Sundance Institute Launches Four Year of Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue with Program in Miiippi February - 4

Sundance Institute Launches Fourth Year of Film Forward: Advancing Cultural Dialogue With Program in Mississippi February 21 - 24 Sundance Institute, Mississippi Film Office and Crossroads Film Society Collaborate and Host Free Screenings, Discussions and Panels

Film Forward to harness the power of storytelling to bring audiences together around the world starting in Mississippi and continuing on in seven other locations domestically (California, Michigan and Pennsylvania) and internationally (Mexico, Taiwan, China, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Indonesia) reaching more than 10,000 people

Filmmakers Marta Cunningham (Valentine Road) and Nisha Pahuja (The World Before Her) to Travel With the Program

Posted Feb 4, 2014

Park City, UT 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, panels and artist roundtables in Jackson and Cleveland, Mississippi.

For a full schedule of events in Mississippi visit sundance.org/filmforward and to view content from past trips visit sundance.org/video/playlists/film-forward/. Over the past three years Film Forward has reached more than 46,000 people in more than 11 countries and 12 US cities.

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, religion, ethnicity 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 The Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Common themes explored in the films include communities in conflict, overcoming adversity and the transformative power of art. In each location, Film Forward seeks audiences that have limited access to independent film, students and the local filmmaking community. In Mississippi, the program will explore the regional tradition of storytelling, blues music, literature and filmmaking; and delve into the topic of tolerance.

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 collaborate with Mississippi Film Office and Crossroads Film Society to present this rich and thought-provoking Film Forward program.

I was compelled to make Valentine Road and use this film as an educational tool for schools to start dialogue around compassion, said filmmaker Marta Cunningham. Through Film Forward, I am excited to meet audiences in Mississippi to talk about the themes, challenges and issues that unite us all.

We are pleased to join Sundance Institute, the Mississippi Humanities Council and other partners to make these outstanding films available to audiences in Mississippi, said Carole Watson, deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Film Forward provides great opportunities to initiate community and civic dialogues that further understanding of ourselves, our neighbors, and other cultures.

Sundance Institute staff members traveling with the program are: Film Forward Director Meredith Lavitt, Film Forward Manager Jacqueline Carlson, Sundance Film Festival Programmer Charlie Reff and Sundance Institute Editorial Manager Nate Von Zumwalt.

Following Film Forward's visit to Mississippi, the program will visit California (San Diego); Mexico (Tijuana); Michigan (Detroit, Dearborn, Ann Arbor); Pennsylvania (Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Lancaster); Taiwan; China; Bosnia & Herzegovina; and Indonesia.

Dates, specific venues, partners and schedules for each location will be announced at www.sundance.org/filmforward.

FILM FORWARD Year Four Films:

Circles (Directed by: Srdan Golubovic )

Five people are affected by a tragic heroic act. Twenty years later, all of them will have to confront the past through their own crises. Will they overcome the guilt, frustration, and the urge for revenge? Will they do the right thing, at all costs?

International Narrative

Dancing in Jaffa (Directed by: Hilla Medalia)

Renowned ballroom dancer, Pierre Dulaine, takes his belief that dance can overcome political and cultural differences and applies it to 11 year old Jewish and Palestinian Israelis. What occurs is magical and transformative.

International Documentary

Fruitvale Station (Directed by: Ryan Coogler)

The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008.

US Narrative

If You Build It (Directed by: Patrick Creadon)

If You Build It spends a year in the life of one of America's most innovative classrooms. Designer/activists Emily Pilloton and Matt Miller, together with their high school students, unleash the power of humanitarian design to help their struggling community in rural North Carolina.

US Documentary

The Rocket (Directed by: Kim Mordaunt)

A boy who is believed to bring bad luck leads his family and a couple of ragged misfits through Laos to find a new home. After a calamity filled journey through a land scarred by war, the boy sets off to prove he's not cursed and builds a giant rocket to enter the most lucrative but dangerous competition of the year: the Rocket Festival.

International Narrative

The World Before Her (Directed by: Nisha Pahuja)

Moving between two extremes the intimate verit drama of the Miss India pageant's rigorous beauty bootcamp and the intense regime of a militant Hi

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