AMPAS Awards $450,000 to U.S. Film Festivals in 2011

AMPAS’ Festival Grants Committee Chair Buffy Shutt announced on Thursday that it had awarded $450,000 to 30 U.S. film festivals for the 2011 calendar year.

From AMPAS:

The Chicago International Film Festival will be the recipient of a multiyear grant for its World Cinema Spotlight program. It will receive a total of $150,000 over a three-year period. The Nashville Film Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival are each in the third and final year of a multiyear grant, with each receiving $75,000 in total for numerous outreach programs.

While the grants are awarded for a variety of festival programs, organizers are encouraged to submit proposals intended to make festival events more accessible to the general public, provide greater access to minority and less visible filmmakers, and help strengthen the connection between filmmakers and the general public.

The 2011 film festival grants allocations are as follows:

• $50,000
  Chicago International Film Festival – World Cinema Spotlight program
• $30,000
  San Francisco International Film Festival – World Cinema Spotlight program
  Seattle International Film Festival – Asian Trade Winds spotlight program
• $25,000
  Mill Valley Film Festival – Youth Focus and Children’s FilmFest programs
  Nashville Film Festival – Outreach to multiethnic and underserved audiences
  New Orleans Film Festival – Outreach and emerging filmmakers programs
• $20,000
  Chicago Latino Film Festival – Children’s film screenings and filmmaker talks
  Cleveland International Film Festival – Women of the World program
  Traverse City Film Festival – Visiting filmmaker program
  Portland International Film Festival – Hispanic Film Showcase and Cine-Lit program
• $17,500
  Ashland Independent Film Festival – Education and accessibility programs
  Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival – Retrospective Artist Spotlight
  Native American Film & Video Festival – Native Networks conference
  New York International Children’s Film Festival – Girls’ POV program
  San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival – Filmmaker Spotlight, Filmmaker Retrospectives and Out of the Vaults programs
• $15,000
  Roger Ebert’s Film Festival – Q & A sessions and panel discussions
• $10,000
  Woodstock Film Festival – Exposure program
  Aspen Shortsfest – Youth education program
  KidFilm – Free tickets and outreach program
  San Luis Obispo International Film Festival – Women-focused discussions, screenings and
  workshops
• $6,000
  Anchorage International Film Festival – Filmmaker travel
• $5,500
  Binational Independent Film Festival – Filmmaker travel and free screenings/seminars
  Black Maria Film & Video Festival – Filmmaker travel
• $5,000
  Port Townsend Film Festival – Community involvement program
  San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival – Focus on Sri Lanka program
  United Nations Association Film Festival – UNAFF and Kids program
• $3,000
  Arizona International Film Festival – Filmmaker travel
• $2,500
  Damn! These Heels – Filmmaker travel
  JFilm: The Pittsburgh Jewish Film Forum – Audience development efforts
  Saugatuck Children’s Film Festival – Outreach to underserved children

Since its establishment in 1999, the Academy’s Festival Grants Program has distributed 252 grants totaling $4.4 million in funding. For more information on the grants program, visit http://www.oscars.org/education-outreach/grants/.

The Academy Foundation – the Academy’s cultural and educational wing – annually distributes more than $1 million to film scholars, cultural organizations and film festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad. The Foundation also presents the Academy’s rich assortment of screenings and other public programs each year.

ABOUT THE ACADEMY
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

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