The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is pleased and honored to be a part of the New York Film Festival’s special program Selling Democracy – Films of the Marshall Plan: 1948-1953. Founded in 1972 through a gift from the German government as a permanent memorial to post-World War II Marshall Plan assistance, GMF is dedicated to promoting greater cooperation and understanding between the United States and Europe.

GMF supports individuals and institutions working on transatlantic issues, convenes leaders and policymakers on the most pressing transatlantic themes, and examines new ways in which transatlantic cooperation can address a variety of global policy challenges. Today, GMF maintains a strong presence on both sides of the Atlantic, with offices in Washington DC, Belgrade, Berlin, Bratislava, Brussels, and Paris.

This unique opportunity to support a retrospective of films on the Marshall Plan, most of them shown to an American audience for the first time, allows us to contribute to our goals of increasing transatlantic understanding, and to pay homage to the Marshall Plan in a very meaningful way.

At a time when Europe and the United States are struggling to find common strategies for promoting democracy in the Broader Middle East and elsewhere, Selling Democracy – Films of the Marshall Plan: 1948-1953 reminds us what a powerful instrument the European Recovery Program was in fostering democracy, stability, and prosperity in Europe. While the situation in the Broader Middle East is very different from that of postwar Europe, the ideals of the Marshall Plan can still serve to guide Europe and the United States through the challenges ahead.

The German Marshall Fund of the United States compliments both the project’s co-curators Sandra Schulberg and Richard Peña for putting the program together, and the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the New York Film Festival for hosting the program. We would also like to extend a special thank you to everyone who was involved in making these films available for an American audience.

Craig Kennedy, President, German Marshall Fund of the United States