The Alex Kemnitzer Emerging Filmmaker Fund

In February of 2015, ACFF and the Shepherdstown community lost a dear friend and our board member, Alex Kemnitzer, when he died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Alex served on ACFF’s board for many years and was always a dedicated, enthusiastic, and supportive ambassador of ACFF. We miss him and his many contributions greatly.

Many people made donations to ACFF in Alex’s memory. To honor our friend, and with a founding gift from Alex’s parents, Sue and David Kemnitzer, we have established the Alex Kemnitzer Emerging Filmmaker Fund.

One of the primary tenets of ACFF is to encourage aspiring filmmakers to explore the craft of documentary filmmaking, give them a platform to show their work, and provide learning and networking opportunities to further their education and involvement. This Fund will help us better achieve this mission by supporting student filmmakers to attend the festival and the Filmmaker Workshops each year and screening films by emerging filmmakers.

We hope to build this fund for years to come to grow new conservation filmmakers while honoring Alex. If you would like to donate to the Fund, please contact Jennifer Lee at or send your donation to ACFF, P.O. Box 889, Shepherdstown, WV 25443 and indicate that it’s for the Alex K Emerging Filmmaker Fund. Thank you.