The Global Lens film series can be seen in more than 35 locations across the United States and Canada, and is also available in home video, television, educational, theatrical, internet and airline markets. Since its launch, the series has provided a platform for exceptional storytelling and opened a window into the diverse world in which we live.

NEWS: GLOBAL LENS PARTNER PROGRAM LAUNCHES WITH THE PUERTO RICO FILM SOCIETY, REEL WORLD UNDERGROUND LINK and NOCCA!

The Global Lens Partner Program—a new, nationwide initiative launched by GFI to support community- and education-based film exhibition partnerships—began its inaugural year with presentations of Global Lens 2010 in San Juan, New Orleans and Washington DC!

The San Juan-based Puerto Rico Film Society—the island's first-ever film exhibition society—opened the program's inaugural year with educational screenings, live music events and a star-studded Global Lens 2010 opening night, highlighted by a lively post-premiere discussion between Alejandro Gerber Bicecci (dir. Becloud/Global Lens 2010) and famed Puerto Rican director Jacobo Morales!

Left: (from left to right) Director Alejandro Gerber Bicecci, Puerto Rico Film Society (PRFS) co-founder Eunice Soto-Ralat, Director Jacobo Morales, and PRFS President Guillermo Vázquez Machargo after the screening of Becloud. Right: Students from Padre Rufo School in San Juan gather for a screening of Masquerades (Global Lens 2010).

Following the presentation in San Juan, Reel World Underground Link (RWUL)—a nonprofit whose mission is to support creative film ventures that promote community and global awareness—began a month-long presentation of Global Lens 2010 in Washington DC, in partnership with the Letelier Theater and participating support from the Embassy of Serbia and Embassy of South Africa.

And not to be outdone, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), in collaboration with Picture Palace Pictures and Silence Is Violence, recently began presentation of Global Lens 2010 as part of an ongoing campaign to support local arts and education programming, and continued growth and development of New Orleans' arts communities!

The Puerto Rico Film Society, Reel World Underground Link and NOCCA all received support from the Global Lens Partner Program, which is designed to assist venues with presentation of Global Lens in ways that promote community-building, and regional arts and education. For more information about this new program, please email us!

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NEWS: GLOBAL LENS EDUCATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION NOW AVAILABLE FOR LIBRARIES!

As part of our continuing mission to provide students and educators with access to exemplary world cinema, GFI is now offering all public and high school, college and university libraries the opportunity to participate in its Educational Subscription service!

GFI Educational Subscription invites libraries to purchase complete sets of the Global Lens annual series at a 30% educational pricing discount (purchase includes full access to our film education resources and complete lending and multi-use public performance privileges)! This is a new and exclusive offer only available through the Global Film Initiative—so email us now!

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VIDEO: GLOBAL LENS 2010 PREMIERE AT THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

In case you missed the opening of Global Lens 2010 and our new lineup of films, check out the coverage of our January premiere at MoMA, courtesy of NYC TV. Click on the image below to watch the clip:

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EDUCATION: ANDREW HERWITZ, WINNER OF THE WINTER EDITION OF THE WING IT! STUDENT CONTEST

The Global Film Initiative and Virgin America airlines congratulate Andrew Herwitz, winner of the winter edition of the Wing It! student contest! Andrew's creative and award-winning essay, "Dirt, Rubber and the Living Earth," wins him two roundtrip tickets on Virgin America airlines! Read Andrew's essay.

Wing It! will soon be accepting submissions for the spring edition of its next contest: "Word Play." Rules and guidelines will be announced here on March 25th. (Can't wait that long? The image above is a sneak peek of our next contest—see if you can figure it out!)

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PERSPECTIVES: GUILLERMO VÁZQUEZ MACHARGO

“We had a dream to create an organization that would promote the art of cinema on the island—the Puerto Rico Film Society—and it was apparent to us that our launch event had to showcase international five star films. The choice was unmistakable: Global Lens 2010. The series was able to unite a diversity of generations through a unique opportunity to enjoy contemporary independent world cinema, cinema that [in Puerto Rico] can only be experienced occasionally on local big screens. It has been an unforgettable experience that marks the beginning of a new era for the art of filmmaking in Puerto Rico."

—Guillermo Vázquez Machargo, President of the Puerto Rico Film Society

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NOW PLAYING: GLOBAL LENS 2010!

