The Official Poster of D.C. ASL Film Festival
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The History of D.C. ASL Film Festival
The 1st D.C. ASL Film Festival (formerly known as DCAD ASL Film Festival) was held on April 11-12, 2008 at Andrew Foster Auditorium, Gallaudet University. The event was founded and organized by Alexander Zernovoj, Director and Event Chairperson, on the behalf of DCAD which he currenlty is its Vice President.
The founding of the D.C. ASL Film Festival was considered an historic event within the D.C. Deaf community because, for a while, deaf-related film festivals are a permanent fixture at Rochester (New York), Orem (Utah) and other cities around the world, Washington, D.C. held few one-time film festivals with the last one being Deaf Way II's Film and Video Festival in 2002, but it did not have a permanent film festival that it could call its own despite its large deaf community. That is until Zernovoj set up the D.C. film festival with the intention of making it a permanent ongoing annual event.
The D.C. ASL Film Festival's programming has been described as diverse that can offer rare Deaf classic movies, works by the well-known directors, or exciting experiments by today's independent film and video artists.
The 2nd D.C. ASL Film Festival will be held at the same venue (Andrew Foster Auditorium) on May 1 - 3, 2009. Zernovoj and his film festival committee is working hard to stage the event that will be much bigger than the last one. The 2009 film festival programming has been expanded to include more national and international films to enable the D.C. community to have access to more wider and richer base of films. Several exciting events are also planned for this event including VIP Filmmaker Reception, general public reception, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions, all D.C. ASL Film Festival firsts.
Zernovoj says that as long as there is ASL and the deaf community, the D.C. ASL Film Festival will always be a permanent fixture for many years to come.
Our Mission
The primary purpose of this film festival is to "celebrate local talented D.C.-based Deaf filmmakers' work and assisting filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience." In addition to this, this festival brings in some national and international Deaf filmmakers' work for everyone to enjoy.
Zernovoj states that "the D.C. ASL Film Festival is one of the core elements for strengthening Deaf culture in D.C. metropolitan area outside of the Gallaudet University." He sees the film festival as a vehicle to effectively expose our Deaf culture, including its language, to mainstream society through performing arts in the form of films. In other words, not only the Deaf community will enjoy this event, it presents an excellent opportunity for the wider community to gain an insight into Deaf culture.
D.C. ASL Film Festival Committee
The committee consists of people well versed in filmmaking and Deaf cinema industry, and other volunteers. The committee is led by the two following people:
- Alexander Zernovoj - Founder, Director and Event Co-chairperson
- Brianne Burger - Event Co-chairperson
About the District of Columbia Association of the Deaf (DCAD)
DCAD is a community based organization that actively engages in advocacy and empowerment issues affecting DC's deaf and hard of hearing community. Fostering a cohesive and cooperative relationship with the DC Government is one of DCAD's many goals. DCAD was formed over 40 years ago and is an affiliate of the National Assocation of the Deaf.
For more information about DCAD, visit www.dcdeaf.org or send an email DCAD at DCAD(at) dcdeaf (dot) org.
Sponsors and Credits
The ASL D.C. ASL Film Festival is hosted as a fundraiser in-kind event on behalf of DCAD, a non-profit organization run by volunteers. We would like to thank the following sponsors who helped us make this premier event possible:
BisonTV |
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Purple |
SafeLiving |
Sprint |
The ASL D.C. ASL Festival provides many levels of sponsorship opportunities designed for companies and organizations of all sizes. For futher information, please contact us at ASLFilm (at) dcdeaf (dot) org.
Note: This D.C. ASL Film Festival is not affiliated or related to Gallaudet's WORLDEAF Cinema Festival in any way or form.
Communication
Films primarily are in sign language with spoken parts subtitled. Many films may be in sign language, but is not subtitled, may be interpreted into spoken English. A written synopsis will be available in the program book for non-signers.
Accessibility
All programs and events will be conducted in American Sign Language. For more information about language accessibility, please see Communication section above.
On-street disabled parking zones are conveniently located around the Gallaudet campus where the film festival is being held at. We will have volunteers on hand for any disabled filmgoers who may need help.
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