr...
SPEAKING WITH LIGHT
ALEX GIBNEY

In an area better known for apocalyptic sandstorms, punishing heat,
and seemingly endless war, Sudan’s state-of-the-art Salam Center offers
highly specialized health care free...
EMERGENCY
KIEF DAVIDSON

This is the story of how mushrooms can save the world! Renowned mycologist and
mushroom pioneer Paul Stamets harnesses the power of infamous fungi to fight the
planet’s leading problems, from developing...
MUSHROOM MAN
LESLIE IWERKS

Fredrik Gertten profiles two idealistic young female entrepreneurs who created a
revolutionary 21st-century design object everyone told them would be impossible
to fashion.
THE INVISIBLE BICYCLE HELMET
FREDRIK GERTTEN

A dynamic portrait of Peter Diamandis, the visionary behind the X Prize
Foundation, which provides financial awards to spur the next generation of big
thinkers and enables inventors to solve the world’s...
THE SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT
ANNIE SUNDBERG & RICKI STERN

Journalist Deng Fei set up the Free Lunch Campaign in 2011 — raising $3.9
million from Chinese social-media users in just one year — and pioneered the
power of micro-blogging in China’s battle against i...
OPERATION FREE LUNCH
LIXIN FAN

A tuneful look at the unlikely origins of the world’s favorite pitch-modulation
audio software and the ways in which its creative impact has been felt by
musical artists and listeners worldwide.
THE AUTO-TUNE EFFECT
STANLEY NELSON

Can a robot be your friend? Your teacher? Your Caretaker? The answer is yes and
it may not be as scary as you think.
ROBOT
LIZ GARBUS

Bread can be considered many things: warm; delicious; sustaining. It’s also
slang for money. This literal slice of life, which follows the typical day of an
ex-gang member on his first job in the bakery...
GOOD BREAD
EDDIE SCHMIDT

Over three days in April 2012, Remote Area Medical, the pioneers of “no-cost”
health care clinics, treated nearly 2000 patients on the infield of Bristol,
Tennessee’s massive NASCAR speedway.
REMOTE AREA MEDICAL
JEFF REICHERT & FARIHAH ZAMAN

In today’s context of biological and ecological destruction caused by chemical
farming, industrial agriculture and genetic engineering, the film explores the
core philosophy of “Navdanya” movement ignit...
NEW GIFT
SUPRIYO SEN

In March 2011, two visionary doctors from the Texas Heart Institute successfully
replaced a dying man's heart with a 'continuous flow' device, proving that life
was possible without a heart beat.Jeremia...
HEART STOP BEATING
JEREMIAH ZAGAR

For those without access to a simple toilet, poop can be poison.
Businessman-turned-sanitation-superhero Jack Sim fights this oft-neglected
crisis affecting 2.6 billion people.Jessica Yu is the Oscar-wi...
MEET MR. TOILET
JESSICA YU

The Roland TR-808 drum machine inspires musicians around the world, even though
the device hasn’t been made since 1984 — and most of its avid users have never
actually seen one.
ALL HAIL THE BEAT
NELSON GEORGE

If we change the way we think about honor, could we make the world a better
place? Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah proves we can.
THE HONOR CODE
KATY CHEVIGNY

Trash becomes energy at a small New York landfill where people are thinking
differently about garbage.Gary Hustwit has won acclaim worldwide for his design
trilogy Helvetica, Objectified, and Urbanized....
THE LANDFILL
JESSICA EDWARDS & GARY HUSTWIT

Dr. Joseph Rizzo and Prof. John Wyatt have pioneered a technology for restoring
sight to patients who suffer from degenerative blindness.
THE BIONIC EYE
STEVEN CANTOR

What if roads and highways were solar, fueling enough energy to power electric
vehicles as well as nearby communities?
SOLAR ROADWAYS
MICHELE OHAYON

An unusual marriage of form and function energizes the jaw-droppingly beautiful
Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Brooklyn, New York.David W. Leitner
is the Oscar-nominated producer of Fo...
NEWTOWN CREEK DIGESTER EG...
DAVID W. LEITNER

A moving portrait of Hilary Lister, a quadriplegic champion sailor whose
metal-and-circuit-board navigational tool, invented with friends, led her to
conquer the oceans of the world.Phil Cox is the awar...
HILARY'S STRAWS
PHIL COX


THE DIRECTORS

A who's who of international documentary filmmakers drawn from every corner of
the globe, FOCUS FORWARD directors are the most distinguished nonfiction
storytellers working in contemporary independent cinema today. Many have won
Academy Awards for their shorts and features; others have earned their laurels
at world-renowned festivals and at the box office.

