Big Film Grant
South Dallas Cultural Center receives $10,000 award for film fest
The South Dallas Cultural Center has received $10,000 from the National Endowment of the Arts for a program supporting black women's film.
Called the Challenge America award, it gives out grants to small and mid-sized organizations that are extending the reach of the arts to underserved populations. Those populations could be limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability.
The $10,000 will support the Center's annual Black Women's Film Festival, which this year consists of a week-long residency by a New York-based group called the New Negress Film Society. It's a collective of filmmakers that creates community and spaces for support, exhibition, and consciousness-raising.
The group will premiere two screenings of documentary, narrative, and experimental short films and will also host digital media workshops for female students of Billy Earl Dade Middle School in Dallas.
"The South Dallas Cultural Center is thrilled to host the New Negress Film Society and forge an ongoing partnership to promote black women films and create a new generation of artists interested in filmmaking," says project director Harold Steward.
The event is in mid-March, but the exact dates haven't been solidified yet, says New Negress Film Society co-founder Jatovia Gary. The film lineup will be released at a later date, with films such as Afronaut directed by Frances Bodomo.
