The GI Film Festival, the nation’s only film festival dedicated to the American Armed Forces, will celebrate its fifth anniversary May 9-15, 2011 in Washington, DC. The week-long festival, held during Armed Forces Appreciation Month, will bring Hollywood and the military together to create a venue for artists to tell the story of the American soldier, both past and present.
The festival will feature dozens of film premieres, as well as seminars and nightly events, including a Congressional reception, Wounded Warrior Appreciation Night, Hollywood Patriots Night, a Hollywood world premier screening, and an awards ceremony.
The majority of the festival’s screenings and events will take place at the U.S. Navy Memorial at 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW while some events and screenings hosted by other prestigious venues around Washington, DC. A “Filmmaker Boot Camp” to teach filmmakers all the tools necessary to get their films into the marketplace, will be hosted by GI Film Festival Chairman and award-winning filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon, Chairman of Arc Entertainment.
Each year the festival attracts members of Congress, veterans, active duty soldiers, and filmmakers from throughout the world. Past GIFF attendees include actors Gary Sinise, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Kelsey Grammer, Ricky Schroder and Karri Turner; journalists Bob Woodruff and Greta VanSusteren; Senators John McCain, John Thune, Daniel K. Inouye, Scott Brown and former Senator Fred Thompson; General George Casey, Chief of Staff, US Army; General Skip Sharp, Commander US Armed Forces, Korea; General (ret) Jack Keane; and Representatives Ed Whitfield and Catherine McMorris Rodgers; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; and Ambassador Paul Bremer, to name a few.
In a short time, the GI Film Festival has become the nation’s premiere venue for screening military films. Owing to this success, on Veteran’s Day Weekend 2010, the GI Film Festival launched a new television series with Discovery’s Military Channel, which broadcast select GI Film Festival films into 57 million homes nationwide. Moreover, in 2010, the GI Film Festival (GIFF) was the recipient of the ‘American Legion’s National Commander’s Public Relations Award,’ previously presented to Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert, Lou Dobbs and Jack Valenti.
[ source: GI Film Festival ]
