Hartley Film Foundation
Encyclopedia
Hartley Film Foundation, is a 501-(c)-3 organization dedicated to cultivation and support of documentaries on world religions and spirituality. This non-profit organization supports filmmakers through seed grants with fiscal sponsorship. The foundation is located in Westport, CT and has a staff of two and board of eleven members.
. She had a long career in filmmaking. Elda married filmmaker Irving Hartley, with whom she partnered to make newsreels and travel films from the 1930s through the 1960s. Some of the most well-known images that now illustrate American history were shot by Irving Hartley, including the explosion of the Hindenburg zeppelin in 1937. He and Elda also produced the very popular series of Pan Am travelogues
, a prototype for so many travel shows on television today.
Elda worked as North Carolina State’s Director of Visual Education and, in the 1930s, she helped found the Documentary Film Association, which exhibited at the first New York World's Fair.
Elda's vision of the future foundation began in 1965, while on a vacation tour to Japan with Alan Watts
. She decided to make a film on Zen and Alan Watts
volunteered to narrate the film. At the age of fifty-six, Elda Hartley was on her way to producing documentary films of a spiritual nature –the beginning of her third career.
She completed films about the world's spiritual and religious traditions (including the well-known documentaries Requiem for a Faith and The Sufi Way),and collaborated with Margaret Mead
, Joseph Campbell
, Edgar Mitchell, Jean Houston
, Ram Dass
, Alan Watts
, Huston Smith
and Larry Dossey, among others.
Hartley often said that the goal of her work was greater than simply making films and so she founded the Hartley Film Foundation. She passed away on her 90th birthday, March 6, 2001.
The Hartley Film Foundation continues to honor her legacy through its support of established filmmakers who travel the world to document stories that further global and interfaith understanding. The Foundation strives to reach the widest possible audience with its quality films, and sells on its Web site and at major conferences those award-winning documentaries that fulfill Hartley's mission and message. Hartley sponsors the Full Frame Inspiration Award annually at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
in Durham, NC. The foundation also provides audience outreach consultation support to its fiscal sponsees through Active Voice, communications specialists who use media as a catalyst for social change. In addition, Hartley Film Foundation funds in part Arts Engine's
festival of documentary shorts entitled "Media That Matters".
Background
Hartley Film Foundation, incorporated in 1971, was the vision of founder Elda HartleyHartley
-Places:Australia*Hartley, New South Wales*Hartley, South Australia**Electoral district of Hartley, a state electoral districtCanada*Hartley Bay, British ColumbiaEngland*In Cumbria**Hartley, Cumbria, village**Hartley Castle*In Devon**Hartley, Plymouth...
. She had a long career in filmmaking. Elda married filmmaker Irving Hartley, with whom she partnered to make newsreels and travel films from the 1930s through the 1960s. Some of the most well-known images that now illustrate American history were shot by Irving Hartley, including the explosion of the Hindenburg zeppelin in 1937. He and Elda also produced the very popular series of Pan Am travelogues
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
, a prototype for so many travel shows on television today.
Elda worked as North Carolina State’s Director of Visual Education and, in the 1930s, she helped found the Documentary Film Association, which exhibited at the first New York World's Fair.
Elda's vision of the future foundation began in 1965, while on a vacation tour to Japan with Alan Watts
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York...
. She decided to make a film on Zen and Alan Watts
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York...
volunteered to narrate the film. At the age of fifty-six, Elda Hartley was on her way to producing documentary films of a spiritual nature –the beginning of her third career.
She completed films about the world's spiritual and religious traditions (including the well-known documentaries Requiem for a Faith and The Sufi Way),and collaborated with Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....
, Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience...
, Edgar Mitchell, Jean Houston
Jean Houston
Jean Houston is an American scholar, lecturer, author and philosopher who has helped pioneer and motivate the human potentials movement. As a teacher and visionary thinker, Houston holds conferences and seminars with social leaders, educational institutions and business organizations worldwide...
, Ram Dass
Ram Dass
Ram Dass is an American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the seminal 1971 book Be Here Now. He is known for his personal and professional associations with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s, for his travels to India and his relationship with the Hindu guru Neem...
, Alan Watts
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York...
, Huston Smith
Huston Smith
Huston Cummings Smith is a religious studies scholar in the United States. His book The World's Religions remains a popular introduction to comparative religion.-Education:...
and Larry Dossey, among others.
Hartley often said that the goal of her work was greater than simply making films and so she founded the Hartley Film Foundation. She passed away on her 90th birthday, March 6, 2001.
The Hartley Film Foundation continues to honor her legacy through its support of established filmmakers who travel the world to document stories that further global and interfaith understanding. The Foundation strives to reach the widest possible audience with its quality films, and sells on its Web site and at major conferences those award-winning documentaries that fulfill Hartley's mission and message. Hartley sponsors the Full Frame Inspiration Award annually at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema. Each spring Full Frame welcomes filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to historic downtown Durham, North Carolina for a four-day, morning to midnight...
in Durham, NC. The foundation also provides audience outreach consultation support to its fiscal sponsees through Active Voice, communications specialists who use media as a catalyst for social change. In addition, Hartley Film Foundation funds in part Arts Engine's
Arts Engine
Arts Engine is unique in the independent media world for its array of activities, including full production of award-winning documentaries, the annual creation of a widely recognized social-issue film festival and creation and maintenance of a virtual commons for filmmakers, activists, educators...
festival of documentary shorts entitled "Media That Matters".