AXS Film Fund marks milestone and announces new round of grantees
Now in its sixth year, the AXS Film Fund has awarded $262,000 to 29 underrepresented creators. Six new projects join the roster as the 2026 open call runs through July 31.
Committed to empowering creators of color living with disabilities in their endeavors to tell stories, make films, and create content.
Next round of grant applications is now open through July 31st.
In the wake of 2020’s societal reckoning that also led to a heightened awareness of inequities in the film and television industry, Jason DaSilva, a filmmaker, disability advocate, and founder of the nonprofit AXS Lab, felt a call to action.
From that urgency, AXS Film Fund was born, not as a trend, but as a commitment to equity in storytelling. Now entering its sixth year, AXS Film Fund has elevated 29 underrepresented creators and storytellers working across documentary film and nonfiction new media with grants totaling $262,000, amplifying voices that might otherwise be lost.
“As one shining star in the constellation of AXS Lab, alongside initiatives such as AXS Map, the AXS Film Fund ensures that stories at the intersection of film, technology, disability, and social change do not simply exist, but are seen, supported, and celebrated.”
“It has been an honor to be a part of the AXS Film Fund and watch it evolve from its inception. It is a privilege to collaborate with such a talented community of creators. While we can only fund a fraction of the project grant applications we receive, the volume of essential, timely stories and unique perspectives deserves to be heard.”
The fund’s reach continues to expand. In its 2025 Open Call, AXS Film Fund received 250 applications including 201 feature-length documentary projects and 49 nonfiction new media projects. From this highly competitive pool, six projects were selected for funding following review by an esteemed panel of external reviewers.
AXS Film Fund grentee application reviewers this year were Brenda Avila-Hanna, Neha Aziz, Chica Barbosa, Libby Chun, Bedatri Datta Choudhury, Tania Dominguez-Rangel, Czarina Garcia, Fay Ginsberg, Jarrad Henderson, Aya Nimer, Jane Nunez, Zuri Obi, Dr. Grishma Shah, Jordain Searles, Kristal Sotomayor, Rachel Summers, Robert Winn, Paige Wood, and Veronica Wood.
The 2026 call for applications is now open and accepting submissions until 11:59pm Eastern on July 31st, 2026. Please visit www.axsfilmfund.org for more information.
AXS Lab’s Programs have been supported by The Bertha Foundation, Jerome Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. AXS Film Fund was also supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The 2025 AXS Film Fund Recipients
Projects are listed in alphabetical order by title.
Films
Becoming, Becoming
Directed & Produced by: Patrick G. Lee
Logline: Becoming, Becoming follows two openly trans best friends in Seoul, Korea, as they explore gender, seek belonging, and manifest their future as part of a chosen family of nightlife performers.
Disposable Humanity
Directed by: Cameron S. Mitchell. Produced by: Cameron S. Mitchell and David T. Mitchell. Executive Produced by: Steve Way and Nic Novicki.
Logline: The Mitchell family investigates the history and memory of the Nazi Aktion T4 program which targeted disabled people and catalyzed the Holocaust.
Website: https://www.disposablehumanity.com
Dreamin’ Cats (working title)
Directed & Produced by: Seon Shim
Logline: Dreamin’ Cats traces the lives of autistic and developmentally disabled artists in Seoul, linked less by direct contact than by the same subway lines, art spaces, and a quiet current of han, as they navigate precarity and imagine livable futures within an ableist city.
Study and Struggle
Directed by: Jules Rosskam. Produced by: Julianna Brannum.
Logline: Beginning in coastal Connecticut and moving west across the United States, Study and Struggle explores how land, learning, and power became intertwined in the making of modern universities.
The House of Our Memory
Directed & Produced by: Alan Domínguez
Logline: In the landscapes of northern New Mexico, a Vietnam veteran and artist reckons with the trauma of war while his filmmaker son returns to the sites of childhood clergy abuse. Through Super 8 home movies, art, and intimate acts of remembrance, The House of Our Memory becomes a lyrical exploration of masculinity, intergenerational trauma, and the search for healing.
New Media Project
A Face for a Thousand Heroes
Directed & Produced by: Maya Pen
Synopsis: This interdisciplinary project transforms personal disability narratives into mythical landscapes, reimagining the origins of our “broken” bodies beyond internalized colonial influence. Told through short episodes, handmade artifacts, and written tales, the work will be presented as an immersive exhibition, and ultimately archived and released on its own immersive site.
Website: https://www.mayapen.com/a-face-for-a-thousand-heroes