Bless You, Prison Binecuvintata FII. Inchisoare

ACF has conducted screenings and events for all sorts of fictional and documentary work on screen, but our major interest has always been the fictional depiction of current events as well as the major turning points of the twentieth century. A number of our leading associates have distinguished themselves in the portrayal of living history. Docudrama will always be close to the heart of the ACF mission.

We have been conducting panels on public issues since 1994. The ACF Speaker Series is a chance for America’s major storytellers to assess how the world is changing. We’re not proposing art for art’s sake, but a process of re-connecting America’s most influential artists with the realities of the society and the audience they serve. It is also a frank briefing on the health and stability of America’s popular culture. Artists who attend these events are our opinion leaders in issues and ideas—a crucial part of the part of Hollywood that likes to engage Washington and New York. For up-to-the-minute documentaries about the challenges we face, there are accompanying panel discussions with intellectuals who are familiar with the role of the U.S. in that part of the world. There were and are many lunches, dinners and other informal events that are now part of the Hollywood social calendar that weren’t there before. We’ve played a part in that expansion.

In 2003-07, the American Cinema Foundation held panels of young film and TV artists, discussing how the internet and other new technologies can help bring some real diversity to a town that recognizes only skin-deep forms of diversity. We presented a first-ever Hollywood forum about balance in PBS and public TV that was focused on the industry but open to the public, one of the key moments in bringing some new voices into the PBS dialogue. The world of public TV, seemingly so stately, was suddenly in play.

2001 prize ceremonies, Berlin City Hall: ACF's Gary McVey, prizewinner Jan Svankmajer, and Andrzej Wajda. Prize trophy by Nancy Oppenheim.

On the international scene, the Freedom Film Festival and its Andrzej Wajda Prize have been two of ACF's signature projects. The first decade of the Freedom Film Festival made its reputation presenting films and television productions from the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe. Since then, the festival's interests expanded to digital and Internet events, as well as the quest for freedom in other areas of the world. To protect the growth of the cross cultural interests it started in Hollywood, ACF has continued its sponsorship of SEE Fest Los Angeles, a major regional festival of films mostly from southern Europe and the Balkans. As such it represents a continued strong and positive influence on the way the postwar years and the Cold War are remembered and represented.