Addie Morfoot Contributor Elaine Epstein says that winning Hot Docs Forum’s top First Look prize of Can $20,000 cash for her film “Arrest the Midwife” is a “game changer.” The project, which has been on a close to year-long hiatus, will now finally be able to resume due to the award. “The last money we raised was 10 months ago,” Epstein said. “So it’s been a while.
We raised money and then things stopped.” “Arrest the Midwife” was one of 20 projects presented to key funders and decision-makers as well as filmmakers, producers and other observers at the 25th edition of the two-day Forum pitch event.
Produced through Epstein’s Underdog Films (U.S.), with producer Robin Hessman and executive producer Ruth Ann Harnisch, the doc chronicles the arrest of three midwives serving Amish and Mennonite communities.
When a Mennonite baby died after being attended to by a homebirth midwife, an unprecedented legal drama ensued. One midwife was charged with 95 felony charges, including criminally negligent homicide.
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