FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2004
Julie Levak, Director of External Affairs, California Council for the Humanities
(415) 391-1474
jlevak@calhum.org
SAN FRANCISCO — July 8, 2004 -- The California Council for the Humanities today announced that the Skirball Foundation has committed $240,000 to support the Council's California Documentary Project, part of its multiyear California Stories initiative to discover community and individual stories that will collectively tell the story of today's California. The California Documentary Project was launched in 2001 to encourage documentarians of the new millennium to record and reveal contemporary California life much the same way that artists such as Dorothea Lange and John Steinbeck documented the Dust Bowl era.
The recent success of a film like "Fahrenheit 9/11" shows that documentaries are powerful vehicles for presenting compelling stories to a wide audience," said Jim Quay, the Council's executive director. "The Council wants to support projects with a California focus that bring new understanding to important issues facing us and spark discussion about how to live together as Californians.
The Skirball Foundation, based in New York City, was created through a bequest by Jack H. Skirball, a philanthropist who had several successful careers, including that of an Academy Award-winning film producer. Bruce Sievers, consulting director of the Foundation, noted that "the jointly funded program honors the legacy of Jack Skirball in supporting documentaries that provide insight and understanding of critical issues to broad audiences. We are very pleased to be able to partner with the Council to support this important endeavor."
Skirball Foundation Funds will match Council funds of $120,000, allowing the Council to award a total of $360,000 to filmmakers, radio producers and photo essayists in the fall of 2004.
In its 25-year history of supporting documentaries, the Council has funded 12 Academy Award-nominated films, including last year's nominee for best documentary feature, "The Weather Underground." In 2001 the Council launched a multiyear initiative, California Stories, to create and support programs that use story to strengthen community life in California, and the Documentary Fund was developed to support this goal.
Among the projects supported to date through the California Documentary Project are:
Among the photography projects is one in the Central Valley documenting the lives of Mexican migrant women and another in San Francisco focusing on people who live in San Francisco's single-room occupancy hotels, as seen by people who live in the hotels themselves.
The deadline for new submissions is October 1, 2004. Additional information and guidelines are available aon this website.
About the California Council for the Humanities and "California Stories"
The mission of the California Council for the Humanities is to enrich California's cultural life and strengthen communities through public use of the humanities. A state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Council has supported and created programs that bring Californians together around their history and culture for more than 25 years. Launched in 2001, California Stories includes a major grants program and documentary fund designed to support projects that use stories to address contemporary issues. In addition the California Documentary Project, the initiative has included
# # #