The mission of the Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema (CFIC) is to effectively nurture an appreciation of Israeli culture in the Chicago metropolitan area by multiple generations of American Jews, Israelis and the community at large. We are one of the few independent institutions in the Chicago community where there are no barriers to entry—by religion, politics, age, gender or ethnicity, so our Big Tent is filled with unprecedented opportunities for diverse individuals to interact. (In fact, the CFIC is quickly evolving as a catalyst for multicultural dialogue as many of the same racial, ethnic, religious and social groups represented in Israel and in Israeli films also reside locally.) Among its many supporters are leading local, national and international businesses, learning institutions, synagogues, service organizations and family foundations.