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AFI PROJECT: 20/20 Debuts at AFI FEST 2007 in Los AngelesThe President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announces that seven American and international filmmakers will participate in the second year of AFI Project: 20/20, which makes its debut at the American Film Institute (AFI) AFI FEST 2007, presented by Audi, in Los Angeles, November 1-11. The invited AFI Project: 20/20 filmmakers will participate in an international cultural exchange designed to enhance mutual understanding, and collaboration by engaging audiences here and abroad through filmmakers and their films. Drawing on the joint resources and expertise of AFI, the U.S. Department of State, the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, AFI Project: 20/20 is a component of the United States' Global Cultural Initiative, which partners public and private institutions to support international cultural diplomacy. 
Cyrano Fernandez (above) is one the new films
that will participate in the second year of AFI Project: 20/20.
AFI Project: 20/20 is designed to foster cross-cultural understanding, respect and nurture filmmaking excellence, with the goal of bringing home the ways in which these artists and their films can help promote cultural awareness and understanding, challenge stereotypes that separate people, and at the same time present a fresh, clear vision of the common values people share. By presenting their work and talking with audiences here and abroad, filmmakers will encourage an appreciation of values such as freedom of expression, tolerance, and intellectual property rights. These values, inherent in the American system, are fundamental to filmmaking everywhere. Under the auspices of the program U.S. and international filmmakers travel in pairs or small groups to screen their films, hold workshops about the shared values the films illustrate, and discuss the role of perception in cross-cultural understanding. Plans for outreach and educational programs have been developed and supported through the joint efforts of the U.S. cultural agencies (IMLS, NEA, NEH), PCAH, the Department of State and AFI. The new films and filmmakers in AFI Project: 20/20 include Afghan Muscle directed by Andreas Mol Dalsgaard (Denmark); Faro - Goddess Of The Waters directed by Salif Traore (Mali); Cyrano Fernandez directed by Alberto Arvelo Mendoza (Venezuela); Please Vote for Me directed by Weijun Chen (China); American Fork directed by Chris Bowman (USA); Big Rig directed by Doug Pray (USA); Spine Tingler directed by: Jeffrey Schwarz (USA). Joining these seven filmmakers will be four artists from the 2007 program--Jay Craven, Amei Williams, Mohammed Naqvi and J.B. Rutagarama-making a total of eleven films and filmmakers for 2008. During its first year, AFI Project: 20/20 conducted programs in Kuwait, South Africa, Israel and Kazakhstan, as well programs in St. Louis, Chicago, Miami (OH), Salt Lake City, Seattle and San Francisco. A visit to China in late November will close out the first year of the program and planned visits to Malaysia and Indonesia in December will open the overseas portion of the 2008 program along with the St. Louis Film Festival, which will be the first stop on the U.S. tour.
Learn More2008 AFI Project: 20/20 Films
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