Pan African Film Festival Accepting Submissions

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Pan African Film Festival Accepting Submissions

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LOS ANGELES – The 17 TH ANNUAL PAN AFRICAN FILM AND ARTS FESTIVAL (PAFF), America's largest and most prestigious Black film and arts festival, is now accepting submissions for their 2009 signature event taking place February 5-16, in Los Angeles.

Beginning today, the PAFF is accepting submissions of features, shorts, narratives, and documentary films made by or about people of African descent, however filmmaker needn't be of African descent. Films should preferably depict positive and realistic images and can be of any genre including drama, comedy, horror, adventure, animation, romance, science fiction, and experimental.

Submissions of works in progress will be accepted, however films and videos must be completed no later than December 1, 2008 .

The deadline for submissions is September 30, 2008 . Selection results will be available around November 15, 2008 .

PAFF Film Competition:
The PAFF competition categories are: Best Documentary, Best Short Documentary, Best Narrative Short, Best Feature, Best Director-First Feature, and the Oscar Micheaux Award , named after the first African-American filmmaker. In addition to the Jury Prizes, Audience Favorite Awards are voted on in the following categories: Best Feature , Best Documentary , and Best Short Narrative . The PAFF Vision Award is given to the film that the PAFF feels best exemplifies its mission of reinforcing positive images and helping to destroy negative stereotypes.

Films in competition must be copyrighted no earlier than 2007. With the exception of the Audience Favorite Awards , all films are judged by industry professionals.
PAFF Submission Fees:

There is a $20 submission fee for submissions postmarked before June 15. Submissions postmarked between June 16 and September 30 must be accompanied by a $30 submission fee. Submissions postmarked between July 16 and August 31 must be accompanied by a $40 submission fee for shorts (less than 70 minutes) and a $60 submission fee for features (70 minutes or more). Submission fees for submissions made post dated after the September 30 deadline are $60 for shorts and $80 for features and must be paid with a money order.

About The Pan African Film and Arts Festival

For the 2008 Pan African Film and Arts Festival, 172 films were selected including 25 world premieres and 10 U.S. premieres representing 31 countries with 9 first-time filmmakers, 49 feature-length films, 59 documentaries, and 54 international films. These films were selected from over 2,500 submissions.

Known for showcasing new films first and recognized as America's premiere black film festival, past PAFF features have included box office and award-winning hits: Ray , Amazing Grace , Love and Basketball, Lackawanna Blues , Redemption , Crazy As Hell , Kingdom Come , The Brothers, Gridlock'd , Days of Glory , and the 2006 Academy Award® winner for Best Foreign Film, Tsotsi .

With an overall festival attendance of 200,000, the PAFF attracts a diverse audience of over 40,000 people to its films at the AMC Magic Johnson Crenshaw 15 Theaters. Each year the PAFF presents quality films from the United States , Africa , the Caribbean , Latin America , Europe , the South Pacific and Canada , all showcasing the diversity and realities of people of African descent. PAFF also presented one of America 's largest fine art shows featuring prominent and emerging Black artists and fine craftspeople held at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza . Other signature PAFF events included industry panels and workshops, the PAFF StudentFest ® , ChildrensFest ® , SpokenWord Fest ®, Senior Connections ®, and Comedy Night .

The Pan African Film and Arts Festival (PAFF) was founded in 1992 as a non-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of cultural and racial tolerance and understanding through the exhibition of film, art and other forms of creative expression. It is the PAFFs goal to present and showcase a broad spectrum of Black creative works, particularly those that reinforce positive images and help to destroy negative stereotypes. The PAFF believes film and art can lead to better understanding and foster communication between peoples of diverse cultures, races, and lifestyles, while at the same time, serve as a vehicle to initiate dialogue on the important issues of our times.

Festival information, applications, and submission procedures are available online via www.PAFF.org or by calling (323) 295-1706 or by email at info@paff.org .


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