Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Travels For First Time to Taipei, Taoyuan and Hualien, Taiwan, May -6

Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Travels For First Time to Taipei, Taoyuan and Hualien, Taiwan, May 22-26 Sundance Institute and U.S. Federal Cultural Agencies Collaborate with The American Institute in Taiwan, CNEX Foundation Limited to Host Free Screenings, and Discussions and Roundtables

Posted May 21, 2013

-- Filmmakers Jeff Orlowski, Chasing Ice

Patricia Riggen, Under The Same Moon (La Misma Luna) to participate

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 seven films, panel discussions and artist roundtables in Taiwan for the first time, May 22-26. Filmmakers Jeff Orlowski and Patricia Riggen will participate in the program. Sundance Channel Global is a supporter of the FILM FORWARD program in Taiwan which is hosted by the American Institute in Taiwan and CNEX Foundation. For a full schedule of events visit www.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 understanding, inspire curiosity 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.

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 in Taiwan and to offer audiences in the region an opportunity to discuss universal themes that touch us all.

La Misma Luna explores the challenges many people face around the world when economic hardships force families to live apart, said filmmaker Patricia Riggen. The film gives audiences the chance to ask themselves what the concept of home' means and how that changes as they grow. I am excited to meet audiences in Taiwan through the FILM FORWARD program and start a global dialogue.

Through the power of film, Chasing Ice is showing audiences captivating and unforgettable images of the world's melting glaciers that they may never see firsthand, said Director Jeff Orlowski. Screening the film in Taiwan will mean reaching new audiences and engaging in dialogue on a global level. Ultimately I hope people leave feeling inspired.

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 staff members traveling with the program are: FILM FORWARD Consultant Jill Miller and FILM FORWARD Manager Jacqueline Carlson.

FILM FORWARD Films:

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, The Light in Her Eyes offers an extraordinary portrait of a leader who challenges the women of her community to live according to Islam, without giving up their dreams.

The Loving Story (Director: Nancy Buirski) A racially-charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in this documentary about Mildred and Richard Loving, a part-black, part-Indian woman married to a white man in Jim Crow-era Virginia. Thrown into rat-infested jails and exiled from their hometown for 25 years, the Lovings fought back and changed history.

Town of Runners (Director: Jerry Rothwell) Town of Runners is a feature documentary about young people from the Ethiopian rural town of Bekoji, whose runners have won 10 Olympic Gold medals in the last 20 years. The film tells the story of three teenagers who want to follow in their heroes' footsteps, as they move from school track to national competition and from childhood to adulthood, trying to run their way to a different life.

Valley of Saints (Director and screenwr

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