U.S. film festivals to receive $450,000 from Academy in 2011

Nov 04, 2010 by Ian Evans

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Academy Foundation will be granting $450,000 to thirty U.S. film festivals in 2011 according to an announcement by Festival Grants Committee Chair Buffy Shutt.

The Academy looks for proposals that will 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.