Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Travels to Washington State, September 4 - 7

Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Travels to Washington State, September 4 - 7 Sundance Institute and U.S. Federal Cultural Agencies Collaborate with Seattle Art Museum; City of Tacoma and Seattle International Film Festival to Host Free Screenings, Discussions and Workshops. Filmmakers Julia Meltzer (The Light In Her Eyes) and Jerry Rothwell (Town Of Runners) to participate.

Posted Aug 12, 2013

Los Angeles, CA Sundance Institute and the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announced today that FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue will host free screenings of eight films with moderated discussions for the first time ever in Washington State. Filmmakers traveling with the program are Julia Meltzer (The Light In Her Eyes) and Jerry Rothwell (Town Of Runners). For a full schedule of events in Washington, visit sundance.org/filmforward and to view content from past trips visit sundance.org/video/playlists/film-forward/.

FILM FORWARD, a partnership of Sundance Institute and four U.S. federal cultural agencies, is a touring program that offers film screenings, workshops and discussions designed to foster dialogue and cross-cultural understanding. It uses the power of cinema to promote broader cultural understanding, inspire curiosity and enhance awareness of shared stories and values across generations, language, education and borders. The federal partners include the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and The Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Film inspires imagination, encourages civic engagement and underscores the rich diversity of human experience, said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. We are honored to present FILM FORWARD to a diverse group of audiences including skateboarders in Tacoma, the Seattle Ethiopian community and Muslim studies students at the University of Puget Sound among many other unique groups in Washington.

My job as a filmmaker is to tell truthful stories about the world. I am hoping The Light In her Eyes will help audiences gain a greater understanding of womens roles and rights within conservative Islam, especially now while the Middle East is undergoing great change. said filmmaker Julia Meltzer. I am excited to meet audiences in Washington through the FILM FORWARD program and participate in a dialogue about universal themes that unite and affect us all.

Town of Runners is a film about opportunity, which is a theme that connects audiences from Ethiopia to Washington State, said filmmaker Jerry Rothwell. From growing up in Kenya, to living in the United Kingdom, to filming around the world, I have come to realize how film can be a powerful medium to discuss global issues. I look forward to using Town of Runners as a catalyst for conversation.

FILM FORWARD seeks audiences that are new to independent film, students and the local filmmaking community in each region. Common themes explored in the films include issues surrounding family, friendship and community, as well as the intersection of tradition and modern culture.

Sundance Institute staff members traveling with the program are: FILM FORWARD Director Meredith Lavitt, FILM FORWARD Manager Jacqueline Carlson and Sundance Institute Social Media Manager Royale Zeigler.

Following FILM FORWARD's visit to Washington, upcoming destinations include: Bosnia & Herzegovina (September 19-25); and Maine (September 30 October 4). Completed programs this year include California, Mexico, Colombia, China, Taiwan and Puerto Rico.

FILM FORWARD Year Three Films:

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Director: Benh Zeitlin) In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural order is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions.

Bones Brigade: An Autobiography (Director: Stacy Peralta) A gang of disenfranchised kids reject mainstream culture, channel their controlled desperation into a loser activity and redefine winning in the process. Mentored by a former world champion skateboarder, the Bones Brigade became historys most influential skateboarding team. Their countercultural impact continues to affect change with best selling video games and books and millions of kids who embrace skateboarding around the world.

Chasing Ice (Director: Jeff Orlowski) Acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog was once a skeptic about climate change. But through his Extreme Ice Survey, he discovers undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Chasing Ice reveals Balogs hauntingly beautiful, multi-year time-lapse videos of vanishing glaciers across the Arctic, all while delivering fragile hope to our carbon-powered planet.

La Misma Luna (Under The Same Moon) (Director: Patricia Riggen) Even across thousands of miles, the special bond between a mother and son can never be broken. It gives hope to Carlitos, a scrappy nine-year-old boy whose mother, Rosario, has gone to America to build a better life for both of them. While Rosario struggles for a brighter future, fate forces Carlitos' hand and he embarks on an extraordinary journey to find her.

The Light in Her Eyes (Directors: Julia Meltzer and Laura Nix) Houda al-Habash, a conservative woman preacher in Damascus, Syria, calls girls to the practice of Islam, teaching them that pursuing their ambitions is a way of worshipping God. Shot right before the uprising in Syria erupted

LINK:	http://www.sundance.org/press-center/release/sundance-announces-film-f...
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