AFI is excited to announce applications are now open for the next class of the AFI DWW+ program, a year-long directing workshop that educates traditionally underrepresented narrative filmmakers through the production cycle of a short film, providing hands-on instruction led by industry experts. In 2024, the program will celebrate its 50th anniversary. AFI DWW+ was launched in 1974 as the Directing Workshop for Women, one of the first gender impact programs in the cinematic arts and is one of the longest-running and preeminent film and television workshops in the world. The application period for the Class of 2024-2025 opens today, August 11, and closes Friday, September 15, 2023. The application and eligibility requirements can be found on afi.com/dww.
“For nearly 50 years, AFI DWW+ has given voice to historically underrepresented perspectives and championed artists to pursue directing careers in film and television,” said Susan Ruskin, Dean of the AFI Conservatory and Executive Vice President of the American Film Institute. “We look forward to celebrating the program’s milestone anniversary and welcoming a new cohort of directors who will become leaders in the creative community and inspire us all for generations to come.”
Past participants of AFI DWW+ include Academy Award® winner Siân Heder (AFI DWW Class of 2005), who wrote and directed the Academy Award®-winning film CODA; DGA President Lesli Linka Glatter (AFI DWW Class of 1982), whose critically acclaimed work as a producer and director on HOMELAND earned her Emmy®, PGA and DGA Award nominations; Dime Davis (AFI DWW Class of 2015),the first Black woman to be nominated for an Emmy® in the Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series category; and Hanelle Culpepper (AFI DWW Class of 2002), who directed the record-breaking pilot of STAR TREK: PICARD, making her the first woman director and the first Black director to launch a new STAR TREK series in the franchise’s history.
