The Foundation will consider proposals for historical, critical and/or theoretical scholarly projects dealing with cinema. These fellowships do not support creative work such as filmmaking and screenwriting or scholarship primarily focused on drama produced for the stage. Projects may deal with any genres, locations, languages, time periods, or technical formats and platforms.

In accordance with the fellowship program's overall goal of supporting early mid-career artists and scholars, applicants should have a promising record of scholarly accomplishment that includes one major project.  Note that the fellowship funds are intended mainly to support time for scholarly work; they do not underwrite publication, advertising, or promotional costs. 

Howard Foundation Fellowships are awarded through a multi-stage review process that begins with successive rounds of screening by expert panels assembled for each year's fields. Proposals advance through the process based on the collective determination of panelists. To ensure candid assessment, the identities of reviewers are not public. The proposals that panelists collectively judge to be the strongest under the Foundation's award criteria are forwarded to the Foundation's multi-disciplinary Board of Administration, which makes the final selection.  

The Howard Foundation is committed to supporting artist and scholars of diverse cultural, sexual, and ethnic backgrounds. HF does not discriminate based on the gender, ethnicity, sexuality, or ability/disability of artists, and welcomes work whose content reflects the lived experiences of the applicants.