The Global Film Initiative (GFI) is a non-profit film organization that supports cinematic works from developing nations and promotes cross-cultural understanding through use of film and non-traditional learning resources. Its most notable programs are the Global Lens Film Series, a traveling film-series that premieres annually at the Museum of Modern Art, New York and is accompanied by educational screening-programs for high school students, and the Granting program, which has awarded numerous grants to narrative film-projects from around the world, many of which have been nominated as official country selections for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film category of the Academy Awards.
The Global Film Initiative was founded by Susan Coulter Weeks in 2002 and is advised by a board of directors, and a film-board composed of filmmakers such as Mira Nair, Lars von Trier, Pedro Almodóvar, Bela Tarr, Carlos Reygadas, Christopher Doyle and Djamshed Usmonov. In 2004, it entered into a partnership with First Run Features for distribution of all films in the Global Lens Film Series, and in 2006 it moved its offices from the West Village of New York to the Potrero Hill district of San Francisco, California (USA). Their office is currently located in the Ninth Street Independent Film Center in San Francisco.
Global Lens is a traveling film series composed of cinematic works from developing nations or regions (i.e. Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, etc.). It shows up to ten narrative feature-films a year, premiering annually at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in late-January, following its premiere the series is screened in fifteen to twenty cities across the United States, in collaboration with various cultural and cinematic organizations and institutions, before going into general distribution through GFI's distribution-partner, First Run Features.
The Acquisitions program acquires eight to ten feature-length narrative films per year for presentation in the Global Lens Film Series. Films acquired by GFI are discovered through the Granting program and also through independent festivals and sales-initiatives, such as the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Berlinale and CineMart, and all films are selected for their artistic excellence, authentic self-representation and accomplished storytelling. Documentary and/or short films are not considered.
The Granting program awards up to twenty grants each year to filmmakers whose projects are nearing completion or in post-production. Projects awarded grants by the Global Film Initiative are often acquired for presentation in the Global Lens Film Series, and since its inception, the Granting program has supported the production of a number of award-winning films, many of which have been nominated as official country selections in the Foreign Language category of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' Awards Ceremony (Oscars).
(Films listed in alphabetical order)
A Useful Life (La Vida Útil) by Federico Veiroj, Uruguay, 2010Belvedere by Ahmed Imamović, Bosnia & Herzegovina, 2010Dooman River by Zhang Lu, China, 2009Soul of Sand (Pairon Talle) by Sidharth Srinivasan, India, 2010Street Days (Quchis Dgeebi) by Levan Koguashvili, Georgia, 2010The Invisible Eye (La Mirada Invisible) by Diego Lerman, Argentina, 2010The Tenants (Os Inquilinos) by Sérgio Bianchi, Brazil, 2009The White Meadows (Keshtzar Haye Sepid) by Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, 2009The Light Thief (Svet-Ake) by Aktan Arym Kubat, Kyrgyzstan, 2010Adrift (Choi Voi) by Bui Thac Chuyen, Vietnam, 2009Becloud (Vaho) by Alejandro Gerber Bicecci, Mexico, 2009Gods (Dioses) by Josué Méndez, Peru, 2008Leo's Room (El Cuarto De Leo) by Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay, 2009Masquerades (Mascarades) by Lyes Salem, Algeria, 2008My Tehran for Sale by Granaz Moussavi, Iran, 