Full Frame Receives $50,000 From the National Endowment for the Arts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact: 
Emily Foster, Marketing Director
emily.foster@fullframefest.org

Durham, N.C. – July 14, 2020 – The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, a program of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, has been selected by the National Endowment for the Arts to receive $50,000 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Of the 3,100 applicants from across the country, only 846 organizations received awards. Full Frame would like to congratulate the four other Durham-based award recipients: the American Dance Festival, North Carolina Central University, the North Carolina Folklife Insititute, and the Southern Documentary Fund. Funds will support personnel and facilities costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic and were only available to organizations who had received NEA support during the last four years prior to the outbreak and subsequent shutdown of the arts sector.

“We are incredibly grateful for the recognition and added support from the National Endowment for the Arts,” said Full Frame’s director, Deirdre Haj. “Full Frame was caught in the crossfire of our nation’s shutdown, with less than one month’s notice to cancel before our annual event. These funds help mend the economic damage our festival has suffered, as we can only earn revenue at our four-day event. I am enormously proud  that over the last several months, the entire Full Frame team has worked tirelessly to find creative ways to drive our mission forward, serving both our filmmakers and our audiences.”

Since the April event’s cancellation, the organization presented thirty-two films free of charge to a limited audience as part of a virtual festival and paid every participating film. Full Frame launched a Virtual Screening Room and successfully transitioned and expanded their Teach the Teachers professional development program and A&E IndieFilms Speakeasy Conversation Series online. Later this month, the School of Doc summer program will take on a new digital format as well.

To learn more about these ongoing virtual programs, please visit fullframefest.org.

The 24^th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is scheduled to take place April 8–11, 2021.

About Full Frame

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of nonfiction cinema. Each spring, Full Frame welcomes over 10,000 filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to historic downtown Durham, North Carolina, for a four-day, morning-to-midnight array of nearly 100 films, as well as discussions, panels, and Southern hospitality. Set within a few city blocks, the intimate festival landscape fosters community and conversation among filmmakers, film professionals, and the public. The 24th annual festival will be held April 8–11, 2021.

The festival is a program of the Center for Documentary Studies, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) affiliated with Duke University, and receives support from corporate sponsors, private foundations, and individual donors whose generosity provides the foundation that makes the event possible. The Presenting Sponsor of the festival is Duke University. To learn more about the mission of Full Frame or how to support Full Frame, visit fullframefest.org.

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