Film Forward Fights For Federal Funding
Written by: FFT Webmaster | May 10th, 2011
Film Forward, a joint venture between the Sundance Institute and the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, is fighting for its life as Congress considers massive cuts to the federal arts and culture budgets. The venture has introduced 10 American and world cinema titles (along with their film directors) to China, France, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and Uganda, as well as Arizona, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Puerto Rico and Tennessee in the past year. The films, which include such celebrated indie titles as AMREEKA, LAST TRAIN HOME, FREEDOM RIDERS, SON OF BABYLON and LA MISSION, are presented at specialty theaters, universities, embassies or local film clubs, to bring a different kind of cinema to the attention of local educators, exhibitors and audiences. On Thursday, the participating filmmakers and their federal partners (including the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services) will convene in Washington DC to present the work and answer questions at 10 temporary theaters being set up on the National Mall. This is part of Film Forward’s effort to renew its $650,000 budget, of which the Sundance Institute pays a third and the remainder is covered by federal partnerships. For more information, visit: http://www.sundance.org/programs/film-forward/