Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Returns to Imperial Valley, CA, and Mexicali, Mexico, Feb. 6 - March

Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Returns to Imperial Valley, CA, and Mexicali, Mexico, Feb. 26 March 1 Sundance Institute and U.S. Federal Cultural Agencies Collaborate with Imperial Valley Film Commission and Mexicali Rose Media/Arts Center to Host Free Screenings, Discussions and Workshops

Posted Feb 7, 2013

Filmmakers Stacy Peralta (Bones Brigade: An Autobiography) and Jerry Rothwell (Town of Runners) to Lead Discussions and Workshops

Los Angeles, CA Sundance Institute and the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities announced today that FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue will return for a second year to host eight free film screenings, workshops and artist roundtables in Imperial Valley, California, and Mexicali, Mexico, February 26 through March 1. For a full schedule of events visit www.sundance.org/filmforward.

FILM FORWARD, a partnership of the 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 Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute, said, Returning to locations like Imperial Valley and Mexicali, Mexico, means we can deepen the relationships started last year with a new set of films and a renewed sense of community. We look forward to building on these shared experiences and connecting audiences with independent film.

From growing up in Kenya, to living in the United Kingdom to filming Town of Runners in Ethiopia, I have come to realize how film can be a powerful medium to discuss global issues, said Director Jerry Rothwell. I am excited to meet audiences in Imperial Valley, California, and Mexicali, Mexico, through the FILM FORWARD program, to discuss themes that unify us all.

Events around the Imperial Valley, California, and Mexicali, Mexico, area include free screenings at El Centro Library, City of Brawley Skate Park, Slab City UABC University, Casa de la Cultura and Instituto de Investigaciones Culturales - Museo UABC well as guided discussions with filmmakers Stacy Peralta and Jerry Rothwell.

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.

Following FILM FORWARD's visit to Imperial Valley, CA, and Mexicali, Mexico, upcoming destinations include: Colombia (March 17-24); 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).

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, 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. Thr

LINK:	http://www.sundance.org/press-center/release/sundance-institute-announ...
	See more stories from sundance

Most recent headlines