The Southern Documentary Fund (SDF) is an arts nonprofit dedicated to empowering Southern makers to tell their stories through Southern eyes. It aims to prioritize underrepresented voices with long connections to the South. By providing diverse resources such as grants, fiscal sponsorship, mentorship, community awareness, education, and training, SDF champions Southern documentary media and strives to lower barriers to entry for new and emerging makers.
The 2023 SDF Production Grant, supported by The MacArthur Foundation, aims to cultivate documentaries made in or about the American South by Southern makers. This grant program focuses on funding nonfiction documentaries, including shorts, features, docuseries, and experimental projects, that are currently in production. It places particular emphasis on bringing visibility to makers and communities that are often overlooked. The program will award up to five makers with grants of $10,000 each to assist in their production efforts.