The Global Film Initiative (GFI) is moving its headquarters fromNew York to San Francisco.

GFI, which champions small films that illustrate cross-culturalsimilarities, aims to capitalise on emerging technologies under development inthe Bay Area.

'Great storytelling is one of the best ways to shareexperience and open up new worlds,' GFI's new executive director KristinWiederholt said. 'Mass communication has made the world smaller, and yethere in the US it's hard to imagine the reality of children playing on theIndia-Pakistan border, or an Algerian woman searching for a missing husband.These films remind us that people are living in very different realities everyday.'

'Filmmaking in the developing world has suffered - traditionalfunding sources have all but disappeared and worldwide distribution channelshave collapsed,' chair and founder Susan Weeks Coulter added. 'That'swhere we come in.'

Apart fromformer journalist and educator Wiederholt, the other new hires are: director ofacquisitions, development and marketing Sheila Cadigan, and director ofgranting, internet strategy and logistics Santhosh Daniel.