Dear CFI Member Community,
I hope you and your families are healthy and safe during this challenging time.
As a generous supporter and friend of CFI, I wanted to reach out to you first and let you know that we will be postponing the DocLands Documentary Film Festival and the Environmental Youth Forum, please find the full statement and details of the postponement here. You’ve likely already learned that we have temporarily closed the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center. These steps are all essential as we join the global community in mitigating the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus.
The team has been working hard to take our 42 years of experience, film content, and longtime relationships with the filmmaking community to create engaging online films and film programs for you, and I wanted to share with you some of the new online programming we will be announcing soon, including:
– Exclusive filmmaker conversations, film content and more for our CFI Donor and Member community including free private member screenings and access to special curated 5@5 short programs.
– Rafael@Home will be an online streaming service for our community, so we can continue to share stories and support artists from around the world. Some of these exclusive films will be fee-based and, as we roll them out, we are working to continue to offer discounted pricing to our members.
– An introductory online Showcase for the DocLands Documentary Festival featuring filmmakers slated for the DocLands festival.
– Online education programs to offer content and teaching while students are conducting classes remotely.
I want to let you know how integral you have been and continue to be to CFI and the success of all our programs, particularly during this trying time. To be candid, we will struggle to continue to operate through this time without your continued support. We are working hard to find new ways to provide value to you, and to support our community of filmmakers and their critical work, and we will continue to keep you engaged in thought provoking, inspiring and humanizing stories. We’re so grateful to you for your understanding and support during this difficult and unprecedented time.
I look forward to gathering together and celebrating film as a shared community experience with you again soon. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions.
Warm regards,
Mark
