The 2009 Garrett Scott Development Grant was awarded to Elinyisia Mosha for her (Untitled Tanzania Documentary) and Cameron Yates for The Canal Street Madam. Ian Olds and Thom Powers will join the grant recipients for a presentation of ten-minute excerpts from their works-in-progress.

(Untitled Tanzania Documentary)

Elinyisia Mosha

On a recent trip to her family home near Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, where she stumbled upon a unique microcosm through which to tell an intriguing story of globalization. Her film follows several compelling characters as it explores the impact of foreign direct investment on Tanzania in the ten years since massive privatization measures were enacted.

The Canal Street Madam

Cameron Yates

The Canal Street Madam (working title) is a feature-length documentary portrait of Jeanette Maier, the Canal Street Madam of New Orleans, who was arrested in a high-profile FBI bust for running a brothel in collaboration with her mother and daughter. This verité film chronicles Jeanette and her family after her release from prison in pre-Katrina New Orleans in 2004, when she has nothing to show for herself but a bad reputation and an empty bank account, up until her fiftieth birthday in 2008. Abandoned by the men who supported her but inspired by the sex worker rights movement, Jeanette fights for her rights, seeks employment, and reunites her family.