MUMBAI: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded $455,000 to 25 US film festivals for the next calendar year.

The first on the list is the Cleveland International Film Festival that will receive a multiyear grant (three years) of $ 150,000 for its ‘Focus on Filmmakers‘ programme. The Chicago International Film Festival, that is in its second year of a multiyear grant will receive $150,000 in total for its ‘World Cinema Spotlight‘ programme.

While the grants are awarded for a number of festival programs, organizers are encouraged to submit proposals intended to make festival events more accessible to the general public, provide greater access to minority and less visible filmmakers and help strengthen the connection between filmmakers and the general public.

Festivals that will receive a grant of $30,000 will be the Los Angeles Film Festival for its ‘Free Screenings‘ programme and San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival for its ‘World Cinema Spotlight‘ programme.

Since its establishment in 1999, the Academy‘s Festival Grants Program has distributed 277 grants totaling $4.85 million in funding. The Foundation also presents the Academy‘s rich assortment of screenings and other public programs each year.