Award-winning director and cinematographer of Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter and
Salesman.


ALBERT MAYSLES

Hustwit has won acclaim worldwide for his design trilogy Helvetica, Objectified,
and Urbanized. Edwards is the award-winning director of Seltzer Works.


JESSICA EDWARDS & GARY HUSTWIT

Oscar-nominated producer of Twist of Faith, This Film Is Not Yet Rated, Chain
Camera, and the Emmy-nominated Troubadours.


EDDIE SCHMIDT

Oscar-nominated director of Waste Land, Countdown to Zero, Devil's Playground,
Blindsight, and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom.


LUCY WALKER

Award-winning director of Hoop Dreams, Stevie, At the Death House Door, and The
Interrupters.


STEVE JAMES

Award-winning director of We Are the Indians and The Bengali Detective, recently
seen on HBO.


PHIL COX

Oscar-winning director of Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids.


ROSS KAUFFMAN

Oscar-nominated director and producer of Blood Ties: The Life and Work of Sally
Mann, Devil's Playground, loudQUIETloud, and HBO's Family Bonds.


STEVEN CANTOR

Award-winning creators of I KILL, LEX, and the acclaimed feature SHIHAD:
BEAUTIFUL MACHINE.


DAVID WHITE & PAUL WEDEL

Award-winning director of ¡Vivan las antipodas!, Russia from My Window, Hush,
Pavel i Lyalya, Sreda, and Belovy.


VICTOR KOSSAKOVSKY

Reichert is the award-winning director and producer of Gerrymandering. Zaman is
a Brooklyn-based journalist, filmmaker and programmer.


JEFF REICHERT & FARIHAH ZAMAN

Emmy-nominated director of Deadline and Election Day; founder of Arts Engine and
Media That Matters.


KATY CHEVIGNY

Award-winning director and cinematographer of MANDA BALA, WASTE LAND, VIVA
VOLTA.


HELOISA PASSOS

Pepper & Bones are the directors of Gunner Palace, The Prisoner or How I Planned
To Kill Tony Blair, Bulletproof Salesman, How To Fold A Flag, and Fightville.


PETRA EPPERLEIN & MICHAEL TUCKER

Award-winning director of Wagah, Way Back Home, and Hope Dies Last in War,
winner of the 2009 Golden Lotus Award for best documentary.


SUPRIYO SEN

George is an author, filmmaker, television producer, and critic with a long
career in analyzing and presenting diverse elements of African-American culture.
His latest documentary is Brooklyn Bohéme.


NELSON GEORGE

Oscar-nominated director of Colors Straight Up, Cowboy del Amor, Steal a Pencil
for Me, and S.O.S./State of Security.


MICHELE OHAYON

Fredrik Gertten is an award-winning director (BANANAS!*, An Ordinary Family) and
journalist based in Malmö, Sweden. His latest film is Big Boys Gone Bananas!*.


FREDRIK GERTTEN

Oscar-nominated producer of For All Mankind and cinematographer extraordinaire
(Trembling Before G-d, Portrait-in-Progress: Chuck Close).


DAVID W. LEITNER

Award-winning directors of Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, The Devil Came on
Horseback, and The Trials of Darryl Hunt. 


ANNIE SUNDBERG & RICKI STERN

Emmy-nominated director of In a Dream, Delhi House, and Coney Island, 1945.


JEREMIAH ZAGAR

Oscar-nominated director of Kassim the Dream, The Devil's Miner and Open Heart.


KIEF DAVIDSON

Award-winning director of Project Kashmir and co-producer of The First Year,
plus numerous projects for CNN, ABC, Discovery, BBC, and Channel 4. 


SENAIN KHESHGI

Oscar-nominated director of Super Size Me, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, and
most recently, Comic-Con, Episode Four: A Fan's Hope.


MORGAN SPURLOCK

Award-winning director of Last Train Home and producer of the widely acclaimed
feature Up the Yangtze.


LIXIN FAN

Oscar-nominated director of The Farm: Angola USA, Girlhood, Shouting Fire:
Stories from the Edge of Free Speech, and Bobby Fischer Against the World.


LIZ GARBUS

Oscar-winning director of Breathing Lessons, In the Realms of the Unreal,
Protagonist, and Last Call at the Oasis.


JESSICA YU

Emmy- and Sundance-winning director of Freedom Riders, Wounded Knee, Jonestown:
The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Marcus
Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind.


STANLEY NELSON

Oscar-winning director of Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the
Room, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Client 9: The Rise and
Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Magic Trip, and The Last Gladiators.


