CHELSEA — The Chelsea Film Festival will run for at least another year, despite an “unsuccessful” fundraising campaign, its co-founder said.
The festival — which screened 90 films from 24 different countries over the course of four days earlier this month — was in danger of ending this year due to the high costs associated with organizing and carrying out the event, co-founder Ingrid Jean-Baptiste previously told DNAinfo New York.
While a crowdfunding campaign launched by the festival raised only around $3,000 of its original $100,000 goal, partnerships with the Fashion Institute of Technology, Cinépolis and other organizations will keep it going next year, Jean Baptiste said Friday.
The festival’s partners are committed to providing the venue the space and promotion it needs to continue, she said.
“Without them, it would be really hard to continue,” she said. “They met us halfway, so that we can… do the festival at those different venues.”
Between the festival’s partnerships and its nonprofit financing, Jean-Baptiste hopes it will be “in much better shape" in 2017 compared to this year.
“[The campaign] was not successful at all, but I have to say, I’m very thankful for the people that have participated and that have donated, whether it’s a small or large amount,” she said. “It definitely raised awareness, so I’m really thankful and grateful for that.”
Next year’s festival will run from Oct. 19 to Oct. 22, she said.
“It is a really challenging industry and… it was challenging this year,” she said. “[But] I’m really passionate about this project.”
