Cine Qua Non Lab proudly announces receipt of the prestigious FilmCraft grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The FilmCraft grants program supports high-quality educational programs that identify and empower future filmmakers from nontraditional backgrounds, seeking to promote diversity and to provide a platform for underrepresented artists, the full range of film genres, and a variety of viewpoints and approaches.

The FilmCraft grant will help Cine Qua Non Lab fulfill its mission of supporting independent film with a global and humanistic sensibility. Cine Qua Non Lab seeks to bridge the opportunity divide. Since the foundation of the organization, 80 percent of all participants in its programs have come from developing countries. Cine Qua Non Lab has also promoted gender equality by supporting equal number of male and female filmmakers. 

By bringing together a group of filmmakers with very diverse artistic perspectives, backgrounds, and social and political points of view, Cine Qua Non Lab has become a space that gives a voice to underrepresented communities through the vision of talented filmmakers. Through the Academy grant, Cine Qua Non Lab seeks to strengthen the power of diverse independent storytellers and help them envision and develop their work.