COMMUNITY CINEMA [DC] LAUNCHES ITS 7TH SEASON WITH THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED SCREENING OF HALF THE SKY: TURNING OPPRESSION INTO OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN WORLDWIDE
Based On The Best Selling Book By Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Documentary Supports ITVS’ Women and Girls Lead Initiative as it Takes Viewers on a Global Journey to Turn Oppression into Opportunity for Women and Girls
(Washington, DC)— Community Cinema, a national documentary screening series sponsored locally by
WHUT,
Busboys and Poets,
Washington DC Jewish Community Center,
Center for Social Media at American University, [new partner] the
Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital (Partner org.), and the Independent Television Service (ITVS), present 3 community screenings of
Half The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide based on
Nicholas Kristof and
Sheryl WuDunn’s best-selling book,
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.
Six talented actress-advocates —
Eva Mendes,
Meg Ryan,
Gabrielle Union,
Diane Lane,
America Ferrera, and
Olivia Wilde — join Kristof as he travels to Asia and Africa to meet face-to-face with inspiring individuals working to bring about change and the women and girls who confront extreme gender inequality in their daily lives. Women and girls around the globe face threats — trafficking, prostitution, violence, and discrimination — every day of their lives. As we see in
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, hope endures as fearless women and men are developing innovative ways to turn the tide.
The Community Cinema [DC] events kick off
September 2 at 3 PM at the
Washington DC Jewish Community Center (1529 16
th Street, NW) with a special focus on Education. The event will include a screening of an episode of
Half The Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide featuring Gabrielle Union and Kristof. Union and Kristof visit Vietnam with former Microsoft marketing executive John Wood, who started Room to Read, an organization which works to promote literacy and equal education for girls across the developing world.
Special guest speaker is
Sally Schwartz, Founder and Executive Director,
DC Center for Global Education and Leadership (www.dc-cgel.org). (Other guests are TBA) Teachers/Educators who register for the event receive a gift bag with ITVS Classroom resources. Attendees will get an introduction to ITVS resources to enhance the classroom or after school experience and will also have a chance to win free door prizes. To register visit:
http://ccdchalftheskydcjcc.eventbrite.com/ or call 202-939-0794.
WHAT: FREE screenings of
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwideand Q&A engage public about Women’s Issues around the globe
WHO: Presented by ITVS Community Cinema, WHUT
, WHUT, Busboys and Poets, Washington DC Jewish Community Center, Center for Social Media at American University, the Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwideis a special presentation of the Emmy® Award-winning PBS series
Independent Lens, and premiering on October 1 and 2, 2012 at 9 PM (check local listings).
About the Authors
Nicholas D. Kristof and
Sheryl WuDunn are the co-authors of the national best seller Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, and two other books: China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power and Thunder from the East: Portrait of a Rising Asia. They are the first married couple to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism, awarded in 1990 for their coverage of China as New York Times correspondents. Kristof, a New York Times columnist since 2001, has served as bureau chief in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo, and as associate managing editor. In 2006, Kristof won his second Pulitzer for his op-ed columns on Darfur. He has a huge social-media following on Facebook (five hundred thousand) and Twitter (1.2 million). At the Times, WuDunn worked as a business editor and as a foreign correspondent in Tokyo and Beijing; she is currently a senior managing director with Mid-Market Securities.
About the Filmmakers
Show of Force
Dedicated to creating feature documentaries and television series events of the highest caliber, Show of Force is known for dynamic, character-driven storytelling that consistently engages, entertains, and inspires. Show of Force is a media production company represented by CAA (Creative Artists Agency), with 20 years of combined experience and excellence between partners Maro Chermayeff and Jeff Dupre. They have produced over 20 hours of television and media content per year with a staff of excellent young producers and are the recipients of numerous awards and accolades for their work on both U.S. and international media broadcasts. Show of Force is the production company overseeing the multiple platforms of the Half the Sky movement.
Maro Chermayeff (Executive Producer and Director) is an award-winning filmmaker, producer, director, author, and former television executive. She is the founder and chair of the MFA program in Social Documentary Film at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
About ITVS Community Cinema
ITVS Community is the national community engagement program of the Independent Television Service (ITVS) and the Emmy Award-winning PBS series
Independent Lens. Through Community Engagement Campaigns in support of groundbreaking, independent films, our innovative educational product ITVS Community Classroom and our flagship community outreach program Community Cinema, ITVS Community works to bring communities together and connect them with information, resources and opportunities for education, engagement and positive change. ITVS Community builds on our 15-year legacy of community engagement activities and makes public broadcasting into a powerful resource for individuals, communities and organizations working on key social issues around the country. For more information visit:
http://www.communitycinema.org
About Independent Lens
Independent Lens is an Emmy® Award-winning weekly series airing Monday nights at 10:00 PM on PBS. The acclaimed anthology series features documentaries and a limited number of fiction films united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement and unflinching visions of their independent producers. Further information about the series is available at
www.pbs.org/independentlens.
About Women and Girls Lead
Women and Girls Lead is a multiyear public media initiative to focus, educate, and connect citizens worldwide in support of the issues facing women and girls. Combining independent documentary film, television, new media, and global outreach partnerships, Women and Girls Lead amplifies the voices of women and girls, expands understanding of gender equity, and engages an international network of citizens and organizations to act locally and reach out globally. By building a pipeline of some 50 public television documentaries and integrating content from partners across radio, commercial television, and beyond, Women and Girls Lead offers another model for public media to serve its mission in the 21st century. Women and Girls Lead connects key stakeholders to sustain productive dialogue and participation on the most critical issues facing local communities, the nation, and the world. For more information please visit:
www.itvs.org/women-and-girls-lead/films
