Unbelievably, more than 10 years and 100 events have gone by since ELMA’s founding in 2007.
We’ve accumulated a lot of experience and contacts that helped us develop and grow from a small, home-based foundation to what we have today in our Santa Monica office, and an ability to support a wide variety of events.
 
The industry is changing but our passion for independent movies is intact. We continue striving  to have a very pragmatic and businesslike approach, aiming  to reach a wider, younger and more mainstream American audience that goes beyond the traditional “film buffs” and expat communities.
 
We appreciate the input from many partners, festivals, foreign consulates, local authorities, as well as other passionate and dedicated individuals working  towards the same goals.
Like us, they believe cinematic language is universal, and that  movies can make you think and discover new ideas, people, cultures and places.
 
As the great Martin Scorsese, who does so much for the arts put it so eloquently:
"Coming from a working-class background in New York, my parents were not educated, were not in the habit of reading books, so I saw a great deal of film," "This opened up a new world to me. I find that I was fed by those cultures." "Understanding another culture can also breed tolerance."
(Cannes Film festival in May 2007 on the launch of his “World Cinema Foundation” - extract from interview By Mike Collett-White – Reuters)
 
Let’s continue to enjoy Independent cinema from Europe for many years to come!