Nashville Film Festival
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161 Rains Avenue
Nashville, TN 37203
Organization Details

Programs

Budget
$35,500.00
Description

The Nashville Film Festival brings together filmmakers, film fans of all ages, and film educators to engage in meaningful dialogue that explores the art of cinematic storytelling, contemplates how the moving image is a vital means of expression, and considers how films can acknowledge, embrace and support diverse voices, perspectives, and experiences.

Designed with the goal of encouraging media literacy and creating greater cross-cultural understanding, the NashFilm Education Program strives to transform students from passive viewers to critical thinkers when it comes to film. Provided entirely for free, students have the opportunity to see films from around the world and engage in discussions with academic and industry professionals following the screenings.

Program Successes
Surveys will be sent out to all schools that participated at the end of the academic year to gauge program success.
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities  - Film & Video 
Beneficiaries
Adolescents
Economically disadvantaged people
Long-term Success
The changes that will result from the Education Screening program will be invaluable to Metro Nashville Public School students. Through this program, the Nashville Film Festival is able to inspire middle school and high school students to think outside the parameters of their perceptions when it comes to watching a film. The program introduces students to film as a critical thinking tool and a way to connect themselves with other cultures. Through the viewing experience, live Q&A and the post screening discussion guide, the students are able to critically think about subjects and reflect on themselves and the world around them. The goal of the program is to foster media literacy and inspire creativity in students.
Short-term Success
Through the discussion guides that will be provided to the students, NashFilm will be able to access the overall impact that the films have on the students following the screenings. The study guide responses will give our organization tangible evidence and feedback from both students and teachers as to how valuable they feel the experience was.
Program Success Monitored By
Program success will be tracked by the teacher evaluations and study guide responses that schools are required to send in after the screenings.
Program Areas Served
Nashville, TN
Budget
$350,000.00
Description
One of the largest film events in the world, the Nashville Film Festival takes place Sept. 29 - Oct. 5, 2022 at multiple locations throughout the city. NashFilm celebrates the human spirit through the art of film-making, screening more than 200 films each year including feature films, documentaries, shorts and animated films. It brings over 200 filmmakers and industry insiders to Nashville each year who present educational panels and discussions at the festival. NashFilm emphasizes the role of music in films by bringing film supervisors to town and connecting them with Nashville musicians and music businesses, NashFilm partners with over 90 Nashville arts organizations and companies, through greater visibility, increase attendance and exposure. NashFilm provides one of the most respected film competitions in the world, with 8,000+ annual entries.
Beneficiaries
General Public
Adults
Program Areas Served
None
Budget
$20,000.00
Description
The Nashville Film Festival began its at-risk youth program, the Living Reel Project in 2004. Each year, the festival partners with an organization whose efforts serve at-risk youth from diverse backgrounds. During the Living Reel program, NashFilm partners with filmmakers and musicians to help the teens learn to work together as a team, while expressing their thoughts and experiences through the art of music and film.

The Living Reel Program gives at-risk teens a hands-on experience in filmmaking and songwriting. During the project, a group of teens dedicate after-school hours to write a song telling the story of their strength and the struggles they have overcome. With help from professional musicians and songwriters, they compose their song which they later record in a professional studio. By the end of their production week, they have a finished song and a short film documenting their entire process. This film is then showcased to a live audience at the Nashville Film Festival.

Program Successes
The documentaries created are used as evidence of success.
Beneficiaries
Adolescents
At-Risk Populations
Long-term Success
The Living Reel Program is 18 years old and it's wonderful to see how the program has made an impact on the girls at Youth Villages. Through comments from the supervisors and testimonies from former participants, it's clear that the program has impacted and changed certain participants' views on art, songwriting and film-making. The ultimate goal is to provide a unique experience for youth that would not normally have the chance to record music or make a documentary. Hopefully inspiring some to think about themselves as creatives and open the door to future opportunities in the arts.
Short-term Success
The near-term results that the Living Reel program experiences is the positive collaboration from the girls at Youth Villages with our songwriters and with themselves. At times it can be a difficult process for the girls to work together as a team, however through patience and encouragement from our songwriters/mentors, the girls are able to experience a cohesive and collaborative experience, learning professional team building skills.
Program Success Monitored By
With the program being around for over a decade we have received feedback and formal surveys from mentors, from former participants and our funders on just how important they believe the program is.
Program Areas Served
Nashville, TN
Budget
$10,000.00
Description
NashFilm Community Outreach Program helps local education and arts-based nonprofits create challenging programming using films that have screened or showcased at NashFilm. NashFilm helps secure the film, and equipment, provides consultation and helps select and manage speakers. These activities help the other organizations reach their goals. NashFilm also partners with colleges and universities to provide educational experiences for their students -- from volunteering as film screeners or screenplay readers or at the festival itself to internships. Currently, NashFilm works with Lipscomb University, the Nashville Public Library, NPT, Watkins Art Institute, Western Kentucky University, Belmont University, Trevecca and more.
Program Successes
Surveys
Long-term Success
Through this program, the Nashville Film Festival hopes to continue to provide opportunities for the local colleges and universities and encourage their student body and faculty to participate in the Festival. Ultimately, through these collaborations we hope to gain an audience that will grow the Festival and continue to keep its name alive for many years to come. The Nashville Film Festival works with the local institutions each year to ensure that their students are able to participate in many ways, including showcasing their work within the TN student competition, offering ticket packages to the universities, volunteer opportunities, internships and seasonal staff opportunities, etc.
Short-term Success
Near-term success and improvement starts with elevated attendance and participation from the students and faculty, which we achieved last year and have made strides to continue to improve this year.
Program Success Monitored By
Feedback from students and educators are the most immediate ways to gauge our partnerships. In providing the ticket packages, we are also able to see how many students took advantage of coming to the Festival and with that are able to improve marketing methods and help to inform our programmers what content students find beneficial.
Program Areas Served
None

CEO/Executive Director/Board Comments

Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm) has been a leading presenter and advocate of independent and student films by hosting an annual competition that attracts top filmmakers nationally and internationally, including many from Tennessee. It is the longest-running film festival in the South, providing a vital forum for aspiring and established filmmakers as well as giving our community the opportunity to see films otherwise not seen in theaters. This extraordinary wealth of film resources provides film and educational programs throughout the year to under-served and diverse communities. Our at-risk 'Living Reel' program is our most-successful teen outreach project. A documentary NashFilm creates, captures the project and incredible changes these at-risk teens go through as part of this process. Premiering at the festival and seeing themselves on the big screen is the highlight for these kids. The cultural diversity of film section continues to grow.