Sundance is HERE! Park City is buzzing with excited film goers ready for the festival to begin. This is going to be an amazing year.
The 2015 Sundance Film Festival kicks off tonight with the world premier of the film “What Happened, Miss Simone?” followed by the opening night Artist at the Table dinner ( sold out!) I happen to know the Director Liz Garbus, an amazing woman, and I am so happy for her in securing this prestigious spot. Friday morning is the first full day of films.
Each year I have put together a list of all the films that I am scheduled to see. Will I see all of these? Likely not, but I will give it a shot. There were so many others I wanted to see but the trick is finding the films, at the right time, in the right location. It is challenging getting around Park City, especially during the opening weekend. What I have not included are the various amazing panels and parities, but I will include the highlights in my festival recap. If I am making you very sad that you are not here you can watch 13 amazing events on line by clicking here. For more info on all the films click here. Love for you to follow me on Twitter @jackizehner as I tweet my way through the festival! Happy Sundancing to all!
In 2011, Miss Representation, a feature length documentary film directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, premiered at Sundance and was picked up for distribution by Oprah Winfrey. From this film, a call to action campaign called The Representation Project was launched to call out sexism in the media, and its advocacy efforts continue to this day. Now, Jennifer is back with her follow up film, The Mask You Live In, which looks at the harmful effects of today’s standards of masculinity on young men and boys. This film will premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and today I received this message from Jennifer about the project:
“In 2011, I premiered my first film, Miss Representation, which looked at how media contributes to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. While traveling the world with Miss Representation, I encountered many parents and educators who thanked me for making Miss Representation, but asked, “What about our boys? Isn’t there a boy crises going on? And, how can we help our boys and men be a part of the gender equality solution?” After all, stereotypes hurt everyone, girls and women, boys and men.
As a mother committed to equality — not to mention our children’s health and well-being — these questions sparked my concern and curiosity. So I began research and production on The Mask You Live In to explore what was really going on with masculinity in America and our boys. From interviews with experts in…
I received this story in one of those random chain emails that I usually hit delete on before even reading, but this one had CHRISTMAS STORY in the title so I read on. The story was so touching that after doing a little checking on the internet to see if it was true ( it seems to be) I decided to make this my holiday post! I am sorry I cannot give credit to the writer but if this reaches you, thank you! It is a story about love, commitment, creativity, being different, generosity, and hope. It cannot get much better than that!
I hope it brings you some holiday cheer. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all!
The True Story of Rudolph
A man named Bob May, depressed and brokenhearted, stared out his
drafty apartment window into the chilling December night. His 4-
year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing. Bob’s
wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer.
Little Barbara couldn’t understand why her mommy could never
come home. Barbara looked up into her dad’s eyes and asked, “Why
isn’t Mommy just like everybody else’s Mommy?”
Bob’s jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears. Her question
brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story
of Bob’s life. Life always had to be different for Bob. Small
when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was
too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called
names he’d rather not remember.
Sundance is HERE! Park City is buzzing with excited film goers ready for the festival to begin. This is going to be an amazing year.
