Hollywood, CA -- July 8, 2004 -- The Hollywood Film Festival announces its alliance with the International Documentary Association (IDA), and this year's special focus on documentaries.

"It is crucial that we continue our quest of highlighting important social and humanitarian issues around the globe by giving a voice to the voiceless through the visual medium. We must support filmmakers who, against all odds, are able to memorialize those important moments in human history. Therefore, the Hollywood Film Festival is totally committed to the documentary genre by showcasing both feature length and short documentaries at the HOLLYWOOD DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL™," festival founder Carlos de Abreu said.

The Hollywood Documentary Film Festival is comprised of the HOLLYWOOD DOCS™ SHOWCASE, which will screen documentaries with a special focus on social and humanitarian themes, and the HOLLYWOOD DOCS ACCESS PROGRAM, a series of roundtables that will provide documentarians with direct access to agents, distributors and producer's reps. Both the Showcase and Access Program will take place during the Hollywood Film Festival, October 12 to 18, at the Arclight Theatres in Hollywood.

"The IDA is honored to join with the HFF in presenting HOLLYWOOD DOCS. Since our founding in 1982, we have worked to promote non-fiction film and video, and to increase public awareness and demand for the art of the documentary. This opportunity fulfills this mission, by providing another venue to support the efforts of documentary film and video makers around the world," Sandra J. Ruch, IDA's Executive Director said.

The Hollywood Film Festival is very proud of its diverse programming. Its film finalists have been acquired by 7th Art Releasing, HBO, Indican, Miramax, IFC, and Starz, among other distributors, and filmmakers have secured agents, managers and jobs.

Last year's festival was a smashing success, attracting over 25,000 moviegoers and receiving extensive coverage in all the major local and national publications, including "USA Today," "The New York Times," "Los Angeles Times," "People," "The Hollywood Reporter," "Daily Variety," "US Weekly" and "Newsweek," and in national broadcasts of "Access Hollywood," "Entertainment Tonight," E! Entertainment, "Extra," ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and FOX, among many others.

For submissions and more information, please go to
http://www.hollywoodfestival.com

International Documentary Association (IDA):
We are a nonprofit organization with over 2,700 members in nearly 50 countries worldwide. We welcome everyone to our membership, both the professional documentary community and documentary enthusiasts.

Publishing our magazine, International Documentary, hosting our many events, presenting our annual IDA Awards, offering services and educational opportunities of numerous kinds, we seek to raise public consciousness of the documentary's importance to a free society, and to encourage international understanding and cooperation thorough documentary film, video and interactive media.

The IDA serves as global hub to the documentary community, networking our members together as they work throughout the world. As our membership grows, and more countries join the IDA family, we hope that at any time, any place in the world, an IDA member wants to film, there will be a fellow IDA member in the area to provide advice and assistance.

We present professional seminars to help you refine your craft and sell your documentary. We provide Fiscal Sponsorship for our members, which is a fundraising tool, an alternative to establishing your own 501 (c)(3) nonprofit corporation.

Celebrate and support the documentary! Join IDA!
IDA
1201 West 5th Street
Suite M320
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Tel: 213.534.3600
Fax: 213. 534.3610
website: http://www.documentary.org..

Hollywood Film Festival®
awards@hollywoodawards.com
433 N. Camden Drive, Suite 600
Beverly Hills, CA 90210