MARCH ON WASHINGTON FILM FESTIVAL

July 15 – 25, 2015

PROFILE BRIEF

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MARCH ON WASHINGTON FILM FESTIVAL

OUR GOAL -The March on Washington Film Festival (MOWFF) strives to celebrate and increase awareness of the events and heroes of the Civil Rights Era and inspire renewed passion for activism. The festival leverages the broad appeal of film, music, and the arts to tell these vital stories, and attracts an audience that is diverse in age, class and ethnicity.

OUR PAST - The inaugural festival was held in Washington, DC in 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Results: over 1,000 attendees to 10 events over two weeks.

Screening of Solomon Northrup’s Odyssey, National Archives, Washington D.C.

For our 2014 festival, we added a week of events in Atlanta and New York City, and expanded our schedule in Washington, D.C. attracting over 5,000 people to 19 events.

MOWFF garnered extensive media coverage including The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, Metro Herald, Atlanta Journal Constitution; WJLA ABC 7, WUSA 9, NY1; WNYC, Federal News Radio; and in numerous online blogs.

OUR EVENTS -The March on Washington Film Festival is about so much more than film. Each event features a live musical or spoken word performance, and a lecture or panel in addition to the screening.

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Present and past speakers and performers include: Pulitzer Prize-winners Gilbert King, Taylor Branch, Diane McWhorter and Isabel

Wilkerson Clarence Jones, counsel and adviser to Martin Luther King, Jr. Cathy Hughes, Radio and TV One Visual artist, Joyce J. Scott Civil Rights icons Ed King, Claudette Colvin, Dorothy Wright Tillman, Bob Moses Rep. Jim Clyburn and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton Stanley Nelson, filmmaker Dan Rather, veteran television journalist Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post William C. Rhoden, New York Times Michele Norris Johnson, NPR Charlayne Hunter Gault, award-winning journalist Peggy Wallace Kennedy, activist and daughter of the late Gov. George Wallace Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C.

L to r: Dan Rather, Attorney General Eric Holder, National Archives Foundation board member A’Lelia Bundles, and Archivist of the U.S. David Ferriero.

2015 FILMS -The documentaries and scripted film featured this year include The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer, Talk To Me, Life’s Essentials With Ruby Dee, I am Somebody, The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till, Home of the Brave, Booker’s Place, a Family Event featuring the film Ruby Bridges, and a special pre-release screening of Black Panthers: Vanguard of a Revolution. VENUE PARTNERS in 2015 include the National Archives, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, Navy Memorial, Phillips Collection, NCTA Theater, Congressional Visitors Center, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

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MOWFF 2015 – Our aim is to make the MOWFF a go-to event in Washington, D.C. The Festival’s activities will feature an expansion of past offerings including:

• Captivating scripted film and documentary screenings • Dynamic panel discussions • First person narratives • Scholars’ presentations• Live, top-tier music, choir, dance and spoken word performances• Arts Exhibits• Young adults’ short film and essay competitions• Pre-festival initiatives and programs• Partnerships with relevant organizations

EXAMPLE OF 2015 PRE-FESTIVAL INITIATIVESIn January 2015, the MOWFF led a campaign to raise funds for Washington DC public school students to see the film SELMA for free. To date, over $100,000 has been raised, enabling more than 11,000 students to view the film. The initiative has been widely profiled in the Washington Post, Washington Sun, and on CNN, Univision, Washington NBC TV, WTOP, and in social media via NPR, National Association of Black Journalists and journalist Roland Martin.

In addition, we have formed partnerships with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), creators of Black History Month, and the National History Day national student competition, and anticipate sharing the rich resources of research, scholarship and nationwide outreach.

We look forward to working with you to help raise awareness and appreciation for this important period on our nation’s history.

The March on Washington Film Festival is a 501 (c) (3) organization. Our website is www.marchonwashingtonfilmfestival.org

To join us or learn more, contact: Festival Producer Isisara Bey at isisara@marchonwashingtonfilmfestival.org, or Founder Robert Raben, robertraben@rabengroup.com.

March On!

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