AFI PROJECT: 20/20 brings film and filmmakers to the world

Seven filmmakers screening their films at AFI FEST have joined The American Film Institute's cultural and diplomatic exchange program AFI PROJECT: 20/20 for its second year.

American and international filmmakers will screen their films all over the world during the 2008 program, from Malaysia and Indonesia to the St. Louis International Film Festival. The goal of the program is to engage audiences, revealing both a respect for differences and a shared humanity among cultures.

"There's no better education for a filmmaker than the festival circuit," says Chris Bowman who brings his film AMERICAN FORK to the project. "We've screened our film in a dozen or so U.S. cities -- from Baltimore to Birmingham - and in those regional venues, you immediately feel where your storytelling holds up, where it breaks down, and what ideas travel well.

So when PROJECT: 20/20 offered to take the film to more far-flung locales, to audiences with a whole different set of customs and references, it seemed like opportunity to learn even more."

AFI PROJECT: 20/20 is part of the Global Cultural Initiative and is led by AFI and supported by its federal partners, the U.S. Department of State, the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The 7 filmmakers from AFI FEST are AFGHAN MUSCLE director Adreas Mol Dalsgaard, from Denmark; FARO-GODDESS OF THE WATERS director Salif Traore from Mali; CYRANO FERNANDEZ director Alberto Arvelo Mendozo, from Venezuela; PLEASE VOTE FOR ME director Weijun Chen, from China; AMERICAN FORK director Chris Bowman, from the US; BIG RIG director Doug Pray, from the US; and SPINE TINGLER! THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY director Jeffrey Schwarz, from the US.

"My film BIG RIG is an incredibly 'American' project about American truck drivers," says Doug Pray. "It portrays nearly all 50 states, has numerous discussions about what this country means to people, and is ultimately about our working class and the U.S. economy. Participating in 20/20 will allow me see my film through the eyes of a different culture. I want to know if it translates."

Four artists who participated in AFI PROJECT: 20/20's inaugural year continue their involvement with the program - Jay Craven, Arnie Williams, Mohammed Naqvi and J.B. Rutagarama - bringing the total number of films and filmmakers to 11.

All the filmmakers have shown their films at AFI FEST and are chosen for their filmmaking excellence, potential for positively interacting with film professionals, other filmmakers, cultural officials and multicultural audiences.

And for the filmmakers it's a chance to learn:

"As I branch out as a filmmaker in the future, I want to examine a more international filmmaking style. I'd like to make a "world" film that I can relate to as strongly as my previous subjects," says Pray.

And see how their films play in the rest of the world:

"How will people in Malaysia respond to a story of an obese grocery clerk in Utah with a dysfunctional family," asks Bowman. "I have no idea, but I'm really curious. That's why I wanted to be a part of this. "