News & Press

VAFF Awarded NEA Grant

by Katie Kenny on January 22, 2025

VIRGINIA FILM FESTIVAL TO RECEIVE $20,000 AWARD FROM THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS

Charlottesville, VA— January 22, 2025 – The Virginia Film Festival is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $20,000. This grant will support visiting guest artists and operational costs for the 38th annual Virginia Film Festival in Fall 2025. VAFF’s grant is among 1,127 Grants for Arts Projects awards nationwide totaling more than $31.8 million as part of the recent announcement of fiscal year 2025 grants.

“The NEA is proud to continue our nearly 60 years of supporting the efforts of organizations and artists that help to shape our country’s vibrant arts sector and communities of all types across our nation,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “It is inspiring to see the wide range of creative projects taking place, including the 38th annual Virginia Film Festival.”

 “We are honored to be selected for this important and generous grant by the National Endowment for the Arts,” said Jody Kielbasa, Executive Director of the Virginia Film Festival and Vice Provost for the Arts at the University of Virginia. “The NEA’s grant program highlights the enormous impact that the arts can have on local communities and this recognition only strengthens our resolve to continue using the power of film to entertain, challenge, provoke, and teach us about ourselves and the world we live in.”

The Virginia Film Festival is a program of the University of Virginia and the Office of the Provost and Vice Provost for the Arts.

Plans for the 2025 Virginia Film Festival are currently underway and will be announced at a later date. To learn more about the VAFF, visit virginiafilmfestival.org.

For more information on other projects included in the NEA’s grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.