Sundance Institute and FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Return Today to Colombia (Bogota, Bucaramanga and Medelln), March 8-

Sundance Institute and FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Return Today to Colombia (Bogota, Bucaramanga and Medelln), March 18-23 Sundance Institute and U.S. Federal Cultural Agencies Collaborate with the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, and Proimagenes to Host Free Screenings, Discussions and Workshops With Filmmakers Nancy Buirski (The Loving Story) and Jeff Orlowski (Chasing Ice)

Posted Mar 18, 2013

Los Angeles, CA Sundance Institute and the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announced today that the second trip for FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue in Colombia began with a free screening at a binational center in Medelln. The trip will continue through March 23 with free film screenings of eight different films, panel discussions, artist roundtables, events at Javeriana University, Casa de la Cultura de Ciudad Bolivar and Antioquia University as well as guided discussions with filmmakers Nancy Buirski and Jeff Orlowski. Sundance Channel Global is an official sponsor of the FILM FORWARD program in Colombia. For a full schedule of events visit sundance.org/filmforward.

FILM FORWARD, a partnership of Sundance Institute and 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, foster dialogue and enhance awareness of shared stories and values across generations, language, education and borders. The partnering federal agencies are the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Sundance Institute is pleased to return to Colombia with this FILM FORWARD program of eight films, each of which explores universal issues that touch us all, said Sundance Institute Executive Director Keri Putnam. It is our hope that this collection of films and events exposes audiences to worlds they might not otherwise experience.

Making The Loving Story without a narrator was designed to allow audiences to observe the film's subjects, feel how they feel and draw their own conclusions. I have found each time it screens that audiences have applied new meaning to the film beyond basic human rights, said Director Nancy Buirski. Im excited to meet audiences in Colombia through the FILM FORWARD program, to discuss the themes that unify us all.

The imagery captured in Chasing Ice is beautiful and captivating, so my hope is that audiences will see the film and engage in dialogue about the environment on a global level, said Director Jeff Orlowski. I am excited to connect with audiences in Colombia through the FILM FORWARD program to talk about the measurable changes the globe is experiencing.

FILM FORWARD's primary audience is communities without ready access to independent films, 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 Senior Programmer David Courier, FILM FORWARD Consultant Jill Miller and FILM FORWARD Manager Jacqueline Carlson will travel with the program.

Following FILM FORWARD's visit to Colombia, upcoming destinations include: Jordan (April 13-18); China/Taiwan (May 17-26); Puerto Rico (June 10-15); Washington (September 4-7); Bosnia & Herzegovina (September 20-27); and Maine (September 30 October 4). Completed programs include Imperial Valley, CA, and Mexicali, Mexico.

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

LINK:	http://www.sundance.org/press-center/release/sundance-institute-and-fi...
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