Florida’s rich history will be a focus of the film school competition, CinemaSlam, at Miami Dade College’s 2019 Miami Film Festival thanks to a new gift from the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation that supports the use of archival footage from the renowned Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives at MDC. The announcement was made today at the CinemaSlam awards ceremony at MDC’s Tower Theater.
The gift of $127,500 will provide general program and sponsorship support for CinemaSlam and establish several awards for the 2019 and 2020 competitions, including a category for Best Film Featuring Archival Material. Student filmmakers will be encouraged to make use of archived material from MDC’s Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives, which is one of the largest institutions of its kind in the U.S. showcasing Florida’s history with more than 35,000 hours of video tape and 23 million feet of film.
“This generous gift by the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation is a testament to our mission of supporting emerging new voices and encouraging artistic development among our students,” says Jaie Laplante, Executive Director of MDC’s Film Festival. “Through the Wolfson CinemaSlam competition, next year’s Miami Film Festival will celebrate original locally-produced films and support works-in-progress by Miami-based aspiring filmmakers. We are excited to have more students make use of the incredible and invaluable library of material archived in the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Media Center.”
“We believe it’s important for the community to remember and celebrate our rich history,” says Louis Wolfson III, a board member of Miami Dade College Foundation and one of the College’s greatest benefactors. “We are proud to support the next generation of influencers and changemakers through Miami Film Festival’s CinemaSlam. From politics to social change, art and culture, students will have new opportunities to share with the world the great stories of the Sunshine State.”
Learn more about the Wolfson Archives at www.wolfsonarchives.info
Learn more about the Miami Film Festival at miamifilmfestival.com