Reel Voices Film Festival “The Central Park Five “
11th Annual REEL VOICES Film Festival Schedule – October/November
THE 11th ANNUAL REEL VOICES FILM FESTIVAL
Fridays, October 25; November 1, 15 & 22, 2013 at 7:30 pm
Special free preview screening Wednesday, October 23 at 7:30 pm
Belcher Auditorium ~ Ridgewood Public Library
Festival Website:
• https://www.ridgewoodlibrary.org
Festival Location:
• Belcher Auditorium, Ridgewood Public Library: 125 N. Maple Ave., Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Registration:
• $5 per program; pay for tickets by credit card online or with cash or check (payable to Friends of the Ridgewood Library) at the Library.
• Register online at www.ridgewoodlibrary.org (PayPal or pay cash in person)
• Pay at the door; first-come, first-served
Library Café:
• The JoDay Library Café will open at 6:45 pm on Festival evenings.
Contact Us:
• Festival Coordinator: Roberta Panjwani
(201) 670.5600, ext. 114; rpanjwani@ridgewoodlibrary.org
FILMS & SPEAKERS
Wednesday, October 23 at 7:30 pm –
Free preview screening; no registration
STORIES WE TELL
(2012/US; 108 mins; PG-13 for adult material)
Film website: https://www.storieswetellmovie.com/
Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Sarah Polley tells the moving portrait of her family–her many siblings, actor/writer father, and actress/mother–and a legacy of secrets and lies. As with many families, there are a multitude of stories that have been told through the years. Polley, the youngest child, mines this oral tradition in this groundbreaking film, seamlessly blending past and present, the real and the imagined. Polley’s characteristically unflinching yet compassionate gaze delivers an exceptional level of depth and emotion. As Polley says, “If I have learned anything from making this film, it is that we can’t all be right and we can’t all be wrong. So we must be unintentionally distorting things to varying degrees in order to feed our own version of what we need the past and history to be, and in our way, we must all be telling the truth as well.”
• No speaker
Friday, October 25 at 7:30 pm
THE INVISIBLE WAR
(2012/US; 90 mins., not rated)
Film website: https://invisiblewarmovie.com/index.php
Nominated for a 2013 Academy Award, this groundbreaking documentary investigates the the shameful and underreported epidemic of rape within the US military. With stark clarity and escalating revelations, the film exposes the rape epidemic in the armed forces, investigating the institutions that perpetuate it as well as its profound personal and social consequences. We meet characters who embraced their military service with pride and professionalism, only to have their idealism crushed. Focusing on the emotionally charged stories of survivors, the film reveals the systemic cover-up of the crimes against them and follows their struggles to rebuild their lives and fight for justice. The Invisible War features hard-hitting interviews with high-ranking military officers and members of Congress that reveal the perfect storm conditions that exist for rape in the military, its history of cover-up, and what can be done to bring about much needed change.
• Speaker: RET. BRIGADIER GENERAL LOREE SUTTON, MD
Friday, November 1 at 7:30 pm
THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE
(2012/US; 120 mins., not rated)
Film website: https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/centralparkfive/
In 1989, five black and Latino teenagers were arrested and charged with brutally attacking and raping a white female jogger in Central Park. News media swarmed the case, calling them a “wolfpack.” The five would spend years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit before the truth about what really happened became clear. With The Central Park Five, this story of injustice finally gets the attention it deserves. Based on Sarah Burns’ riveting book and co-directed by her husband David McMahon and father, the acclaimed doc filmmaker Ken Burns, this incendiary film tells the riveting tale of innocent young men scapegoated for a heinous crime, and serves as a mirror for our times.
• Speaker:
SARAH BURNS
Producer/Director, The Central Park Five
Friday, November 15 at 7:30 PM
BLOOD BROTHER
(2012/US; 92 mins., not rated)
Film website: https://www.bloodbrotherfilm.com/
The unmistakable power of love is celebrated in this story of one man’s decision to move to India and restart his life among the dispossessed. “Rocky Anna,” as the children living at an orphanage for those infected with HIV know him, was dissatisfied with his life in America. Having grown up without a close-knit family of his own, he found his calling living and working with kids in need. Unlike others who simply passed through their lives, Rocky stayed, dedicating himself to their health and well-being. Despite formidable challenges, his playful spirit and determination in the face of despair proves to be an invaluable resource.
Director Steve Hoover ventured to India to chronicle his best friend ’s newfound life in this film that serves as a testament to one person’s ability to create a meaningful life.
• Speakers, live via Skype:
STEVE HOOVER, Director, Blood Brother
DANNY YOURD, Producer, Blood Brother
Friday, November 22 at 7:30 pm
BIG MEN
(2013/US; 99 mins., not rated)
Film website: https://bigmenthemovie.com/
In Ghana, a small American energy company fights to hold onto its discovery of oil just as a new government comes into power. In Nigeria, where oil has already been discovered, the ramifications of the oil industry have taken their toll on the people, most notably those in the Niger Delta who have seen none of the benefits of this new wealth. As the American company falls under the scrutiny of the new Ghanaian government and the U.S. Justice Department, the contracts for the oil field languish. Jobs are lost, power plays are made and all the while, the Ghanaian people wait to reap the benefits. In the Niger Delta, pipelines are attacked and set on fire as militants continue to demand more of the wealth from their government. With unprecedented access and an unflinching eye, Big Men takes us deep into the African oil industry in Ghana and Nigeria, delivering an exposé on the ambition, greed and corruption that threaten to exacerbate Africa’s resource curse and leave more of its citizens behind..
• Speaker:
RACHEL BOYNTON, Producer/Director, Big Men
