New York, NY (January 25, 2016) – The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Locarno International Film Festival announced today the launch of a new joint initiative in the U.S., the Industry Academy International. After completing two successful 2015 editions in Mexico and Brazil, Locarno plans to extend the initiative to New York, where it will take place from March 20-23 at the Film Society.

As a result of a long-standing relationship between the two organizations, the initiative signifies the ongoing dedication they have to engaging a new generation of key players in the independent-film industry, helping them attain a better understanding of the industry’s challenges while also extending their network of contacts and building bridges across different markets. The program will focus on increasing diversity within the film industry and film culture – one of the greatest challenges facing the film business today – and support and nurture women and people of color who are looking to gain a foothold in the industry.

The New York initiative will be designed in the same spirit as in Locarno and will include six participants, from North America and Europe, in the fields of International Sales, Marketing, Distribution (online and traditional), Exhibition, and Programming. The names selected will be announced at the beginning of March, as well as more information about the content of the program, and guest speakers. The workshop will be produced with Industry Academy Project Manager Marion Klotz from the Locarno International Film Festival.

The four-day Academy will take place during the 45th edition of New Directors/New Films, a festival dedicated to the discovery of new works by emerging and dynamic filmmaking talent, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art. The festival will provide an ideal backdrop for these workshops, discussions and panels.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Locarno International Film Festival have previously partnered on several programs, including a George Cukor retrospective, a celebration of legendary Italian studio Titanus, and an upcoming Sam Peckinpah retrospective. Also 2015 marked the 4th collaboration with Locarno for the annual Critics Academy, a workshop for aspiring film critics that occurs during the festival.

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER
Founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center works to recognize established and emerging filmmakers, support important new work, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility, and understanding of the moving image. The Film Society produces the renowned New York Film Festival, a curated selection of the year’s most significant new film work, and presents or collaborates on other annual New York City festivals including Art of the Real, Dance on Camera, Film Comment Selects, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, New York African Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival, New York Jewish Film Festival, Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, and ScaryMovies. In addition to publishing the award-winning Film Comment magazine, the Film Society recognizes an artist’s unique achievement in film with the prestigious Chaplin Award, whose 2015 recipient was Robert Redford. The Film Society’s state-of-the-art Walter Reade Theater and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, located at Lincoln Center, provide a home for year-round programs and the New York City film community.

The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from American Airlines, The New York Times, HBO, Stella Artois, The Kobal Collection, Variety, Loews Regency Hotel, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visit www.filmlinc.org and follow @filmlinc on Twitter.

For media specific inquiries regarding Film Society of Lincoln Center, please contact:
Rachel Allen
[email protected]

For media specific inquiries regarding Locarno, please contact:
Marion Klotz
[email protected]