HFPA Annual Grants Banquet Set for August 2nd

Roger Ebert's Film Festival (a.k.a. Ebertfest) is pleased to be the recipient of a continuing grant from The Hollywood Foreign Press Association at its annual Grants Banquet Dinner on Wednesday, August 2nd. Since 2014, these grants have enabled the festival to screen several acclaimed foreign titles, including Pawel Pawlikowski's "Ida," Jean-Luc Godard's "Goodbye to Language," Park Chan-wook's "The Handmaiden" and Paul Verhoeven's "Elle." This latest grant will assist the programmers of Ebertfest in its mission to champion empathy and honor the legacy of its founder, Roger Ebert, at its twentieth anniversary next April.

This year's grants banquet will once again be taking place at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Over $2.6 million in funds to nonprofit entertainment-related organizations and scholarship programs will be granted by the HFPA at the event. Thus far, the HFPA has granted nearly $30 million in grants, presented over 1,500 scholarships and restored more than 90 films, including Alfred Hitchcock's 1943 masterpiece, "Shadow of a Doubt," and 1933's landmark classic, "King Kong."

Chaz Ebert and Ebertfest director, Nate Kohn, will be among the guests scheduled to attend this year's HFPA gala, which boasts an impressive line-up of presenters. They include Chadwick Boseman, Ava DuVernay, Jennifer Garner, Kathryn Hahn, Mark Hamill, Armie Hammer, Katherine Langford, Stan Lee, Anthony Mackie, Chrissy Metz, Dylan Minnette, Kumail Nanjiani, Bob Odenkirk, Robert Pattinson, Patrick Stewart and Billy Bob Thornton. Chelsea Handler will serve as the evening's host, while Tony Award nominee Keala Settle ("Hands on a Hardbody") is slated to perform.

Among its many additional charities, the HFPA provides scholarships, supports filmmaker training in Kenyan refugee camps and donates money to theater groups, musicians, storytellers’ foundations, film archives and youth projects, as well as many other worthy causes.

For more information on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, visit its official site.