When director Jenny Mackenzie began working on her latest documentary, The Right to Read, it was a story focused on kindergarten readiness and pre-literacy. But once she met Kareem Weaver, a former educator and member of the Oakland NAACP Education Committee, the documentary’s game-changing story clicked into place.
It’s an angle that doubles as a powerful and eye-opening challenge to much of the way America’s literacy crisis has historically been perceived and addressed. The Right to Read focuses on the civil rights work of Weaver, as well as the efforts of several Black and brown families in cities across the country facing lower literacy rates to ensure their children’s success in school and beyond.
But unlike past examinations of illiteracy among school-age children, the doc shifts its eye of accountability off of families with few resources and fixes it squarely on a more ominous and long-standing influence.
It’s an angle that doubles as a powerful and eye-opening challenge to much of the way America’s literacy crisis has historically been perceived and addressed. The Right to Read focuses on the civil rights work of Weaver, as well as the efforts of several Black and brown families in cities across the country facing lower literacy rates to ensure their children’s success in school and beyond.
But unlike past examinations of illiteracy among school-age children, the doc shifts its eye of accountability off of families with few resources and fixes it squarely on a more ominous and long-standing influence.
- 3/2/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced plans Wednesday for 52 world premieres and 78 U.S. premieres spanning a total of 43 countries throughout the 11-day event.
“At a time where there’s a dwindling of movie theater attendance, the role of film festivals has never been more important,” said Sbiff executive director Roger Durling. “At Sbiff, with the 38th edition, our marching orders are clear, to celebrate movies and to nurture and exalt the film community, the artists as well as the cinephiles. It’s a great slate with 43 countries represented.”
The festival starts Feb. 8 with the world premiere of “Miranda’s Victim” from director-producer Michelle Danner. The period piece is set in the year 1963 and documents the true story of Patricia “Trish” Weir (Abigal Breslin), who attempts to put her abuser behind bars after being kidnapped and sexually assaulted at 18 years old.
Director Chandler Levack’s “I Like Movies” will...
“At a time where there’s a dwindling of movie theater attendance, the role of film festivals has never been more important,” said Sbiff executive director Roger Durling. “At Sbiff, with the 38th edition, our marching orders are clear, to celebrate movies and to nurture and exalt the film community, the artists as well as the cinephiles. It’s a great slate with 43 countries represented.”
The festival starts Feb. 8 with the world premiere of “Miranda’s Victim” from director-producer Michelle Danner. The period piece is set in the year 1963 and documents the true story of Patricia “Trish” Weir (Abigal Breslin), who attempts to put her abuser behind bars after being kidnapped and sexually assaulted at 18 years old.
Director Chandler Levack’s “I Like Movies” will...
- 1/18/2023
- by Katie Reul
- Variety Film + TV
The 38th edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which will run Feb. 8-18, will open with Miranda’s Victim, one of 52 world premieres in this year’s lineup, and will close with the U.S. premiere of I Like Movies, one of 78 U.S. premieres, the fest announced Wednesday.
These are, of course, in addition to a slew of the career-retrospective tributes for which the fest is famous, which this year will celebrate the likes of Cate Blanchett, Brendan Fraser, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, as well as panels with breakthrough artists, artisans, directors, writers, producers, female creatives and international filmmakers.
The fest will also offer a variety of free educational programs, including Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies (for 4,000-plus fourth through sixth grade students from low-income schools throughout Santa Barbara County), which this year will feature a screening of Guillermo del Toro...
These are, of course, in addition to a slew of the career-retrospective tributes for which the fest is famous, which this year will celebrate the likes of Cate Blanchett, Brendan Fraser, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, as well as panels with breakthrough artists, artisans, directors, writers, producers, female creatives and international filmmakers.
The fest will also offer a variety of free educational programs, including Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies (for 4,000-plus fourth through sixth grade students from low-income schools throughout Santa Barbara County), which this year will feature a screening of Guillermo del Toro...
- 1/18/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Santa Barbara Film Festival To Open With Abigail Breslin Drama ‘Miranda’s Victim’ As Full Lineup Set
The Santa Barbara Film Festival has today unveiled the lineup for its 38th edition, taking place in-person from February 8-18.
The festival will open with the world premiere of the courtroom drama Miranda’s Victim, from director Michelle Danner. Pic tells the true story of Trish Weir (Abigail Breslin), who in 1963 was kidnapped and brutally raped by Ernesto Miranda. Committed to putting her assailant in prison, Trish’s life is destroyed by America’s legal system as she triggers a law that transforms the nation. Ryan Phillippe, Luke Wilson, Donald Sutherland, Mireille Enos, Andy Garcia and more also star.
Closing out Sbiff 2023 is the Chandler Levack-directed I Like Movies, which makes its U.S. premiere. The film starring Isaiah Lehtinen, Romina D’Ugo, Krista Bridges and Percy Hynes White follows the socially inept, 17-year-old cinephile Lawrence (Lehtinen) as he gets a job at a video store, there forming a complicated...
The festival will open with the world premiere of the courtroom drama Miranda’s Victim, from director Michelle Danner. Pic tells the true story of Trish Weir (Abigail Breslin), who in 1963 was kidnapped and brutally raped by Ernesto Miranda. Committed to putting her assailant in prison, Trish’s life is destroyed by America’s legal system as she triggers a law that transforms the nation. Ryan Phillippe, Luke Wilson, Donald Sutherland, Mireille Enos, Andy Garcia and more also star.
