SFFILM Rainin Filmmaker with Disabilities Grantee to receive $25,000
Writer Sarah Granger has been selected to receive funding for her film, The Pain-Free Day, through SFFILM’s suite of artist development programs, which provides financial and artistic support to artists worldwide. The SFFILM Rainin Filmmaker with Disabilities Grant, introduced in 2020, supports Bay Area-based filmmakers whose films specifically address stories from the disability community. Ensuring historically excluded communities have access to artistic and financial support in order to create a more inclusive film landscape is at the core of SFFILM and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation’s partnership.
“We are thrilled to be supporting Sarah and her film at this exciting screenwriting stage. We are deeply moved by the personal nature of the story and the sensitive mother-daughter relationship at its core,” the panel who chose the grantee noted in a statement. “The Pain-Free Day is a powerfully written script, as well as a particularly exciting opportunity to expand the scope of understanding disability within our communities. We are extremely grateful to the Kenneth Rainin Foundation for their continued partnership in new initiatives to support filmmakers in sharing their stories with the world.”
The panel that reviewed submissions for the SFFILM Rainin Filmmaker with Disabilities Grant included Emily Smith Beitkis, Associate Director, Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University; Rosa Morales, Artist Development Associate Manager: Narrative Film, SFFILM; Masashi Niwano, Director of Artist Development, SFFILM; and Shelley Trott, Chief Program Officer, Kenneth Rainin Foundation.
About The Filmmaker And Film
Sarah Granger is a writer and producer drawn to stories of misunderstood people seeking connection—to one another and the world around them. Originally from Kansas City, she studied computer science, playwriting and screenwriting at the University of Michigan before making her way to the San Francisco area, where she built a career working with technology, digital media and social good organizations.
“We are thrilled to be supporting Sarah and her film at this exciting screenwriting stage. We are deeply moved by the personal nature of the story and the sensitive mother-daughter relationship at its core.”
Sarah Granger, The Pain-Free Day
In 2006, Sarah sustained pelvic nerve damage while giving birth, leading to permanent neuralgia—and a pivot to writing, first as a journalist and author, and then as a screenwriter in 2018. Her feature screenplay, The Pain-Free Day, was selected as one of eight juried scripts on the 2020 Disability List curated by The Black List and the WGA Writers with Disabilities Committee. Her scripts have been recognized in multiple competitions and she participated in the 2021 RespectAbility Entertainment Lab and 2022 Stowe Story Lab.
Sarah strives to amplify underrepresented voices. She is an associate producer on three upcoming short films and executive producer of a micro-budget feature, Stay With Me, which is now at festivals. Sarah’s own narrative projects tend to include at least one character with a visible or invisible disability. Her bestselling nonfiction book, The Digital Mystique, was published by Seal Press, while her articles her articles have been published in The Huffington Post, LA Weekly, Slate, Inverse, and SFGate.
“‘The Pain-Free Day’ is a powerfully written script, as well as a particularly exciting opportunity to expand the scope of understanding disability within our communities.”
The Pain-Free Day Synopsis
After struggling for years housebound with severe pelvic pain, a dejected mother takes a risk and pulls her teenage daughter out of school for one day in an attempt to mend their strained relationship.
About The SFFILM Rainin Grant
The SFFILM and Kenneth Rainin Foundation partnership is the largest granting body for independent narrative feature films in the United States. SFFILM Rainin Grants are awarded to filmmakers whose narrative feature films will have a significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community and/or meaningfully explore pressing social issues.
The SFFILM Rainin Grant is currently accepting applications for the 2023 cycle. The final deadline to apply is April 28, 2023. For more information visit sffilm.org/rainin-grant.
