Avant-Garde Masters Grants

The Avant-Garde Masters Grants are administered by the National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving America's film heritage. The grants are made possible through a partnership with The Film Foundation and with funding support provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation. These grants are designed to support the preservation of significant examples of America’s avant-garde film heritage through laboratory work. The targeted recipients are nonprofit and public archives across the United States. Avant-garde film is generally created and distributed outside the mainstream commercial film industry. These works are typically produced by individual filmmakers or small teams and often aim to serve as unique artistic expressions. The films frequently explore innovative uses of the film medium, diverging from traditional cinematic techniques and narrative structures. To be eligible for this grant, the films proposed must be more than twenty years old and should have contributed significantly to the development of American experimental film. Applicants must demonstrate both the historical significance of the films and the necessity for their preservation. Additionally, proposals must include detailed plans for public and scholarly access to the preserved works. The grant provides funding between five thousand and fifty thousand dollars per project, intended solely for new laboratory work to create film preservation elements and two new public access copies. One of these copies must be a film print. The funds cannot be used for staff salaries or operational costs, and may not be used for works already preserved by commercial interests. Ineligible materials include those originally produced for television or video, including productions funded by broadcast or cable entities. All work funded by the grant must be commissioned after the start date of the grant period. Eligibility is limited to public and 501(c)3 nonprofit archives in the United States, including archives that are part of federal, state, or local government agencies. The application process begins with registration by May 9, 2025. Interested applicants must email NFPF with their contact information and a brief project description. If the project is deemed eligible, applicants will be invited to submit a complete letter of application by June 13, 2025. The grant period extends from August 2025 to October 2026. Applicants will be notified of funding decisions by mid-August 2025. The application must address several key areas: the significance of the films to avant-garde film history; the provenance and rights associated with the source materials; the uniqueness of the archive’s film copy; detailed description of the film’s physical condition; an outline and cost estimate of the proposed laboratory work; storage plans for the preservation masters; and public access plans. Additional information required includes the tax-exempt status of the applicant institution, any matching funds available, and full contact details of the project coordinator. Applications must be submitted via email or mailed in hard copy to the NFPF’s office in San Francisco. The NFPF staff and external reviewers will evaluate the proposals, with final awards determined by a panel representing the NFPF Board of Directors. Successful applicants will sign an agreement outlining their responsibilities under the grant. Nonprofit winners must also provide documentation verifying their tax-exempt status. Through this program, the NFPF aims to ensure that important works of American avant-garde cinema are preserved and made accessible to future generations.