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Eleanor Burke Receives IFP Durga Entertainment Filmmaker Grant
Stranger Things Last Sunday evening at Lincoln Center, Eleanor Burke was awarded the first ever IFP Durga Entertainment Filmmaker Grant, which offers a $20,000 prize to an IFP alum who juggles filmmaking and parenting. Burke attended the 2009 IFP Filmmaker Labs with her debut Stranger Things, and the 2012 No Borders Co-Production Market with Bright as Day, which Burke says is “about an aging anti-social wanderer and a teenage truant who band together to save an abandoned horse.” The script also took part in the Sundance Producing Lab and the Hamptons Screenwriting Lab. Concurrently, Burke is prepping Through and Through, which will participate in the Venice Biennale College Cinema in October. The film follows a loving but careworn husband who looks after his incapacitated wife full-time. Burke is directing with her filmmaking partner Ron Eyal, with Lucas Joaquin set to produce.
Of the award, which was made possible by Ritu Pande and Kishori Rajan of Durga Entertainment, Burke said, “Being a parent of a young child while pursuing a filmmaking career is, of course, challenging. I’ve actually found being a parent inspiring and since having my baby I feel my creative vision has expanded, but I’ve been doing a lot of my writing with my baby on my lap! This grant is going to make a huge difference. It will help me get my next film made and take care of my family.”
