Out of 390 applicants from 23 countries, the Tribeca Film Institute and Gucci announced yesterday the seven recipients of the 2010 Gucci Tribeca Documentary fund, whose projects highlight globally important social issues.

The projects that will receive  a total of $100,000 in grant money are :

African Deep, Directed and Produced by Rachel Boynton. – (USA) African Deep is a riveting adventure about the heated quest for oil in the deep waters off West Africa’s coast. Shot over the course of four years, at a time of rising demand for energy and increasing competition for resources worldwide, the film takes you inside the gargantuan efforts and ambitions surrounding our planet’s most important resource.

Donor 150, Directed by Jerry Rothwell. Produced by Hilary Durman and Al Morrow. – (UK) Donor 150 is a twenty-first century tale of identity and genetic inheritance and perhaps the family of the future. For the first time in history a generation of children born through artificial insemination are old enough to search for their biological fathers. Donor 150 follows two young people as they first decide and then travel to meet  their father for the first time, and as they navigate the increasingly complex maze of new and constantly evolving family relationships.

The Mosou Sisters Directed and Produced by Marlo Poras & Yu Ying Wu Chou. – (USA) The Mosou Sisters follows two spirited daughters from China’s last remaining matriarchal society who are thrust into the worldwide economic downturn when they lose the only jobs they’ve ever known.

MOVING WINDMILLS: The William Kamkwamba Story Directed by Tom Reilly. Produced by Ben W. Nabors. – (USA) MOVING WINDMILLS: The William Kamkwamba Story dates to 2001 when William Kamkwamba dropped out of school due to a devastating famine. Through self-education, he saw a picture of a windmill in a textbook. Using found materials, William built a windmill that powered his village and changed his life, using imagination and ingenuity to inspire a family, a village, and a nation.

The Redemption of General Butt Naked Directed and Produced by Daniele Anastasion and Eric Strauss.  – (USA) The Redemption of General Butt Naked tells the incredible true story of Joshua Milton Blahyi, a brutal African warlord turned Christian evangelist. The film follows Blahyi’s crusade to redeem his past as he attempts to rebuild the shattered lives of those he commanded and brutalized during the civil war in Liberia.

The Warlord’s Wife Directed by Victoria Stevenson, Produced by Nicole Stott. – (UK) The Warlord’s Wife depicts the story of Emma McCune who travelled to Africa as an aid worker, fuelled by humanitarian ideals, yet at the time of her death she was married to a Sudanese warlord, stood accused of trading oil for arms, was a suspected spy, and a marked woman. The film charts the process by which a naïve British convent girl became complicit in the complex politics and violent heart of Africa’s longest civil war.

Welcome to Shelbyville Directed and Produced by Kim Snyder, Co-Produced by Gywn Welles. – (USA) Welcome to Shelbyville is a glimpse of America at a crossroads. Set in America’s rural south on the eve of the 2008 Presidential election, a town deals with issues of immigrant integration and reckons with its segregated past.

Past grant recipients include Laura Poitras (’08) who received funding for The Oath, which went on to receive the award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival for Excellence in Cinematography: U.S. Documentary, and is currently in its theatrical run. Also from 2008 Ian Olds received grant money for Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi which was awarded the best new doc filmmaker award at Tribeca Film Festival ’09 and was acquired by HBO.

For the complete press release on this year’s recipients click here.