Our objective for this competition and film festival is to promote and encourage screenwriters and independent filmmakers, and the best work in stage plays, radio plays, TV scripts, musical scores, lyrics, librettos, musical videos, and short stories. Moondance provides a forum in which those creative, talented and dedicated artists can have the opportunity for their work to be viewed and accepted
by the powers that be, within the international film community. Moondance promotes, encourages, educates and rewards non-violent conflict resolution in the arts and film. Our much-coveted Columbine Awards are given to the filmmakers and/or writers who best depict alternatives to violence as a method of dealing with conflicts, whether personal, local, national or international, and/or show why violence as a solution to conflict is ultimately counter-productive and inhumane. We believe that films, scripts and music can contribute to a healthier society and that these works should encourage the active involvement of audiences to connect and act collectively to address social challenges. Winning and finalist films and scripts are innovative, distinctive, compelling and engaging, relevant to varied audiences and encourage participation. We are eager to continue to be one of the most important film festivals in the world by being innovative, risk-taking, and open to new thinking, new concepts, new talent, and new ways of telling stories. Our work on reaching out toward women filmmakers and women writers everywhere in the world is primary and ongoing. Women writers and filmmakers from all six continents, and from a wide diversity of ethnic and linguistic groups are an integral part of our mission and goals. We seek to inspire and invigorate this creative potential of women to perceive, conceptualize, and produce their works for the benefit of the world society. We are dedicated to preserving their accumulated accomplishments and visions as expressed through the art of film and writings.Moondance promises to raise awareness of the invaluable contributions of women to the entertainment community. Equity for women in the film industry does not mean stifling some voices so that others may be heard; it does not demand the compromising of personal standards to achieve success. Equity creates new standards, which accommodate and nurture differences. Equity fosters the individual voice, investing women with confidence in their own authority. Equity unleashes the creative potential. We see the equal treatment of all women and the equal respect for all responses they explore as essential to their and our ultimate goals. Our film programs are always well rounded, entertaining, and enlightening, highlighting diverse cultures, opinions, and stories. We welcome individual expression and are committed to presenting diverse points of view. Moondance aims to entertain, increase awareness, provide multiple viewpoints, address complex social issues, provide forums for deliberation, and strengthen ties between a large variety of international audiences. The long-term vision of the Moondance International Film Festival is to preserve and revitalize our intangible heritage, cultivate creative diversity, develop an intercultural dialogue, and stimulate this creative resource. Our mission is to present a vibrant and growing collection of films, writings, and music, which is an ideal means for communication across perceived boundaries of race, culture, place, age and gender.
