Academy Awards $455,000 to U.S. Film Festivals in 2012

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This press release from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says it all:

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded $455,000 to 25 U.S. film festivals for the 2012 calendar year.

The Cleveland International Film Festival will be the recipient of a multiyear grant for its Focus on Filmmakers program. It will receive a total of $150,000 over a three-year period. The Chicago International Film Festival is in its second year of a multiyear grant, receiving $150,000 in total for its World Cinema Spotlight program.

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 2012 film festival grants allocations are as follows:

$50,000

Chicago International Film Festival – World Cinema Spotlight program
Cleveland International Film Festival – Focus on Filmmakers

$30,000

Los Angeles Film Festival – Free Screenings program
San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival – World Cinema Spotlight program

$20,000

Ann Arbor Film Festival (MI) – 50th Anniversary Archival program
Chicago International Children’s Film Festival – Directors in the Schools, Educational
Curriculum Development and free tickets
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (Durham, NC) – Thematic program
Outfest: The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival – “30 Years of Outfest” retrospective program
Palm Springs International ShortFest – Filmmaker Forums
Santa Barbara International Film Festival – Field Trip to the Movies program
True/False Film Fest (Columbia, MO) – Visiting Filmmaker program; SWAMI Mentoring program; Film Academy Student Track; Outreach to Students and Minorities
Virginia Film Festival (Charlottesville) – Community Outreach and Education program

$15,000

RiverRun International Film Festival (Winston-Salem, NC) – 2010 Spotlight program: Landmark Science Fiction Films
St. Louis International Film Festival – Women in Film Sidebar

$10,000

Athens International Film and Video Festival (Ohio) – “Let’s Talk About Water” screening and seminar program
Berkshire International Film Festival (Great Barrington, MA) – Talent Campus
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (Missoula, MT) – Retrospective Programming and the
Reel Sounds Sidebar
Cucalorus Film Festival (Wilmington, NC) – Voices program
Indie Memphis Film Festival – Visiting Filmmakers and Community Outreach
Maryland Film Festival (Baltimore) – New Waves in World Cinema program
Pan African Film Festival (Los Angeles) – StudentFest

$5,000

New York Arab and South Asian Film Festival (New York City) – Retrospective Program
South East European Film Festival (Los Angeles) – Audience Development
Tallgrass Film Festival (Witchita, KS) – Filmmaker Hospitality

Since its establishment in 1999, the Academy’s Festival Grants Program has distributed 277 grants totaling $4.85 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.

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