The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced the U.S. and international recipients of the 2023 Academy Gold Fellowship for Women.
Erica Eng and July Jung are the most recent filmmakers to receive the fellowship, each with a prize of $35,000. Now in its sixth year, this is the second year the fellowship has worked in partnership with Chanel.
Part of Academy Gold, a global talent development and inclusion initiative, the Fellowship for Women is a one-year program that combines direct support, personalized mentorship and access to once-in-a-lifetime networking opportunities for emerging women filmmakers to further their pursuits in the field. Other initiative operating within Academy Gold include Gold Rising, the Student Academy Awards and Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting.
“We are honored to advance the work of Erica and July – two extraordinary filmmakers. The Academy’s Gold Fellowship for Women is a crucial part of the Academy’s goals to inspire up-and-coming artists, create engaging film industry opportunities for underrepresented communities, and develop the next generation of diverse and dynamic film talent,” Academy senior VP of impact and global talent development Kendra Carter said. “We thank Chanel for supporting this important work.”
A fifth-generation Chinese American director native to Oakland and based in Los Angeles, Eng’s 2021 short film, “Americanized” screened at numerous film festivals, winning 25 awards overall, including Best Dramatic Short at Cinequest, Best Short Film at the Bentonville Film Festival, the Young Cineastes Award at the Palm Springs International ShortFest and Best Narrative Short at the San Diego Asian Film Festival. Eng’s latest short film, “Off Fairfax,” premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and received a Grand Jury Honorable Mention at the Slamdance Film Festival, while her next film, “The Ghost,” will premiere on Disney+ as part of Disney’s Launchpad shorts incubator program.
A director and screenwriter born in Yeosu, South Korea, Jung studied at Sungkyunkwan University and Korea National University of Arts. Her 2014 debut feature film, “A Girl at My Door,” screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 67th Cannes Film Festival and won multiple awards, including Best Directorial Debut at the Stockholm International Film Festival, Best Director at the Women in Film Korea Festival and Best Screenplay in the Wildflower Film Awards. Her second film, “Next Sohee,” produced in 2022, was the closing film of the 75th Cannes Film Festival Critics’ Week and won Best Director at the Fantasia International Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Amiens International Film Festival and a Special Jury Award at Tokyo Filmex, among other awards.
