AFI no longer involved with annual film festival in Dallas

by PegNews wire

The DALLAS Film Society and the American Film Institute (AFI) today announced completion of their initial three-year agreement, following the outstanding success of the 2009 AFI DALLAS International Film Festival. The annual film festival is the DALLAS Film Society's signature event.

"AFI is proud to have played a role in launching the Dallas Film Society's annual film festival," said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. "Dallas is home to many of this nation's premier arts organizations, and AFI is honored to have helped establish a proper place for film along side the other arts in this great city."

"For more than 40 years, AFI has honored and celebrated filmmaking, and their expertise and experience have been invaluable to us," said Ruth O'Donnell Mutch, the festival's first donor and now Chair of the DALLAS Film Society board of directors. "This relationship has helped DALLAS to take its place among the nation's top 20 film festivals, with more than 100,000 attendees in our first three years."

The DALLAS Film Society's agreement with AFI began in 2006 to support the launch of the city's largest international film festival, and to help establish it among the film industry's foremost events. Over the past three years, the AFI DALLAS International Film Festival has attracted widespread acclaim, enthusiastic crowds and appearances by many of filmdom's freshest new creative talents as well as some of its most enduring legends.

Mutch and Gazzale are discussing ways for the two entities to work together in the future on a project basis.

The DALLAS Film Society is planning its 2010 international film festival and expects to announce details over the coming weeks.

Source: DALLAS Film Society; AFI