The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U. S. Embassy in Lima is pleased to announce a competition for assistance awards through this Notice of Funding Opportunity.
The program aims to support women in the film industry in Peru, given the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to the film sector
and the cultural industry in general.
The U. S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section invites filmmakers, producers, film technicians, cultural and education institutions and film guilds to design and present a plan to support women in Peru’s film industry by creating training opportunities throughout Peru, specifically outside of the province of Lima; promoting safer working conditions; and generating more opportunities to collaborate and share ideas with the international community, specifically the U. S. film industry.
The program will support female directors, producers, technical teams, and screenwriters, amplifying their voices, and helping them overcome gender-based challenges that hinder their ability to work in the field.
The program should also facilitate networking between senior-level and less-experienced professionals and disseminate funding and training opportunities, both in Peru and the United States.
The program could be supported by one or more social media platforms or any other communication tool that reaches the target community.
Activities should have a significant training component and include virtual and in-person events when possible.
The program could include the creation of a Peru chapter for Women in Film and Television International to enable Peruvian women to further expand their networks to colleagues worldwide.
The proposals should support the U. S. Embassy’s Integrated Country Strategy which includes the promotion of gender integration as a cross-cutting theme and supports women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship.
If selected, the grantee must be able to carry out at least six of the following activities:
1. Organize four virtual and at least two in-person conferences (when possible) with U. S. women specialists on issues relevant to the field to help promote more film projects led by women.
Audiences could be mixed or only women.
2. Organize regional courses with U. S. specialists in specific fields of interest to improve the technical capacity of filmmakers in provinces outside of Lima.
Generate encounters for intercultural cooperation and dedicate resources to train indigenous women filmmakers.
3. Incentivize and promote gender balance in the film industry, where film projects should display gender equity.
These efforts should be promoted with the participation of men and women.
4. Create safe working places in the film industry by promoting nondiscrimination laws and specifically supporting and promoting the implementation of the “Protocol for Good Labor Practices in the audiovisual sector” elaborated by SINCA (labor union of audiovisual and film workers).
5. Open a chapter of Women in Film and Television International in Peru and find an institutional partner (professional guild or academic institution) to provide sustainability.
6. Launch a mentoring project where senior women in film offer support to upcoming professionals and recent graduates through informal conversations.
This mentorship project should include two virtual sessions per year and start with at least three Peruvian and three U. S. volunteers from different regions in the U. S. and Peru.
7. Promote the exchange of information on resources, funding, and technical training (photography and cinematography, editing, casting, art design, costume design, production, screen writing, lighting, sound engineer) via virtual and in-person events (at least three events per year with members of the network).
8. Organize at least two virtual or in-person events where senior and upcoming women professionals can share their accomplishments to foster leadership development.
9. Provide a plan for sustainability of the network after the conclusion of the grant.
Additionally, the grantee should select between 3 and 5 women filmmakers in the process of producing their own film who would benefit from English language lessons to be able to apply and participate in film festivals in the United States.
The budget destined for this purpose should not exceed $5,000 in total for one to two-year English classes to be taken at the American Spaces (binational center) network throughout Peru.
* For Spanish version go to:
https://pe.usembassy.gov/es/education-culture-es/oportunidades-de-financiamiento/