Dear Film Enthusiast,
The Chesapeake Film Festival, along with many non-profits, experienced the coronavirus challenges in 2020. But, CFF answered the call creating an entirely virtual festival! The Virtual Festival was our gift to film lovers in our community and beyond. It delivered the mission to entertain, enrich and inspire by bringing the finest in narrative, documentary and short films to the community during a time without gathering. You may have supported by watching some of the 46 independent films; sponsoring the festival; donating to the cause; or sharing the festival link with friends and family.
The online platform allowed our audiences to select the films they wanted to watch, when and where they chose to enjoy them. The Virtual Festival benefited our filmmakers, too, with the amazing opportunity to present their films to an audience without borders. In our 13th year, the Chesapeake Film Festival invited you once again to savor an explosion of cinematic flavor—from 5-minute shorts to 90-minute features, the Festival offered something for every cinematic taste.
The numbers for the festival were very good—compared to last year’s live festival where we had 1,600 attendees, this year we had a grand total of 4,371 households or approximately 8,600 individuals. We hope you enjoyed a few of the diverse films our jury selected for the 2020 Virtual Chesapeake Film Festival. We thank YOU for supporting our pivot and mission. Every donation was vital in the transition to the online platform which was an expensive endeavor. We learned along the way and are positioned for next year.
CFF is a vital resource, which serves and inspires our entire community, and is a valuable asset, which deserves your support. In addition to the yearly festival, we give back through free programming at the Talbot County Free Library. This year we screened four films saluting the Year of the Woman in our “Great Dames” series; and had “standing room” only houses.
Please be as generous as you can by contributing to our Annual Fund Campaign, so that CFF may continue to delight and enlighten everyone in our greater community.
Please consider making your tax-deductible annual fund contribution online today by clicking the donate now button below, so that we may continue to plan for the future. Enjoy the testimonials received after the 2020 Virtual Festival listed below. Our audiences are asking for more. With your support, we can deliver!
Very truly yours,
Nancy Tabor
Executive Director