Academy Foundation Grants Announced

by Eugene Hernandez

The Academy Foundation, the educational and cultural arm of the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has announced grant recipients for 1998-99.
The grants total $124,500. Among the grant recipients are 17 different cinema
programs, including university film projects, a film festival, and two film
magazines.

"This year's grants are given for internship projects, preservation projects,
conferences, workshops, and seminars, among others," grants committee chair
Delbert Mann said in a prepared statement, "but in each instance our hope is
that this grant will help nurture future generations of filmmakers. "

According to the Academy, the allocations include $25,000 to preservation
projects to the American Film Institute, $7,500 to the Austin Film Festival
screenwriting conference, $7,500 to the Film Arts Foundation, $5,000 to
Cineaste Magazine for a special supplement on Shakespeare and film, $5,000
to "The Independent" magazine, and $5,000 to the UCLA Film and Television
Archive for a Paul Robeson retrospective. According to the Foundation's Greg
Beal, the group has granted over $1.6 million since the program began in 1968.