Ann Arbor Film Festival Planning for a Hybrid Festival
Ann Arbor, Mich.— The Ann Arbor Film Festival (AAFF) is planning a return to in-person, communal viewing of films with a hybrid festival. The 60th Ann Arbor Film Festival will be March 22-27, 2022 in-person and online.
In-person offerings will include short and feature films in competition programmed alongside jurors’ programs, panels & discussions, art installations, and a series of special programs that take a look at the history of experimental film and the Ann Arbor Film Festival. These special programs include historic looks at the AAFF’s annual Out Night program, women experimental filmmakers, and films created by former interns of the Ann Arbor Film Festival.
Online offerings will include nearly all the shorts and features in competition, the jurors’ programs, and a virtual filmmaker forum, along with pre-recorded filmmaker interviews. This online content will be available through March 31st.
Over 2,800 films were submitted to the festival from over 90 countries, over half the films received were created by international filmmakers. The final program will showcase 125-150 of the best experimental and avant-garde films the AAFF received this year.
Starting in 2021, the Ann Arbor Film Festival began paying filmmakers to show their films at the Film Festival as part of their Pay Artists initiative. This year, they will continue to pay artists for showing their films, and they will double the fee from last year. “Artists pour money, time, energy, heart, and soul into their work, and are usually the last to see compensation,” says Leslie Raymond, Executive Director of the AAFF. “We are proud to add our weight to the cause and call on each of you to join us in supporting economic compensation for artists’ work in every way you can”.
The AAFF will be working alongside the Michigan Theater and all other in-person locations enforcing and following their COVID protocols. Current Michigan Theater COVID guidelines can be found here: https://michtheater.org/covid-safety-plan.
Three levels of passes for the 60th Ann Arbor Film Festival are now on sale and can be found on the AAFF website: aafilmfest.org/shop. The Full Festival Pass includes access to all in-person & online content. Individual tickets to programs will be on sale starting March 1st. Memberships start at $30 and can include tickets or passes to the festival depending on the level. Learn more at aafilmfest.org/become-a-member.
About the Ann Arbor Film Festival
Founded in 1963, the Ann Arbor Film Festival is the oldest independent and experimental film festival in North America and is internationally recognized as a premier forum for film as an art form. The AAFF receives about 3,000 film submissions a year from more than 70 countries and serves as one of a handful of Academy Award–qualifying festivals in the United States. The AAFF is a pioneer of the traveling film festival tour. Each year the touring programs visit more than 35 theaters, universities, museums, and micro cinemas around the world. The 60th Ann Arbor Film Festival takes place March 22–27, 2022. For more information, please visit aafilmfest.org, and be sure to join AAFF on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Vimeo.
Major AAFF Partners and Foundation Support
AAFF gratefully acknowledges funding from and partnerships with a2Tech360, an Ann Arbor SPARK initiative which promotes the Ann Arbor region as an area of innovation; Curaleaf, a leading medical and wellness cannabis operator in the United States serving 350K+ registered patients across 23 states; the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, which encourages, initiates, and facilitates an enriched artistic cultural and creative environment in Michigan; the National Endowment for the Arts, an independent federal agency that funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation; the University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design, a place for students to form an innovative, friendly community and apply their creative skills to solve global issues; and the U.S. Small Business Administration, connecting entrepreneurs with lenders and funding to help them plan, start and grow their business.
