08 . 05 . 05

Life in Our Eyes: The Art of Media and Social Change

Harken Productions, AS220 and the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities Present Life in Our Eyes: The Art of Media and Social Change, a collaborative production fronted by acclaimed documentary filmmaker and AS220 Artist-in-Residence, Michelle Le Brun. Life in Our Eyes is a combined screening and community forum event that brings together scholars, student filmmakers and youth of the Rhode Island Training School. Screenings will be followed by a panel discussion with youth participants, scholars to give a humanities perspective on the issues raised, and the creative director of the project, Michelle Le Brun. We will then open the forum up to the audience in attendance for a question & answer session.

Over a 4-month period, youth from AS220's Broad Street Studios have been trained in documentary filmmaking by Michelle Le Brun, artist in residence at AS220 and award winning documentary filmmaker from Los Angeles. Recognitions for her first film included Official Selection at Sundance Film Festival as well as winning NY International Independent Film and Video Festival, San Francisco Film Festival and Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Life in our Eyes reveals the poignant perspectives of youth from both Broad Street Studios and The Rhode Island Training School speaking on life in the streets, society and freedom, among other issues. Modeled after the HARKEN! Youth Media Workshop conducted in East Los Angeles from 2003 to 2005, youth are given a voice through the medium of filmmaking. The result is a powerful, straightforward message from the youth of RI.

A variety of screening/forums are scheduled for the month of August around Rhode Island beginning with the premiere of our film at the Rhode Island School of Design Sunday August 7th, 2005 from 1:30 to 3:30. Please come and join us for an engaging, stimulating and exciting event!

Dates/Places & Times:
August 7th, 2005 / 1:30-3:30pm
RISD Museum, 224 Benefit St., Providence, RI 02903
Contact: James Montford at jmontfor@risd.edu

August 15th, / 6:30-8:30pm
Westerly Public Library, 44 Broad St. Westerly, RI 02891
Contact: (401) 595-2877 for further information

August 18th, / 7-9pm
Salve Regina University, Newport, RI O'Hare Academic Center, RM 260
Directions to campus:www.salve.edu/directions.cfm
Contact: Mary Sokolowski (401) 341-2347

August 21st / 5-7pm
AS220, 115 Empire St., Providence, RI 02903
Contact: Michelle Le Brun (401) 477-4630

For more information about the film project and events contact Michelle Le Brun (401) 477-4630 or michelle@harkenprods.com

This film and forum are produced by Harken Productions (harkenprods.com) and AS220 (as220.org). The project is funded by generous grants from the Wallace Foundation and the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (uri.edu/rich).

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