2009Ocean of an Old Man by Rajesh Shera, India, 2008Ordinary People by Vladimir Perisic, Serbia, 2009The Shaft (Dixia De Tiankong) by Zhang Chi, China, 2008Shirley Adams by Oliver Hermanus, South Africa, 2009Getting Home (Luo Ye Gui Gen) by Zhang Yang, China, 2007I Am From Titov Veles (Jas Sum Od Titov Veles) by Teona Strugar Mitevska, Macedonia, 2007Mutum by Sandra Kogut, Brazil, 2007My Time Will Come (Cuando Me Toque A Mi) by Víctor Arregui, Ecuador, 2008The Photograph by Nan Achnas, Indonesia, 2007Possible Lives (Las Vidas Possibles) by Sandra Gugliotta, Argentina, 2007Sleepwalking Land (Terra Sonâmbula) by Teresa Prata, Mozambique, 2007Song From the Southern Seas (Pesn' Juzhnykh Morej) by Marat Sarulu, Kazakhstan, 2008Those Three (An Seh) by Naghi Nemati, Iran, 2007What A Wonderful World by Faouzi Bensaïdi, Morocco, 2006All for Free (Sve Džaba) by Antonio Nuić, Croatia, 2006The Bet Collector (Kubrador) by Jeffrey Jeturian, Philippines, 2006Bunny Chow by John Barker, South Africa, 2006The Custodian (El Custodio) by Rodrigo Moreno, Argentina, 2006The Fish Fall in Love (Mahiha Ashegh Mishavand) by Ali Raffi, Iran, 2006Kept and Dreamless (Las Mantenidas Sin Sueos) by Vera Fogwill and Martín Desalvo, Argentina, 2005The Kite (Le Cerf-Volant) by Randa Chahal Sabbag, Lebanon, 2004Let The Wind Blow (Hava Aney Dey) by Partho Sen-Gupta, India, 2005Wang Chao (Jiang Cheng Xia Ri) by Wang Chao, China, 2006Opera Jawa by Garin Nugroho, Indonesia, 2006Another Man's Garden (O Jardim do Outro Homem) by João Luis Sol de Carvalho, Mozambique, 2006Dam Street (Hong Yan) by Li Yu, China, 2005On Each Side (A Cada Lado) by Hugo Grosso, Argentina, 2006Enough! (Barakat!) by Djamila Sahraoui, Algeria, 2006Fine Dead Girls (Fine Mertve Djevojke) by Dalibor Matanić, Croatia, 2002Kilometre Zero by Hiner Saleem, Iraqi Kurdistan, 2005Of Love and Eggs (Rindu Kami Padamu) by Garin Nugroho, Indonesia, 2004The Sacred Family (La Sagrada Familia) by Sebastián Campos, Chile, 2005A Wonderful Night in Split (Ta Divna Splitska Noc) by Arsen Anton Ostojic, Croatia, 2004Global Shorts 2007, from Various DirectorsAlmost Brothers (Quase Dois Irmãos) by Lúcia Murat, Brazil, 2004Border Cafe (Café Transit) by Kambozia Partovi, Iran, 2005Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures (Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus) by Marcelo Gomes, Brazil, 2005In the Battlefields (Dans les Champs de Bataille) by Danielle Arbid, Lebanon, 2004Max and Mona by Teddy Mattera, South Africa, 2004The Night of Truth (La Nuit de la Verite) by Fanta Régina Nacro, Burkina Faso, 2004Stolen Life by Li Shaohong, China, 2005Thirst (Atash)' by Tawfik Abu Wael, Israel/Palestine, 2004Global Shorts 2006, from Various DirectorsBuffalo Boy by Nguyen-Vô Nghiem-Minh, Vietnam, 2004Daughter of Keltoum (La Fille de Keltoum) by Mehdi Charef, Algeria, 2001Fuse (Gori Vatra) by Pjer Zalica, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2003Hollow City (Na Cidade Vazia) by Maria João Ganga, Angola, 2004Kabala by Assane Kouyaté, Mali, 2002Lili's Apron (El Delantal de Lili) by Mariano Galperin, Argentina, 2004Uniform by Diao Yinan, China, 2003What's a Human Anyway by Reha Erdem, Turkey, 2004Whisky by Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll, Uruguay, 2004Today and Tomorrow (Hoy y Mañana) by Alejandro Chomski, Argentina, 2003Angel on the Right (Farishtay Kitfi Rost) by Djamshed Usmonov, Tajikistan, 2002Khorma by Saadi, Tunisia, 2002Mango Yellow by Cláudio Assis, Brazil, 2002Margarette's Feast (A Festa de Margarette) by Renato Falcão, Brazil, 2002Nothing More (NADA +) by Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti, Cuba, 2001Rachida by Yamina Bachir-Chouikh, Algeria, 2002Shadow Kill (Nizhalkkuthu) by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, India, 2002Ticket to Jerusalem by Rashid Masharawi, Palestine, 2002Women's Prison by Manijeh Hekmat, Iran, 2002Wretched Lives (Hubog) by Joel Lamangan, Philippines, 2001