ALEX GIBNEY

Oscar-nominated director of The Pixar Story, Dirty Oil, Recycled Life, and
Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible.


LESLIE IWERKS


THE FESTIVALS

FOCUS FORWARD films have screened at film festivals and events all over the
world
(yes, even Antarctica). 
Whether in Sundance, Tribeca, Los Angeles, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Melbourne, Dubai
or Guangzhou, audiences have been inspired and moved by these stories of
innovation.

February 3 - 9, 2014
Mumbai, India


MUMBAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

October 31 - November 3, 2013
Dublin, Ireland


UCD SCIENCE EXPRESSION FESTIVAL

October 10-17, 2013
Moscow, Russia


360 CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE FILM FESTIVAL

September 5-8, 2013
Warsaw, Poland


FESTIWAL PRZEMIANY

August 9-18, 2013
Bucharest, Romania


ANONIMUL FILM FESTIVAL

June 7-17, 2013
Bologna, Italy


BIOGRAFILM FESTIVAL

May 3-12, 2013
Vancouver, British Columbia


DOXA DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL

April 17-28, 2013
New York, NY


TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

Jan 17-27, 2013
Park City, UT


SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

December 9-16, 2012
Dubai, UAE


DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

December 3-7, 2012
Guangzhou, China


GUANGZHOU INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL

November 14-25, 2012
Amsterdam, Netherlands


IDFA

October 22 - November 4, 2012
São Paulo, Brazil


SÃO PAULO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

October 6-14, 2012
Busan, South Korea


BUSAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

June 13-17, 2012
Sheffield, UK


SHEFFIELD DOC | FEST

June 14-24, 2012
Los Angeles, CA


LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL

August 2-19, 2012
Melbourne, Australia


MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

April 14-17, 2012
Buenos Aires, Argentina


BAFICI TALENT CAMPUS

February 11-16, 2012
Berlin, Germany


BERLINALE TALENT CAMPUS


FILMMAKER COMPETITION


WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

The five winners of the FOCUS FORWARD $200,000 Filmmaker Competition were
announced at a special awards ceremony at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Each
received a huge cash prize,
including $100,000 to the Grand Jury Prize Winner.  

Watch all five winners, along with the 20 finalists who vied for the prizes.


WATCH THE TRAILER TO FIND OUT MORE


We're proud that filmmakers from over 69 countries submitted films to the
Competition. Winning is great, but what really counts is knowing there are so
many top-notch storytellers all over the world. (See all submissions here.)

Thank you, filmmakers!


MEET THE JURY


WINNERS

Here they are, the winners of the $200,000 FOCUS FORWARD Filmmaker Competition,
including the $100,000 Grand Prize winner. Congratulations, filmmakers!

CYBORG FOUNDATION
Rafel Duran Torrent
Neil Harbisson was born with achromatopsia, a rare condition that causes
complete colour blindness. In 2004, Harbisson and Adam Montandon developed the
eyeborg, a sensory device that translates colours into sounds, which Harbisson,
the world’s first officially recognized cyborg, wears at all times.

THE ARTIFICIAL LEAF

JARED P. SCOTT &...

Dan Nocera has a simple formula to save the planet: sunlight + water = energy...

SLINGSHOT

PAUL LAZARUS

Best known for his Segway Personal Transporter, inventor Dean Kamen is taking on
the world’s...

BONES DON'T LIE AND...

KIM MUNSAMY

After two decades the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG)
remains dedicated to the work...

MINE KAFON

CALLUM COOPER

A short documentary portrait on a designer who has created a low cost solution
to...
See all Finalists


SHORT FILMS, BIG IDEAS



The series celebrates innovators–those who are hard at work, making the world a
better place.

A partnership between GE and Cinelan, FOCUS FORWARD commissioned 30 three-minute
films from an impressive roster of award-winning international filmmakers. The
creative brief was simple: tell a story about an innovator or a world-changing
idea, and do it in about 180 seconds.

The films premiered in 2012 and 2013 at film festivals across six continents as
they also went live online. The films have now been viewed and shared in 150
countries on seven continents (a special screening was arranged for science
conference in Antarctica). 

The same creative brief was offered to filmmakers everywhere during the FOCUS
FORWARD Filmmaker Competition. Astounding entries came in from 69 countries. A
jury of renowned film industry professionals selected five winners at Sundance
2013, who shared $200,000 in cash prizes, the largest ever awarded to short
non-fiction films.

The series has been honored by the London International Awards, Clio, Webby and
Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards. The films continue to reach new audiences
and receive invitations from festivals around the globe. An even greater measure
of their success is the way these stories make people feel–inspired. 


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