The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) and the Asian World Film Festival (AWFF)  announce the first HFPA Snow Leopard Scholarship, which will be awarded to a new Asian short filmmaker during the Festival's fifth anniversary in Culver City, Los Angeles in November 2019. The festival will run November 6 to 14, 2019 in Culver City.

There will be no submission process as AWFF will curate the twelve films from a select number of short film festivals and programs across Asia throughout the year. A special Jury of HFPA members will decide on the winner, who will be presented with a check for $5,000 and a bronze Snow Leopard trophy at a VIP Ceremony during the Festival. AWFF is partnered with the Snow Leopard Trust to raise awareness for the endangered snow leopard and its ecosystem in the high mountains of Asia.

Executive and Program Director of the Asian World Film Festival, Georges N. Chamchoum said, “The AWFF is grateful to the HFPA for their gracious support of the first-ever HFPA Snow Leopard Scholarship. The competition and scholarship will bring critical awareness to the Asian and Asian-American entertainment communities in Hollywood and encourage promising young Asian film makers to develop creative storytelling that speaks to audiences from all backgrounds. We trust that this valued partnership will continue to ignite and inspire events like this for years to come.”

Up to twelve selected Asian short films, which must have been produced and/or directed by an Asian filmmaker, will be screened during the AWFF's short film programs. Qualifying films must be narrative, no longer than 15 minutes in length, completed in 2018 or 2019 and be the filmmaker's debut or second film. For more information about the Asian World Film Festival, please visit www.asianworldfilmfest.org 

About THE HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) was founded in 1943 as the Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association (HFCA) by a group of entertainment journalists representing world media in Hollywood, who realized the need to unite and organize to gain the recognition and access to studios and talent accorded to the domestic press. All qualified journalists were accepted, with the bold goal of “Unity Without Discrimination of Religion or Race.” A year later, the HFCA created the Golden Globe Awards which, to this day, the entire membership selects, votes on and awards every year for outstanding achievements in motion pictures and television. Members of the HFPA represent 56 countries with a combined readership of 250 million in some of the world’s most respected publications. Each year, the organization holds the third most watched awards show on television, the Golden Globe® Awards, which has enabled the organization to donate more than $33 million to 80 entertainment-related charities, film restoration, scholarship programs and humanitarian efforts over the last 25 years. For more information, please visit www.GoldenGlobes.com and follow us on Twitter (@GoldenGlobes), Instagram (@GoldenGlobes), and Facebook (www.facebook.com/GoldenGlobes).

About THE ASIAN WORLD FILM FESTIVAL, NOVEMBER 6 – 14, 2019
The Asian World Film Festival (AWFF), founded by Kyrgyz public figure Sadyk Sher-Niyaz, brings the best of a broad selection of Asian World cinema to Los Angeles to draw greater recognition to the region's wealth of filmmakers and strengthen ties between the Asian and Hollywood film industries. Uniting through cross-cultural collaboration, the Festival champions films from over 50 countries across Asia, spanning from Turkey to Japan and from Russia to India and the Middle East.  All films that participate in the Festival will have a unique chance to be guided through the challenging awards season, and showcased for the Motion Picture Academy, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and all Guilds for enhanced exposure, media attention and awards consideration. AWFF is a non-profit organization under Aitysh USA: www.asianworldfilmfest.org