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THE GABRIELLE A. HANNA FILM INSTITUTE AND THE PROVINCETOWN FILM SOCIETY ANNOUNCE WOMEN FILMMAKER'S RESIDENCY PROGRAM

Institute Selects Participants of the Inaugural Program Launching Today

The Gabrielle A. Hanna Film Institute, an initiative of the Provincetown Film Society (PFS), announced today the creation of a women's residency program. The first residency starts today, April 6, and runs though April 17 in Provincetown, Massachusetts, followed by another residency later this fall. 

As part of the 100-year tradition of Provincetown as America's oldest art colony, the women's residency program will allow female filmmakers from around the world the opportunity to work in Provincetown during the off-season alongside other artists and writers who use the solitude of the outer Cape Cod area as inspiration for their work. In collaboration with local businesses such as Land's End Inn, Roux and Sage Inn & Lounge, PFS will provide lodging and meals and an inviting environment for filmmakers to foster their work.

"When we first conceived of the idea of a film institute, we met with several leaders in the film world to explore ways in which we could have an immediate impact on our underserved communities," said Christine Walker, CEO of the Provincetown Film Society. "We concluded that a residency program for women would serve as a catalyst for change in an industry where an abysmal 16% of the directors, writers, producers, executive producers, cinematographers and editors are women. Thanks to the overwhelming support of our community and our sponsors, we are pleased to be able to launch the program this spring."

The Institute announced Shelli Ainsworth (STAY THEN GO), Jennie Livingston (PARIS IS BURNING) and Stacie Passon (CONCUSSION) have been selected as the participants of the inaugural program. All three filmmakers have had their work previously screened the Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF), which is operated by PFS.

The women's residency program is sponsored in part by Elizabeth Redleaf, a producer and co-founder/CEO of Werc Werk Works, a film finance and production company. 

About the Artists Selected for Spring Residency:

Shelli Ainsworth

Writer/director Shelli Ainsworth is a Minneapolis-based artist whose work in experimental theater and film has earned her national recognition. A former recipient of grants and fellowships from ITVS, The Bush Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jerome Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Minnesota State Arts Board and the McKnight Foundation, Ainsworth's short narrative films have been seen in festivals and museums in the United States and Europe. Her first feature film, STAY THEN GO, has been an official selection in film festivals across the country, as well as the official selection for the Southern Circuit, a highly-regarded touring program. For STAY THEN GO, Ms. Ainsworth was the recent recipient of the "Pioneering Women in Screenwriting" award from the Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival.

Jennie Livingston

Jennie Livingston is a groundbreaking filmmaker, known for thoughtful exploration of identity, class, race, death, sex and gender. She works in both fiction and nonfiction: her films include PARIS IS BURNING, WHO'S THE TOP? and THROUGH THE ICE.  She is currently directing, producing and editing EARTH CAMP ONE, an essay/memoir about how she lost four family members in five years (her advice: don't try it at home!). She has also written and is developing a dramatic feature, PRENZLAUER BERG, set in the art worlds of New York and East Berlin in 1989. In 2015, PARIS IS BURNING received the Cinema Eye Honors Legacy Award and was honored during the Sundance Collection screening at the Sundance Film Festival. Livingston lives in Brooklyn, NY and was educated at Yale. Upon graduation she had a fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.

Stacie Passon

Stacie Passon is an American film director and screenwriter, whose debut film CONCUSSION premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, and subsequently won a Teddy Award Jury Prize as an outstanding film about LBGT themes at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival. Passon previously worked as a commercial director and producer. CONCUSSION was released in the United Stated by RADiUS-TWC and in 17 other territories around the world. The film garnered two Gotham Nominations, a Spirit Award nomination for Best First Film and won a 2014 GLADD Media award. Passon is an adjunct professor at New York University and Tisch School of the Arts.

About The Gabrielle A. Hanna Provincetown Film Institute

The Gabrielle A. Hanna Provincetown Film Institute was founded in 2013 as a way to support innovative filmmakers and media artists. Almost since its founding, Provincetown has been a place of shelter and nurture for the "other" -- a place for those whose artistic and life expression might challenge the norm. There is a long tradition of diverse artists seeking inspiration from the natural beauty and solitude here at the tip of Cape Cod.  As a new initiative of The Provincetown Film Society, The Provincetown Film Institute will draw inspiration from this history and focus on cinema as an evolving and vital art form.  

About The Provincetown Film Society & The Provincetown International Film Festival:

The Provincetown Film Society, Inc. (PFS) is the year-round operating organization and home of the 16-year-old Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF), the Waters Edge Cinema and the Provincetown Film Institute. PFS is dedicated to showcasing new achievements in film and honoring the work of acclaimed and emerging directors, producers and actors. It is equally devoted to expanding the audience for independent film and for engaging in cinema that explores equality and tolerance and the efforts to thwart them. An integral part of PFS's mission is to contribute to the economic and creative vitality of America's oldest art colony.