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THE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW
ANNUAL GALA TO BE HELD
ON
TUESDAY, JANUARY 12TH, 2010
AT
CIPRIANI 42ND STREET
***
NBR AWARDS $100,000 IN STUDENT
GRANTS IN ITS CENTENNIAL YEAR
[New York, NY– July 27th, 2009] – The National Board of Review announced today that they will hold their annual awards gala on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010, at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. The NBR, celebrating its centennial year, also announced that they have awarded $100,000 in student grants to 10 university film schools, The Children’s Aid Society, The Ghetto Film School and Reel Works Teen Filmmaking.
“2009 has been quite an exciting year for the NBR, as we celebrated our centennial and continued to honor the best in filmmaking,” says NBR President Annie Schulhof. “We are committed to the future filmmakers of tomorrow by honoring these talented film students today. We look forward to celebrating another successful year as we return to the landmark venue, Cipriani 42nd Street.”
The National Board of Review will screen approximately 300 films for awards consideration in 2009. This year’s winners will be announced on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009, marking the beginning of the awards season. The annual awards gala honors the best in filmmaking with categories including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Performances as well as the NBR’s signature awards, the NBR Freedom of Expression and the William K. Everson Award for Film History.
The student grants awarded this year total $100,000, and range from $500 to $4,500. The awards are given to the top student filmmakers from each school based on their submitted short films. Participating schools include Brooklyn College, City College, Columbia University, The Ghetto Film School, Hunter College, Ithaca College, New York University, Northwestern University, Reel Works Teen Filmmaking, School of Visual Arts, SUNY Purchase and Wesleyan. The Children’s Aid Society received a grant of $4,500 to purchase film and video equipment.
THE NBR
For more than a century, the National Board of Review has been committed to freedom of expression in the cinema. Originally established to fight government censorship of motion pictures, the NBR has championed many films of significant social impact. The NBR continues that commitment today with its annual William K. Everson Award for film history, so named for the signature film historian and educator of modern times, a long-time NBR member, as well as its annual freedom of expression award. The NBR also celebrates the filmmakers of tomorrow with student philanthropy, which supports young filmmakers with financial aid that enables honorees to complete projects and exhibit them at various film festivals. For more information please visit www.nbrmp.org.
THE AWARDS
Each January, the National Board of Review hosts talented and prestigious members of the film industry at its awards gala, honoring achievements in a variety of categories of film, direction, and performance. In addition, the NBR recognizes new voices in film with its Directorial Debut, Spotlight, and Breakthrough Acting Awards.
SCREENINGS
Over three hundred films (studio, independent, foreign-language, animated, and documentary) are viewed throughout the year by a selective group of knowledgeable film enthusiasts, academics, film professionals, and students. Frequently, in-depth discussions with filmmakers, directors, actors, producers, or screenwriters follow screenings.
HISTORY
The National Board of Review was founded in 1909 in New York City, just thirteen years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George McClennan's revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses Christmas Eve 1908 on the grounds that the new medium supposedly degraded the morals of the community. To assert their constitutional freedom of expression, theater owners, led by Marcus Loew, and film distributors (Edison Biograph, Pathe, and Gaumont), joined John Collier of The People's Institute at Cooper Union to establish a National Review Committee, an anti-censorship group, that endorsed films of merit and encouraged the new "art of the people." In 1919 the organization first selected its "10 best movies of the year." The NBR later published a magazine called Films in Review, which was the first publication devoted to critical discussion of film, counting among its contributors Harold Robbins, Dore Schary, Stephen Sondheim, Alfred Hitchcock, and Tennessee Williams. During the era of the Hollywood blacklist (when others were silent), Films in Review vigorously opposed film censorship. Movies released between 1920 and 1950 carried the legend "Passed by the National Board of Review."
Contact:
Rubenstein
Communications, Inc.
Nicole Quenqua Adler
(212) 843-8288, nqadler@rubenstein.com
Susie Arons
(212) 843-8033, sarons@rubenstein.com
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