Britdoc, Bertha team on docus

"The Interrupters" has won the very first grant in the Connect Fund. The Funnel 4 Britdoc Foundation has became a member of forces using the Nigeria-based Bertha Foundation to produce two funds for documentary features amassing 1.5 million ($2.4 million) over 3 years.The Bertha Britdoc Connect Fund and also the Bertha Britdoc Documentary Journalism Fund will each hands out $400,000 annually to aid social activist filmmaking."The Interrupters," by Steve James, has won the very first grant in the Connect Fund, which is supposed to back "outreach and engagement" campaigns for completed films. Soniya Kirpalani's "We the folksInch may be the first project to obtain backing in the Documentary Journalism Fund, that will support producing investigative paperwork.Included in the partnership, an agent of Bertha, a household foundation devoted to marketing social activism, will join the board of Britdoc, a nonprofit org released through the U.K.'s Funnel 4 in 2005."The Bertha Foundation is really a visionary organization having a history in supporting social justice causes through documentary film," stated Britdoc Boss Jess Search. "We feel that by joining forces, we are able to enable documentary filmmakers globally."Rebecca Lichtenfeld, an agent to Bertha, stated, "The Bertha Foundation supports passionate people, strong leadership and activism to produce telecomutting saves gas. The building blocks thinks in the significance of documentary film and capability to have an optimistic social impact." Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com