2025 Post Production Grant Awardees

The Portland Events and Film Office, in partnership with Travel Portland, is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 Post Production Grant to four feature films.  The funding is designed to encourage the completion of a local feature-length film and position local producers to build toward larger, more resourced productions. Past recipients of the Post-Production Grant include Trash Baby, directed by Jacy Mairs (which premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival), and G. Chesler’s documentary Connection Isolation (which will be hosting several upcoming screenings with interactive programming nationwide).  

Four films, selected from a pool of over 27 applicants were awarded $8,500 each. Grant funds must be applied towards Portland based post-production services such as: sound, picture editing, color matching, color grading, closed caption, tech specs for distributors, VFX/animation, and music clearances using local post-production houses.   

“This year’s post production applicants were really strong in documentary story telling. This is no surprise to me given the journalistic, activism that is part of a Portlander filmmaker’s DNA. These stories were rich in truth and thoughtfulness, and will make the audiences feel deeply, which is exactly what they did for me.” Film Industry Project Manager Elyse Taylor Liburd. “This grant every year is another opportunity for the post production workforce to stay in our city and create work right here at home.”    

The projects were selected based on their commitment to diverse representation in their film and/or in production, the potential impact of the film on local talent and economy; influence of funding on the project and/or career of the applicant, and the potential impact of the film on external markets by way of bringing Portland’s vitality to the big screen.  

Congratulations to all of the recipients of the 2025 Post Production Grant:  

Beatlore 

Beatlore is a documentary film about Derek Rieth, late percussionist with Pink Martini who died by suicide in 2014. The project focuses on Derek's life, legacy and the ongoing Oregon mental health crisis. After Derek's death, project files were discovered on Derek's computer. Phil Baker, bassist with Pink Martini has remastered 11 songs from Derek's computer. These will also be included on the soundtrack for the documentary. When the director met with John Brodie, Pink Martini's first manager, John informed her there were 2 hours of footage shot in 2007 at Derek's home by a filmmaker who now lives in Seattle. She was able to acquire the footage and get a signed release from the filmmaker to use the footage in the documentary. She is also using audio files from Derek's computer and now has amazing footage of Derek telling his own story intercut with interviews and other archival/Pink Martini photos and video footage. 

Joanie Fox is a director, producer and writer of documentaries, narrative, music video and live music performances. Beatlore is her first feature documentary. 

The Bride Price 

The Bride Price unfolds in a West African village, weaving a captivating dramedy that navigates the intricate web of traditions, aspirations, and relationships. The story centers around Paul, a young teacher determined to marry Awa, despite her father, Papa Alahji, setting a challenging bride price. Amidst familial expectations, societal norms, and the allure of unconventional suitors, the The Bride Price offers a vibrant and heartfelt glimpse into the complexities of love and life in a close-knit community. 

As a Filmmaker, George Faux, loves transforming his ideas into reality through film. This is his first written feature length production.  

Dear Doris 

Dear Doris tells the outlandish behind-the-scenes tale of queer cult classic Vegas in Space (VIS) while framing the timely tour de force that was Doris Fish’s life. An unsung innovator, drag icon, and sex worker – his story has too often been lost in more monolithic representations of the gay arts scene and AIDS-era San Francisco. Decades after his death, his colorful friends, campy VIS collaborators, and troves of rare archival films finally come together with stunning animation for Doris to reclaim centerstage where she ruled up until her death in 1991. 

Dear Doris is Scott Braucht’s first feature length documentary film. Scott has written and directed over ten short films and music videos that have been seen worldwide. 

Pour the Water as I Leave 

Once upon a time, in a land far away … A surreal exploration  
of the war in Bosnia told through the unbreakable spirit of seven of her people whose strength to leave was as powerful as the fight to stay. Blending live action with haunting collage animation and choreographed dance, the film follows two lovers whose connection forms as war descends upon their world. Guided by the presence of real-life survivors, their journey unfolds through a dreamlike haze of shifting realities, where memory and trauma intertwine - but so do resilience and hope. Choreographed dance and fragmented imagery propel the lovers—and the audience—through the civilian experience of war. Through the lens of diaspora, the film captures not just the weight of displacement, but the defiant act of survival and the unwavering pursuit of home, no matter where the journey leads. 

The film is helmed by Daniela Repas (Director, Writer, Animator and Editor), a Bosnian born award winning visual artist and filmmaker based in Portland, Oregon and Jessica Daugherty (Producer and Assistant Director) an award-winning producer and director of documentary and experimental film, podcasts, multi-media live performance, and co-founder of the production studio, Shrine13, in Portland, OR.