Call for proposals: American Film Showcase

Call for proposals:

The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announces an open competition for a cooperative agreement to administer the American Film Showcase's Contemporary Voices in Documentary and Fiction Film program. Full details may be found at: http://exchanges.state.gov/grants/open2.html. The application deadline is May 25, 2011.

The American Film Showcase seeks to bring award-winning independent American documentaries and narrative films to audiences around the world to offer contemporary new insights into American life and culture, as well as issues affecting democratic societies. The films and their filmmakers will be showcased at international venues, including U.S. Embassy-organized events and/or international documentary and feature film festivals. This program will provide for travel by documentary and feature filmmakers and film experts in conjunction with public presentation of the films overseas. Participating filmmakers and film experts will be expected to conduct or participate in master classes, workshops, lectures and other outreach activities designed for a variety of audiences, with a focus on younger and underserved audiences. The classes are expected to include filmmaking workshops and training in digital technology, emergent media, and creative use of social media. The Showcase also will provide for follow-up programming that could include return visits overseas by American filmmakers or visits by young foreign filmmakers to the United States.

Through this solicitation, ECA seeks an organization to identify and select a collection of contemporary American documentary and narrative films that offer a broad overview of the best in current American independent filmmaking. The films should demonstrate high artistic quality, illustrate diverse viewpoints, address a variety of social issues, and reflect the creativity inherent in an open, democratic society. Documentaries are the priority focus of the American Film Showcase. They should address important and compelling themes and represent more than half of the films in the Showcase, with the remainder being narrative/fiction films. The Showcase also should include a small collection of animated shorts.

U.S. public and non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue code section 26 USC 501 (c) (3) may submit proposals for the American Film Showcase. For this competition, all applicants must demonstrate sufficient experience successfully exhibiting, distributing, or otherwise promoting American documentaries and narrative films. They also should demonstrate extensive knowledge of independent filmmaking -- especially the documentary field -- both in the U.S. and overseas.