Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Travels to Amman, Karak and Madaba, Jordan, April - 8

Sundance Institute Announces FILM FORWARD: Advancing Cultural Dialogue Travels to Amman, Karak and Madaba, Jordan, April 13 - 18 Sundance Institute and U.S. Federal Cultural Agencies Collaborate with The United States Embassy in Jordan and The Royal Film Commission to Host Free Screenings, Discussions and Workshops With Filmmaker Laura Nix of The Light In Her Eyes and Screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos of Under The Same Moon (La Misma Luna)

Posted Apr 4, 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 travel with eight films to host free screenings, panel discussions and artist roundtables in Jordan, April 13 18. Filmmakers Laura Nix and Ligiah Villalobos will participate in the program. 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 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.Sundance Institute is honored to present FILM FORWARD in the country of Jordan and to offer audiences in the region this cultural exchange opportunity, said Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. We have a long history of supporting and working with artists in Jordan and know that the country's cultural diversity and rich tradition of storytelling will lend itself well to this initiative.

During the making of The Light In Her Eyes, we uncovered a lively debate about women's roles as mothers, teachers, wives, workers, sisters and daughters, said filmmaker Laura Nix. I am excited to meet audiences in Jordan through the FILM FORWARD program and to reach common ground with the universal themes that touch us all.

La Misma Lunaexplores the challenges a family faces when they are forced to live apart due to economic challenges, said screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos. Even though this film is set in Mexico and the United States, it has been sobering to realize that this is a challenge thousands of families face around the world, which is why audiences have connected to the film, regardless of where it has screened.

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, FILM FORWARD Director Meredith Lavitt, Feature Film Program Creative Producing Initiatives Director Anne Lai and Editorial Coordinator Nate von Zumwalt.

Following FILM FORWARD's visit to Jordan, upcoming destinations include: 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 California, Mexico and Colombia.

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 comm

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