FLICKERS’ ANNOUNCES TWO NEW SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS IN EDUCATION AND JOURNALISM
CELEBRATING ITS 37TH ANNIVERSARY FLICKERS LAUNCHES NEW ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIPS HONORING DIANA DRYWA, ROSS FEINBERG AND JAMES L. SEAVOR
(PROVIDENCE, R.I. JUNE 4, 2019) – The Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) is pleased to announce two new scholarship programs that encourage students to matriculate in the fields of education, journalism and creative writing. The Drywa/Feinberg Scholarship is named after two educators, Diana Drywa and Ross Feinberg. The James L. Seavor Scholarship is dedicated to former critic and Providence Journal arts writer, Jim Seavor. Both scholarships are geared for students from the state of Rhode Island to help defray the costs for their college/university education.
Applications are now being accepted and have a Friday, June 29th deadline. This year’s Scholarships will be unveiled on August 6th at The VETS, One Avenue of the Arts, Providence during the Festival’s Opening Night Gala. The winners will be announced during the Festival’s Annual Awards Ceremony on Sunday, August 11th.
The Scholarship Application can be found on the Festival website: www.rifilmfest.org or directly for each scholarship at http://www.film-festival.org/
According to George T. Marshall, Executive Director and Founder of the Flickers Arts Collaborative, the non-profit that produces the Rhode Island International Film Festival, “Last year, we lost two important individuals whose support and encouragement helped shape this organization: Ross Feinberg and Diana Drywa.
“Ross was a champion of our PBS series, ‘doubleFEATURE,” and father of Steven Feinberg, the Executive Director of the RI Film and Television Office. Diana was the mother of Michael Drywa, Esq. our Board President, and Shawn Drywa, the founder/director of our annual Fall Vortex Festival.
“Both were educators. Both had a passion for life and learning that touched countless lives during the course of their careers.”
Additionally, Marshall noted that, “This year, we are excited to introduce a scholarship for students studying journalism and writing. Applicants can be at any institution of higher education, but must have Rhode Island roots. The $1,000 Scholarship is named after long-term friend of Flickers and former Providence Journal Arts Reporter and WEAN Radio-personality, James (“Jim”) L. Seavor.
“We have established an annual $2,000 scholarship in their names with a focus on those pursuing education. We have asked the families to help us craft the requirements and to serve on the adjudication panel to determine the winner.
“Flickers has made a yearly financial commitment to underwrite these scholarships and will be encouraging community and alumni contributions to expand the number of awards given in the future.”
ELIGIBILITY
- Deadline for the applications and all support materials is: June 29, 2019
- Both the Drywa/Feinberg Scholarship and the James L. Seavor Scholarship will be awarded to a Rhode Island student who has been enrolled at a Rhode Island institution of higher education, or any student already in college who is in rising sophomore, junior, or senior standing.
- He/she excels in an area or areas of Education including but not limited to: fine arts, visual arts, (illustration, graphic design, multimedia, film), performing arts, the literary arts (creative writing, poetry), music (performance, composing), theatre.
or
- He/she excels in an area or areas of the writing including but not limited to: journalism, creative writing, broadcast journalism, multimedia, and film. Other “sub-genres” may also be considered.
- The Arts applicant must have been accepted to a post-secondary arts program in one of the Arts areas outlined above.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
FLICKERS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization that supports and promotes the film arts in Rhode Island and throughout New England. Over the past two decades, its production, the Rhode Island International Film Festival, has screened 5,105independent films and videos out of 61,296 entries, presented 1,229 World/North American premieres, featured over 1,000 entries that were locally produced, and hosted 4,568 filmmakers and crew. Since its inception, over 430,000 film lovers have enjoyed the Rhode Island International Film Festival and its programming, not including those in New England watching its weekly broadcast and cable programming series, doubleFEATURE.
The 23RD ANNUAL FLICKERS’ RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (RIIFF), a major destination on the Festival circuit and recognized by the Academy as a Qualifying Festival in all short film categories, welcomes stellar filmmaking talents from all over the world to beautiful Providence, Rhode Island—one of America’s oldest and most beloved cities. RIIFF embraces both filmmakers and screenwriters with the sort of warm-hearted spirit that fosters long-lasting friendships, sparks exciting creative projects, and inspires artists to return again and again. It’s little wonder that Chris Gore’s Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide praises RIIFF as “the kind of intimate festival experience that will change your life.”
RIIFF is one of 10 Festivals in the world that is an Academy Award qualifier in the Live Action, Animation and Documentary Short categories and a qualifier with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). With vanguard programming that seeks to showcase new voices in independent filmmaking from across the globe, RIIFF serves as an exceptional platform from which to launch exciting careers for artists who deserve to be discovered. Ten films that have premiered at RIIFF have won Academy Awards with a total of 66 nominated, and many have gained distribution with the likes of HBO, Showtime, PBS, Netflix and IFC. A wide range of competitive categories—including Comedy, Drama, Horror, Children’s, LGBTQ, Documentary, Webisodes, Music Videos, Science Fiction, and Animated films—RIIFF offers entrants and audience members a veritable buffet of great stories, surprises, and narrative formats. There’s even a screenplay and teleplay competition, designed to give talented screenwriters some well-deserved industry credibility.
More information on the Festival can be found at www.RIFilmFest.org. You can also write to RIIFF, 83 Park Street, Suite 5, Providence, RI 02903; call 401- 861-4445; email: info@film-festival.org.