Global Lens 2010 is now on tour! This year the series is in some new and familiar locations—see below for dates and venues, and email us if you'd like to schedule the series in your city:

• Washington, D.C.: RWUL/Letelier Theater (February 26th — March 26th)

• New Orleans, LA: NOCCA (February 19th — August 31st)

• Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University (March 8th — August 31st)

• Tampa, FL: Gasparilla International Film Festival (March 20th — September 20th)

• St. Louis, MO: Cinema St. Louis (March 8th — July 26th)

• Cleveland, OH: Cleveland International Film Festival (March 18th — 28th)

• Bozeman, MT: ASMSU Procrastinator Theater (March 27th — April 6th)

• Port Townsend, WA: Port Townsend Film Festival (April 1st — June 30th)

• Savannah, GA: Savannah State University (April 1st — September 30th)

• Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN: Minneapolis-St. Paul Film Festival (April 15th — 29th)

Stay tuned! New films from Global Lens 2010 will soon join our award-winning Global Lens lineup on Virgin America airlines! But that's not all! GFI is launching a new slate of films on Link TV this spring, and also a selection of Chinese films from the Global Lens collection on CUNY TV—our newest broadcast partner!

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CONNECT: FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER!

Missed our last social event? Not sure what's new with Global Lens? Keep up to date with the latest news from GFI through our online communities!

Image: GFI's bimonthly Industry Happy Hour in San Francisco (March 2010)

View trailers, post to the message board or network with filmmakers from around the world on our Facebook page.

Receive news, notes and links to the latest information about GFI and Global Lens by following us on Twitter!

(Be sure to add us as a friend on Facebook or click “follow” on Twitter to sign up!)

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NEWS: FILMS AND FILMMAKERS

Becloud, by Mexican director Alejandro Gerber Bicecci, will be co-presented by the Global Film Initiative in six U.S. cities as part of the 2010 Hola Mexico! Film Festival. Featured in Global Lens 2010.

Shirley Adams, by South African director Oliver Hermanus, won Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Actress at the 2010 South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAS). Featured in Global Lens 2010.

Ordinary People, by Serbian director Vladimir Perisic, was awarded the Cineuropa Award at the 2010 Miami International Film Festival. Featured in Global Lens 2010.

Independence, by Filipino director Raya Martin, was co-presented by the Global Film Initiative during the 2010 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival as part of a special showcase on Filipino cinema. GFI grant awarded in 2008.

Crab Trap, by Colombian director Oscar Ruiz Navia, was awarded the FIPRESCI prize at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival (International Forum of New Cinema section). GFI grant awarded in 2007.

Imani, by Ugandan filmmaker Caroline Kamya, and Dooman River, by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Lu, were both Official Selections of the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. GFI grants awarded in 2009.

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REVIEWS: GLOBAL LENS 2010

The Miami Herald: Ordinary People
by Rene Rodriguez, March 5, 2024
"The unadorned simplicity and calm mood of Ordinary People boils war down to its most harrowing and corrosive essence: the taking of human life."

The Puerto Rico Daily Sun: PR Film Group to Unspool 'Global Lens 2010' Lineup
by Ian Malinow Maceo, February 10, 2025
"It's clear to us that now is the ideal moment to develop this initiative given that the stage in Puerto Rico is extremely fertile for art and cinema lovers..."

Columbia Spectator: Seeing the World Through 'Global Lens' at MoMA Series
by Zara Castany, January 24, 2025
"How many Columbians can say they make a habit out of watching foreign films, experiencing on screen what it's like to go to school in Oman or fall in love with Vietnam?”

PopMatters: All the Pop Stars are in Beijing
by Cynthia Fuchs, January 21, 2025
“Each film—like all those assembled for Global Lens 2010—looks through the prisms of individual experiences to find resounding truths.”

The New York Times: Marriage and Mores in Rain-Soaked Hanoi
by Stephen Holden, January 18, 2025
"...reflected in eerily beautiful shots of the clogged, rain-soaked city streets in which traffic inches along in ankle-deep water...[and] psychological mystery and indirection."

Tribeca Film Blog: Masquerades and World Cinema at MoMA
by Alexandra Roxo, January 12, 2025
"Though to the outsider it may seem that Mounir and the men are the ones in control of things, we quickly see that the power lies in the hands of the female characters..."

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DONATE: SUPPORT THE GLOBAL FILM INITIATIVE!

Filmmaker grants, educational screenings and community partnerships are just a few of the projects supported by us every year! In 2010, we're expanding to do even more and if you'd like to support the "initiative" of the Global Film Initiative, click on the link below and make a donation!

Click the button above to make a donation!

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ABOUT THE GLOBAL FILM INITIATIVE:

The Global Film Initiative is a U.S.–based, not–for–profit organization specializing in the support of independent film from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Founded in 2002 to promote cross–cultural understanding through the language of cinema, the Initiative awards numerous grants to deserving filmmakers from around the world each year, and supports a touring film series entitled Global Lens. For more information about the Global Lens film series and Global Film Initiative programs, please visit our website or contact us at gfi–info@globalfilm.org.

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