OFF Awarded More Than $21,000 in Grants from Mississippi Arts Commission

The Oxford Film Festival has been awarded a $20,100 operating grant and a $1,000 mini-grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC).

UM film production professor Harrison Witt (right) works with cinema student Sam Cox to set up a shot for Witt’s short film ‘MANGRY.’ A teaser for the film will screen during the ‘Ole Miss Theatre & Film Presents’ block in the Oxford Film Festival on Feb. 9. Photo by Chris Floyd

This grant is a portion of the nearly $1.4 million in grants the Commission awarded in FY 2020 and will be used to support year-round festival activities. The grants are made possible by continued funding from the Mississippi State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Last year, the MAC awarded OFF with a $21,000 operational, two-year grant that will augment this year’s grant. 

“The Mississippi Arts Commission is proud to support arts organizations as well as arts activities and festivals around the state through grant-making,” said Malcolm White, executive director of MAC. “These funds help broaden the reach of arts by educating our communities about Mississippi’s enduring creative legacy and offering arts experiences and performances to people in nearly every area of the state.”

Melanie Addington, executive director of the Oxford Film Festival, said the award will be used for the festival’s operations and additional programs. The $1,000 mini-grant will be used to attend the Film Fest Alliance regional conference in Birmingham, Alabama.

“The money we raise is used for our programs and operations – mostly for the March 2020 event but also for our monthly programs like the recent kid camp,” Addington said.

The Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) is a state agency serving more than two million people through grants and special initiatives that enhance communities, assist artists and arts organizations, promote arts education and celebrate Mississippi’s cultural heritage. MAC is funded by the Mississippi Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mississippi Endowment for the Arts at the Community Foundation for Mississippi and other private sources.

The Oxford Film Festival is a not-for-profit 501c3 organization founded in 2003 to bring in exciting and contemporary films and those filmmakers into North Mississippi. Going into its 17th season, the five-day festival screens various short and feature-length films for both showcase and competition settings.

Hottytoddy.com intern Jackson Solari contributed to this report