It’s been a stressful year for Firelight Media, the nonprofit that supports documentary filmmakers of color. In September, the company lost 41% of its annual funding when monies provided by PBS shrank and federal funding agencies such as the NEA and Corporation for Public Broadcasting shut down.

“The total 41% covered a lot of our programming and a lot of our institutional infrastructure,” says Loira Limbal, President and CEO of Firelight. “Some of that money was used to provide mentorship and to create programs and retreats. Some of it was for our overhead, and some of it was for re-granting.”

Founded in 2000 by producer Marcia Smith and her husband, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Stanley Nelson, Firelight Media has been an instrumental part of the doc community, providing resources including funding, mentorship, and creative development. Firelight Films, Nelson’s production company, is responsible for doc hits including Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool,” “Freedom Riders,” and “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple.”

Firelight Media’s most recent project, “Short: In the Making”, about artists becoming masters of their disciplines, was produced in partnership with PBS’ American Masters and debuts at DOC NYC on Saturday. In all, seven Firelight Media supported feature docs will screen at DOC NYC, including Oscar contenders “Cutting Through Rocks” and “Seeds.”

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“I didn’t come into the role thinking that things were going to be easy or rosy,” says Limbal. “I wanted to be part of the fight for documentary film. The approach has been to double down. We hear corporations saying ‘Let’s tone this down. Let’s tone that down.’ That is not at all how I am looking at it. Documentary film is not a luxury. It is an essential part of a healthy arts and story narrative ecosystem. And our voices as filmmakers of color are essential right now.”

Doubling down meant putting two programs – Firelight’s William Greaves Research & Development Fund and Firelight’s Impact Campaign Fund –on pause in order to establish the Firelight Fund, which supports Black, Brown, and Indigenous stories from development through distribution, with a focus on those who are telling urgent stories and using their craft to advance social justice. In all 16 projects will receive money from the $580,000 Firelight Fund. Grant sizes will range up to $50,000 per project.

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Read the full story at Variety.