Closing out Sbiff 2023 is the Chandler Levack-directed I Like Movies, which makes its U.S. premiere. The film starring Isaiah Lehtinen, Romina D’Ugo, Krista Bridges and Percy Hynes White follows the socially inept, 17-year-old cinephile Lawrence (Lehtinen) as he gets a job at a video store, there forming a complicated...
- 1/18/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Logo Documentary Films has acquired Sundance docu Quiet Heroes, Jamal Sims-directed When the Beat Drops, and Light in the Water, about one of the first openly gay Masters swim teams, for premiere this summer as part of its 2018 slate of Lgbtq stories.
Quiet Heroes had its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Directed and produced by Jenny Mackenzie, Jared Ruga and Amanda Stoddard, Quiet Heroes tells the story of Dr. Kristen Ries, a physician who served the denigrated and largely gay male AIDS population in the socially conservative Salt Lake City area. Quiet Heroes is the story of her fight to save a maligned population everyone else seemed willing to just let die. It premieres Thursday, August 23 at 8 Pm on Logo.
When the Beat Drops follows a crew of gay African-American men as they pioneer the Southern-rooted underground dance scene known as “bucking.” With his crew,...
Quiet Heroes had its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Directed and produced by Jenny Mackenzie, Jared Ruga and Amanda Stoddard, Quiet Heroes tells the story of Dr. Kristen Ries, a physician who served the denigrated and largely gay male AIDS population in the socially conservative Salt Lake City area. Quiet Heroes is the story of her fight to save a maligned population everyone else seemed willing to just let die. It premieres Thursday, August 23 at 8 Pm on Logo.
When the Beat Drops follows a crew of gay African-American men as they pioneer the Southern-rooted underground dance scene known as “bucking.” With his crew,...
- 7/3/2018
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
In 1981, Dr. Kristen Ries and her partner Maggie Snyder were the only medical professionals in Utah to treat people with HIV/AIDS. Jenny Mackenzie’s new documentary, Quiet Heroes, tells their story. Mackenzie previously directed similar healthcare-focused docs on childhood diabetes (Sugar Babies) and the opioid epidemic (Dying in Vein). Below, Gass spoke with Filmmaker ahead of the film’s Sundance premiere about being a self-taught editor and why this story needed to be told. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job? Gass: I […]...
- 1/23/2018
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Quiet Heroes, This Is Home set to screen in Park City.
Source: Sundance Film Festival
Andrew Herwitz’s The Film Sales Company heads to Sundance this week with worldwide sales rights to two world premiere documentaries.
Jenny Mackenzie’s Documentary Premieres selection Quiet Heroes, co-directed by Jared Ruga and Amanda Stoddard, hails from new production venture Vavani and premieres on January 21.
The film centres on Dr. Kristen Ries, an infectious disease specialist who arrived to start her new life in Salt Lake City on the same day as the Center For Disease Control published its first report on what would become known as AIDS.
As the growing stigma surrounding the disease saw many doctors refuse to treat people with AIDS, Ries assembled a group of dedicated medical professionals, including an order of Catholic Nuns, to take care of AIDS patients.
This Is Home in World Cinema Documentary Competition is directed by Alexandra Shiva and features Blumhouse’s [link=nm...
Source: Sundance Film Festival
Andrew Herwitz’s The Film Sales Company heads to Sundance this week with worldwide sales rights to two world premiere documentaries.
Jenny Mackenzie’s Documentary Premieres selection Quiet Heroes, co-directed by Jared Ruga and Amanda Stoddard, hails from new production venture Vavani and premieres on January 21.
The film centres on Dr. Kristen Ries, an infectious disease specialist who arrived to start her new life in Salt Lake City on the same day as the Center For Disease Control published its first report on what would become known as AIDS.
As the growing stigma surrounding the disease saw many doctors refuse to treat people with AIDS, Ries assembled a group of dedicated medical professionals, including an order of Catholic Nuns, to take care of AIDS patients.
This Is Home in World Cinema Documentary Competition is directed by Alexandra Shiva and features Blumhouse’s [link=nm...
- 1/14/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
When I was eight, girls didn’t play soccer. Actually, neither did boys — at least not in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I lived. And frankly, I’m not happy about it. I bet if I’d played soccer, I would’ve been great and become a pro and kicked the winning goal in the World Cup and ripped off my shirt.
Ok, no.
But I would’ve played my little heart out, just like the girls you’ll see playing in HBO’s new half-hour documentary, Kick Like a Girl.
Kick Like a Girl is the story of the Mighty Cheetahs, a Salt Lake City girls’ soccer team that seemingly couldn’t lose.
Here’s the synopsis from HBO.
After two undefeated seasons against girls' soccer teams their age and older, Utah's Mighty Cheetahs are about to take on a new challenge: boys. Cheetahs coach Jenny Mackenzie chronicles the adventures of...
Ok, no.
But I would’ve played my little heart out, just like the girls you’ll see playing in HBO’s new half-hour documentary, Kick Like a Girl.
Kick Like a Girl is the story of the Mighty Cheetahs, a Salt Lake City girls’ soccer team that seemingly couldn’t lose.
Here’s the synopsis from HBO.
After two undefeated seasons against girls' soccer teams their age and older, Utah's Mighty Cheetahs are about to take on a new challenge: boys. Cheetahs coach Jenny Mackenzie chronicles the adventures of...
- 5/29/2009
- by thelinster
- AfterEllen.com
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