October 4, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: John Pavlik - (310) 247-3000

18 U.S. Film Festivals to Receive $250,000 from Film Academy

Beverly Hills, CA - Eighteen U. S. film festivals have been chosen by the Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to receive grants for calendar year 2003 festival programming totaling $250,000, Academy Festival Grants Committee Chair Buffy Shutt announced today.

• $25,000 each: Chicago International Film Festival; IFP West Los Angeles Film Festival; San Francisco International Film Festival and the Telluride Film Festival.

• $20,000: New Directors/New Films, New York City.

• $15,000: Cleveland International Film Festival; Santa Barbara International Film Festival; Seattle International Film Festival and the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville.

• $10,000: Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California; and the Nashville Independent Film Festival.

• $7,500: Aspen ShortsFest; Boston International Festival of Women's Cinema; KidFilm, Dallas; Latino Film Festival, San Francisco; Palm Beach Jewish Film Festival and the 1 Reel Film Festival at Bumbershoot in Seattle.

• $5,000: Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles.

The festivals were selected from among 77 applications this year. The Festival Grants Program was established by the Academy five years ago and to date has made 61 grants to film festivals.

Program Coordinator Greg Beal said the Academy is especially interested in supporting programs that make festival events more accessible to the general public and those that bring the public into contact with films and filmmakers.