You Want It: Visual Communications + Armed With A Camera Fellowship

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Fellowship Cultivates New Generation of Asian Pacific American Filmmakers Applications Due July 29th

Visual Communications is now accepting applications for its 10th annual Armed With a Camera Fellowship. The fellowship fosters the education, training and professional development of up-and-coming Asian Pacific American filmmakers. In doing so, it seeks to shed light on the experiences of communities traditionally underrepresented by visual media.

The fellowship is open to filmmakers under 30-years-old of Asian Pacific descent. South Asian, Southeast Asian and women filmmakers are strongly encouraged to apply. From November 2011 to March 2012 Visual Communications will provide the support and resources for ten fellows to each to create a five-minute digital video.

These resources will include:
  • $500 cash grant
  • Training, workshops and mentoring from industry professionals
  • Opportunity for collaborative work with other fellows
  • Access to equipment and editing facilities
  • World premiere of completed film in the “VC Digital Posse” showcase of the 2012 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
  • All-access pass to films, panels and events of the 2012 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
  • Opportunity to network with professional filmmakers and Visual Communications staff and supporters
In the past decade, Visual Communications has supported 70 filmmakers through the fellowship. Last year’s portfolio represents a characteristic diversity of topics. One documentary traces the disappearance of a Filipino-American R&B star. Another tells the emigration story of a filmmaker’s Vietnamese father. Several narrative works explore family relationships. In one, a South Asian lesbian woman spends the Hindu New Year with her partner. In another, a Japanese woman questions her marriage to an American. Settings range from a World War II battlefield in France to a sci-fi future.

Applications are available at http://www.vconline.org/.

The Armed with a Camera Fellowship is partially funded by the James Irvine Foundation, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and the Morgan Stanley Foundation.

About Visual Communications: Founded in 1970, Visual Communications has a long and prominent history promoting intercultural understanding through the creation, presentation, preservation and support of media works by and about Asian Pacific Americans.

Please contact Daina Solomon (daina@vconline.org or 213 680-4462 ext. 30) for more information.