Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Returns for the ird Year to Puerto Rico June 0 - 5

Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Returns for the Third Year to Puerto Rico June 10 - 15 Sundance Institute and U.S. Federal Cultural Agencies Collaborate with Puerto Rico Film Society to Host Free Screenings, Discussions and Workshops

Posted May 28, 2013

Filmmakers Musa Syeed (Valley of Saints) and Josh Penn (Beasts of the Southern Wild)to participate

First Short Film Lab to be held in Puerto Rico with

Sundance Film Festival Shorts Programmer Ernesto Foronda June 14

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 third year in Puerto Rico June 10-15. New to the program this year is a free Short Film Lab on June 14 led by Sundance Film Festival short film programmer Ernesto Foronda. Filmmakers participating are Paola Mendoza and Film Forward filmmakers Musa Syeed and Josh Penn. For a full schedule of events visit www.sundance.org/filmforward.

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 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.

Returning to Puerto Rico for the third year of FILM FORWARD allows us to develop a deeper relationship with the community, said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. In addition to screening eight feature films that speak to universal themes, we look forward to enriching the presentation with a short film lab to engage audiences and help artists in Puerto Rico develop their unique voice.

During the past two years Puerto Rican audiences have enthusiastically embraced FILM FORWARD, which has been very rewarding for us, said Guillermo V zquez, Founder and Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Film Society. The public has definitely responded to films that enrich their lives by providing new perspectives about our world. Our society will continue to bring the best of the independent films being produced today.

Valley of Saints will get audiences around the world to discuss and reflect on their notions of home, from environmental responsibility to cultural identity, said filmmaker Musa Syeed. I am excited to meet audiences in Puerto Rico through the FILM FORWARD program and start global dialogue about these universal themes.

Through the power of film and the point of view of an optimistic six-year-old, Beasts of the Southern Wild shows audiences how a small community overcomes catastrophe, said producer Josh Penn. Screening the film in Puerto Rico will mean reaching new audiences and discussing situations unique to the characters that also have common threads with communities around the world.

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 Director Meredith Lavitt, FILM FORWARD Manager Bethany Clarke and Sundance Film Festival short film programmer Ernesto Foronda.

Following FILM FORWARD's visit to Puerto Rico, upcoming destinations include: Washington (September 4-7); Bosnia & Herzegovina (September 20-27); and Maine (September 30 October 4). Completed programs this year include California, Mexico, Colombia, China and Taiwan.

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

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