Washington, DC [July 12] – Gallaudet University is proud to host the WorldDeaf Cinema Festival  [WDCF] November 4-7, 2010. The four-day conference and competition will bring together both filmmakers and film fans to celebrate and discover the cinematic art of deaf and hard of hearing people, as well as of hearing people who produce films with or about deaf and hard of hearing people. Not only will the event spotlight the global dimensions of deaf cinema, it will also highlight the diversity of the world’s deaf and hard of hearing communities.

WDCF, which will take place on the Gallaudet University campus, will recognize achievement in nine categories of film, video and v-logs [i.e., video blogs]. Entries will be judged by a panel of experts from the motion picture and video industries and winners will receive cash awards ranging from $500 - $3,000.

Actress Marlee Matlin will be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the festival. Matlin, who is deaf, is the honorary chair of WDCF. In addition, Terry Riley, chief executive of the British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust, will receive WDCF’s international media award.  And Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., chairman and CEO of the Samuel Goldwyn Company, will share with attendees his and his famous father’s storied experiences as successful film producers.