Film Archivists, Film Scholars, and Filmmakers
Women's Film Preservation Fund Grant welcomes films by Black and BIPOC women
We are contacting you because we would like to attract a more diverse pool of applications for our film preservation grant for films by women and women identifying artists. If you are a filmmaker or are connected with an archive or collection that have films that are in need of preservation, we hope you will consider applying. Please pass on to others who may be interested, the information that follows about our grant:
The Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF) of New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) just opened submissions for its film PRESERVATION grants for the 2020 cycle on October 1, 2020. The deadline is February 1, 2021.
Since 1995 the WFPF has been bringing awareness to women’s enormous accomplishment in filmmaking by funding preservation of films made by American women everywhere and films made in the US by women from other countries. To date, we’ve preserved approximately 135 of these American-made films, bringing back into view important lost films and significant but overlooked films from the past, showing that women have been integral to filmmaking since its inception.
From the outset, the WFPF’s ambition has been to make visible women’s filmmaking achievement in all of its breadth, variety, and innovation. Preserved films in our roster represent all genres and lengths including: narrative, documentary, experimental, and animated films, as well as home movies and other forms. Our aim has always been to show the diversity of women’s filmmaking by including as many voices and vantage points as possible. To this end, we have funded films by women of all colors, a range of ethnicities, and those representing otherwise marginalized voices.
In this light, we would like to make sure that Black filmmakers and archives and institutions that hold films by Black women are aware of our grant and invite them to apply for our 2020 grant. We welcome films on issues that resonate with Black Lives Matter, but also on any other subjects, and in any genre. Applicants with films by women from BIPOC communities are especially encouraged to apply. However, we will continue to welcome films of any and all genres, by women makers who are from all cultures and backgrounds.
Please note that the film’s original format must have been film. (We do not fund born video works with this grant.) Also note that this is a preservation grant for an existing film, not a production grant for a film in-progress.
Grants of up to $10,000 are awarded for film preservations biennially, though grant awards are often smaller.
Applicants should begin the application process early since it requires a detailed budget based on an approved film preservation laboratory’s examination of the film elements to be used. Shipping elements to the lab takes some time.
Please use the links below to access the application and guidelines:
For questions and assistance with the application, please email us at: with the subject line “WFPF Application Question.” We are best able to assist you and catch any irregularities in your application if you contact us early in the process.
For more information on the WFPF please visit womensfilmpreservationfund.org
KIRSTEN LARVICK and ANN DEBORAH LEVY
Co-chairs, Women's Film Preservation Fund of
New York Women in Film & Television
The NYWIFT Scholarship Fund
The NYWIFT Scholarship Fund was established in 1995 to provide financial assistance to women second-year graduate film students at the City College of New York, Columbia University, New York University and School of Visual Arts. Students are nominated by faculty at their respective institutions. For more information, contact the film department at CCNY, Columbia, NYU or SVA.
JOIN BADWest TODAY!
Join BADWest for $45, and reap all the benefits of being a member, including free monthly meetings, screenings and other special events. For more information visit www.BADWEST.org.
![]() |
The Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers West (BAD West) is a professional organization providing people of African descent working in documentary film, video or other media the opportunity to network professionally, share resources, exchange ideas and meet socially in order to enhance the development, production, promotion and exhibition of documentaries. The Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers West also advocates the recognition and professional advancement of Black documentary filmmakers. |