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Organization <br />Description <br />The Cosmic Rays Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that presents the <br />annual Cosmic Rays Film Festival. Our mission is to support and celebrate <br />experimental films and digital media art created by regional, national, and <br />global media artists; and to provide a venue in Orange County where a <br />diverse range of audiences can have access to this vital and expanding <br />area of the arts. <br />The first Cosmic Rays festival took place in 2018. Since then, the festival <br />has expanded its programming and partnered with other local non-profit <br />venues including the Morehead Planetarium, where we presented a <br />program of videos commissioned for display on a planetarium dome; the <br />Nightlight and Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, where we have presented exciting <br />live-cinema programs; Peel Gallery in Carrboro and Lump Gallery in <br />Raleigh, where we have organized digital media art exhibitions; and <br />Fatwood Studio, an artists' project space near Carrboro, where we have <br />organized festival after-parties and filmmakers' receptions. <br />During our sixth edition in 2024, we saw some 300 people attend our four <br />screening programs at the Chelsea Cinema in Chapel Hill and our live- <br />cinema program at Fatwood Studio. Based on our post-festival audience <br />survey, we determined that our festival's reach extends across Orange <br />County, the Triangle, and the state. <br />In addition to programming three days of cinema art selected from over 500 <br />submissions from around North Carolina and the world, Cosmic Rays also <br />invites distinguished filmmakers and programmers to curate thematic <br />programs of work. Visiting curators have included David Dinnell, former <br />programmer of the Ann Arbor Film Festival who screened a collection of <br />16mm films from the Canyon Cinema archive that were made by feminist <br />filmmakers; Aily Nash, experimental programmer for the New York Film <br />Festival, who presented work commissioned for a planetarium; Rachael <br />Rakes, co-curator of the Film Society at Lincoln Center’s Art of the Real, <br />whose program focused on the groundbreaking experimental work of <br />contemporary female filmmakers-of-color; and Suneil Sanzgiri who <br />presented a program of personal documentaries that consider questions of <br />Indian-American identity, culture, and diaspora. <br />In 2022, we launched the Cosmic Rays Touring Festival. Each year, we <br />select films from the past festival and create a traveling program of work. <br />By partnering with screening venues across the country, we are able to <br />reach even more audiences, promote our festival's work, and raise the <br />profile of North Carolina artists' cinema. Our 2023-24 tour included <br />screenings at Union Docs in New York City; the Union Cinema in <br />Milwaukee, W I; Experimental Response Cinema in Austin, TX; and Other <br />Cinema in San Francisco, CA. <br />To advance artist equity, the festival is committed to paying all participating <br />filmmakers a screening fee, something that is rare among film festivals in <br />the U.S. and nearly unique among festivals of our small size. <br />The Cosmic Rays Foundation was established in 2022. Our board consists <br />of Sabine Gruffat (CEO), Bill Brown (President), Kathie Roberts (legal <br />counsel), and Kristin Pearson. Our goal is to grow this board and our <br />Docusign Envelope ID: 678936C8-E900-4A07-925F-E6D2CC7A910E