Grass Valley, Nov 22, 2017 – The Animal Film Festival (AFF), a program of the Center for Animal Protection and Education (CAPE), based in Grass Valley California, was honored to be recognized by FestForums as Best of the Fests, 2017, Film Charity event. The awards event was held at the Fess Parker Resort in Santa Barbara during the bi-annual FestForums Conference where leaders from film, music and other festivals gather for workshops, meetings and to learn about innovations in the industry.
In the audience during the awards ceremony were Jeff Bridges, Ethan and Joel Coen, T. Bone Burnett, Kenny Loggins, Frances Fisher and many more influential people in the film and music industries. Actress Frances Fisher, while accepting a Lifetime Achievement award, noted from the podium how reassured she was that the Animal Film Festival exists to help improve the lives of animals on the planet.
Shelley Frost, AFF Director was on hand to accept the award. “We were completely taken by surprise winning this award. But so honored that in our fifth year, the AFF event and the important films that we screen are seen as relevant and ground-breaking within the broader film festival industry.”
The Animal Film Festival is the heart and soul of CAPE’s education and outreach programs. The AFF accepts films from around the world that tell the stories of animals and the issues they face. Films focusing on wildlife and environmental depletion to animals used for entertainment and in the food industry, to love stories about companion animals, the AFF is changing the way people think about and treat animals in their own lives.
Each year during the AFF, filmmakers take the stage after their films screen, further educating audiences about what they can do to can help: signing petitions, volunteering at animal shelters, adopting an animal, sponsoring animals, adopting a plant based diet, etc. The AFF also has a streaming channel on ROKU where many award winning features and shorts about animals can be viewed. The AFF goes on tour to cities throughout California and beyond, further enlightening audiences on the joys animals bring, the challenges they face and the responsibility we all have to protect them from suffering.
The 5th annual Animal Film Festival will take place Saturday, February 17, 2018 at the Center for the Arts, 314 W. Main St., Grass Valley, CA. Doors open at 9:30 am, and the first film begins at 10:00 am. Films will screen through 10:00pm with three Intermissions throughout the day. Tickets begin at $25 for all day admission; $20 senior/student/military; $10 for Evening Session only. Tickets are available at www.animalfilmfestival.org.
About CAPE:
The Center for Animal Protection and Education (CAPE) (www.capeanimals.org) works to save the lives of individual animals and to educate people about ways in which they can alleviate animal suffering. Founded in 1992, CAPE has helped thousands of animals. Those who are older, injured or recovering from an illness are placed into new, loving homes through CAPE’s foster and adoption programs. In 2012 CAPE established the CAPE Animal Sanctuary in Grass Valley, California, a permanent home for dozens of animals with special needs and burros removed from their native habitats on public lands by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. In 2016 CAPE co created a shelter in Santa Rosa that serves as a safe place for rescued dogs. CAPE programs teach that all animals have the right to a long, full life, free from pain and suffering. To learn more or donate please visit www.capeanimals.org.