Reel Affirmations

Reel Affirmations (RA) is a non-profit, all-volunteer LGBT film festival in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1991 and held every year in mid-October, as of 2011 Reel Affirmations was one of the largest LGBT film festivals (in terms of attendance) in the United States.Baltimore's Gay Life newspaper called it "one of the top three films festivals for the entire LGBT community." A 2007 guidebook claims it was one of the largest LGBT film festivals in the world. A listing of LGBT film festivals claims it is the largest all-volunteer film festival in the world.

Reel Affirmations is a program of One In Ten, a Washington, D.C.-based LGBT non-profit arts organization. One In Ten is overseen by a board of four officers and nine board members. Until 2009, a full-time, paid executive director oversaw the day-to-day operations of the organization. But as of 2011, its operations were run by the board and three volunteer directors. All One In Ten programs, including Reel Affirmations, are conceived, organized, and implemented by volunteers.

Planning for Reel Affirmations begins after the conclusion of each year's festival. Deposits are placed to secure venues, and corporate sponsors are secured (an ongoing process which lasts until August). Programming teams for feature films, women's shorts, men's shorts, and documentaries begin researching and screening films in February. Films are secured by contract beginning as early as May, although most contracts are not finalized until early July. A coordinating committee oversees implementation of VIP relations, hospitality, volunteer coordination, marketing, embassy relations, public relations, and other aspects of the film festival.

...
Wikipedia