Our Pledge: Standing in Solidarity with Black Filmmakers

The Ann Arbor Film Festival believes in the power of film, stories, and representation. Our aim has always been and will continue to be to provide a place for experimentation in film as well as alternative perspectives and underrepresented voices. We stand with those who are protesting against police brutality, the injustices against Black people, anti-Black racism, and the persistence of White supremacy. Today, we are reaffirming our commitment to inclusivity and diversity in our organization. We know that simply stating this is not enough so we took the last few weeks to look at the Ann Arbor Film Festival internally and how we can continue to promote diversity in our community.

Here are the following steps we will be taking to make AAFF a more inclusive organization:

• We are offering a $20 submission fee discount for BIPOC filmmakers, the same discount we offer our alumni filmmakers, for the 59th AAFF to welcome more diverse voices to our festival. Just reach out to submissions@aafilmfest.org and we will send you the discount code.

• We will begin to diversify our screening cadre, the folks who review the submitted films, to include more BIPOC. You can learn more about our screening process here.

• We will continue to amplify BIPOC filmmakers and curators in our programming as well as across social media platforms.

• We will add an optional survey to our film submissions form to collect demographic statistics and be more transparent regarding who is submitting to our festival and our programmed films.

This is only the beginning and will remain a top priority while planning for the upcoming 59th AAFF. We will continue to listen to you, our community of experimental film lovers and makers. Our commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices in film is ongoing and we hold ourselves accountable.

All the best,

The AAFF Team