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Sponsorship Opportunities Join with us in celebrating the American Indian Film Festival's 33rd year! The Festival is a significant and enduring element of the American Indian Film Institute's mission to positively transform the film industry's image of Native people, and in the process, transform ourselves. The American Indian Film Festival® provides an opportunity for us to come together and share in the creative experience and witness cinematic accomplishment. During the 9-day Film Festival, to be presented November 7-15, 2008, in San Francisco, over 5,000 participants will witness Native stories and visual testaments to contemporary lives and issues. Through skillful artistry and personal testimony, the films we screen raise awareness about contemporary issues in Indian Country. Our greatest power continues to lie in our ability to tell our own stories in our own words and images. The Film Festival is a powerful venue for telling our stories, in our words - with our images. We are pleased to be able to offer you an opportunity to participate as partners with us in this year's AIFI Film Festival. There are several Sponsorship Levels: Title Sponsor ($50,000), Platinum Reel ($30,000), Gold Reel ($20,000), and Silver Reel ($10,000). We are grateful for your support at the highest level possible and cannot overstate our need for your patronage and goodwill. 
Founded in 1975, the American Indian Film Festival is the oldest and most prestigious festival of its kind in the world. It is a unique and genuinely a Native American media presentation - founded and produced by American Indian people. The Festival takes great pride in showcasing documentaries and feature films that come from the heart of Indian Country, enabling us to support the work of current, new and emerging Native American filmmakers. For many, the Festival is an important stepping stone to other Native theme festivals, theatrical venues, or additional media opportunities. Combining education with celebration, the American Indian Film Festival brings the rich cultural heritage and diversity of our nation's first peoples into a forum where it can be shared via the magic of the silver screen and the power of good storytelling. The Festival is the focal point of our year-round exhibition program, which has as its core objectives: improving and expanding the distribution of films by and about American Indians; developing a marketplace for Indian media & performing artists to cultivate potential financial resources; creating production and distribution outlets, as part of a network of technical support and resource-sharing among Indian producers, directors, writers, and actors/actresses. The cornerstone of the American Indian Film Institute is our Annual Film Festival. Over the course of 30 years we have screened over 800 films and videos from American Indian and First Nation communities throughout North America. Without AIFI, many of these films would not have been seen... and without an audience, the power and message of the film is lost; without exposure, public misperception remains the same. The American Indian Film Festival is North America's oldest and most respected venue dedicated to Native Cinema. There is nothing like it anywhere. Each year we make history; we strengthen the bonds of our community; we expand the network of support. In the beginning, we built a platform for institutional development and advancement. Now, we nurture the dreams and aspirations of a new generation of Indian media makers. The annual Film Festival concludes with an awards presentation and performance night held at San Francisco's historic Palace of Fine Arts. For eight days community members, artists, elders and youth will have the unparalleled opportunity to screen films and engage in dialogue and critical reflection. Ideas for new films will be generated here and new alliances initiated. Participants will return to their communities, bringing with them the gifts they have found here, committed to these alliances. The American Indian Film Festival® chronicles our integrity as peoples, artists and activists. At the core of tribal expression and organization lies the belief that the creative process brings about social change. Some aspect of the process is restorative and medicinal. We keep whole and realize our capacity for meaning in this way. We share ourselves and our idea of ourselves, pre and post production. We laugh. We make progress. We create space for ourselves and our tribes, today, as thriving peoples with very special knowledge and talent. In thinking good about who we are, we make medicine. This is a plan for the survival of our languages, our memories and our imaginations. The elders have done this since the beginning. This is also our beginning. As director, I am clear in my commitment to artistic growth and development, and equally clear in planning for sustainable programming and economic opportunities. These sponsorships are an integral part of our overall fundraising efforts. They provide meat and bones of the Institute and cannot be taken lightly. Nor can their loss or absence be taken lightly. They are much needed and much appreciated. One glance through our festival program will reveal the role sponsorship plays in the existence of the festival. We continue to foreground the financial participants, as the festival would not happen without you. Please do not hesitate to call me at 415-554-0525 with any questions or feedback. I am eager to know how to be of service to you, and to assure you that your support is a positive investment. We would be honored to welcome your tribe, corporation, or media outlet as a partner in the 33rd anniversary of the American Indian Film Festival and thank you in advance for your participation in the growth of this most important venture.
Sincerely, Download Sponsorship Form (.PDF) TITLE SPONSOR(s) $50,000 Sponsor
Name in title of the event: American Indian Film Institute X Tribe/Company's 31st annual American Indian Film Festival® PLATINUM REEL $30,000 Benefactor
Tribal ID on Festival Poster & Program Cover GOLD REEL $20,000 Sponsor
Co-Presentation of Best Actor & Actress Awards SILVER REEL $10,000 Contributor
Co-Presentation of Film Award |