Impact Movies at Filmocracy
By: Igemstv, Jon Fitzgerald
Tags: Inspiration, TV Series, Movies, Social Change, Writing

Engaging Stories, Inspiring Change

When Today Ends

Powerful movies can do more than just engage us. They can inspire change. In an effort to share news of a slate of life-changing movies, playing this weekend, please see the outlines below and take advantage of the opportunity to not only see great movies, but hear from the filmmaker and learn more about the related causes.

Running through Sunday, December 6, 2020, the virtual film festival Filmocracy Fest will feature an expertly curated selection of award winning independent films, festival darlings and industry panels, as well as a first time ever opportunity to read a selection of famous scripts in their original form at the Writers Guild Foundation Script Library.

This entire offering has been integrated into the innovative Filmocracyland — an interactive map that will allow attendees to visit the Theater Village to watch films online, join industry panels, filmmaker Q&As or other activities at the Talent Summit.

Filmocracyland

Given that as a nation, and as global citizens, we face many unprecedented, and unresolved challenges in all aspects of life, the festival also features an Impact Expo, in partnership with Creative Visions Foundation, because at no time in the history of film as an art form has documentary film been more relevant, and social impact filmmaking a more powerful tool for change. Informing, engaging and calling audiences to action has evolved into not only captivating entertainment, but serves a critical role in helping to protect our planet, and improve lives everywhere.

The Expo will allow attendees to learn about a select few causes which connect to the social impact films featured in the lineup, which include:

Cured

Five years in the making, CURED illuminates a pivotal yet largely unknown chapter in the struggle for LGBTQ equality: the campaign that led the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to remove homosexuality from its manual of mental illnesses.

Things We Dare Not Do

Arturo is a teenager who plays with the free spirit of the younger kids he hangs around in his small coast village. When a violent situation disrupts the seemingly idyllic atmosphere, with its suggestion of corrosive machismo, Arturo bravely takes the bold step of coming out to his parents.

Through The Night

To make ends meet, people in the U.S. are working longer hours across multiple jobs. This modern reality of non-stop work has resulted in an unexpected phenomenon: the flourishing of 24-hour daycare centers. Through the Night is a verité documentary that explores the personal cost of our modern economy through the stories of two working mothers and a child care provider — whose lives intersect at a 24-hour daycare center.

Landfall

This visually striking, kaleidoscopic portrait of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria criss-crosses the island to document the resilience of a community banding together to rebuild. A compassionate and stirring cinematic essay, LANDFALL examines the dual environmental and economic crises of not only a natural disaster, but the disaster of American colonialism and its economic legacies. Directed by Cecilia Aldarondo (Memories of A Penitent Heart, Tribeca 2016).

Euphoria of Being

Alone, Eva Fahidi returned home to Hungary after WWII. At 20 years of age, she had survived Auschwitz Birkenau, while 49 members of her family were murdered, including her mother, father, and little sister. Today, at age 90, Eva is asked to participate in a dance theatre performance about her life’s journey.

Shadow Flowers

Ryun-hee Kim, a North Korean housewife, was forced to come to South Korea and became its citizen against her will. She tried to smuggle herself out and even sought political asylum at the Vietnamese Embassy but all in vain. As her political absurdity hinders her journey back to her loved ones. The life of her family in the North goes on in emptiness, and she fears that she might become someone, like a shadow, who exists only in the fading memory of her family.

Women in Blue

Women in Blue follows the stories of the women police officers in Minneapolis who try to reform the department and restore trust in the community after a high-profile police shooting forces its first female chief to resign

911 Kids

9/11 Kids is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Elizabeth St. Philip and released in 2020. The film profiles the ongoing effects of the September 11 attacks on the United States through the stories of the now young adults who were in the classroom where President George W. Bush was reading the children’s book The Pet Goat when he was interrupted and informed of the attacks

1,2,3, All Eyes on Me

When a crisis suddenly engulfs an elementary school campus, Ms. Leena, a determined art teacher, tries everything she can to save her frightened class.

Pizza Party

“We are not broken, we are a million shattered pieces glued into something strong and solid” Based on a true event preceding the Larry Nassar trials, an unlikely pair come together at a dystopian pizza party for sexual assault survivors. #42; A quiet high schooler meets #1; A quick-witted litigator due with her first child any day now- flanked lovingly by her husband Max. Their relationship blooms and #42 becomes #1’s greatest teacher. Through solidarity, #42, #1 and every woman in the room begin to reconcile with and acknowledge the innocence that was taken away from them. Opening a portal into a dream-like world of leotards and little girl cries, of strength, joy and unrelenting fury.

Vertical The Future of Farming

Vertical: The Future of Farming follows a new generation of urban, indoor farmers, whose approach to food production offers the potential to combat climate change while feeding hundreds of millions. From New York City, to Portland, Oregon to Singapore, these farmers are turning agricultural conventions on their head by utilizing vertical space in cities, rather than expansive rural fields. The result, according to retired Columbia Professor Dickson Despommier, represents the “next evolutionary jump in humanity’s quest for a reliable, sustainable food supply.”

I Am Normal

A sane woman fakes the symptoms of a mentally unstable patient in order to be admitted into a mental institution for a secret psychiatric experiment. Inspired by the Rosenhan Experiment of 1973.

When Today Ends

When four teenagers post their personal stories online using the hashtag, #WhenTodayEnds, they have no idea the extent of their impact or how their stories will intersect. With no filter and complete abandon, Jenna, Nick, Megan and James all share their deepest, darkest secrets only to fall eerily down the same path. Collapsing under the pressures of bullying, depression, and self-identity, their lives slowly unravel, revealing the tragic connection that binds them all together.

A 25% discount on Festival Tickets and Virtual VIP Passes is being offered to my Medium community. Simply enter the discount code IMPACT at checkout, and the discount will be applied. Please note: if you miss the live screening with Q&A, you can view all Festival films through the on demand theater at any time convenient for you, during the run of the Festival.

I hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to attend this exciting virtual Film Festival to experience these, and the other great films.

About the Author:

Jon Fitzgerald is the Co-founder of iGEMS.tv and Cause Cinema, guiding audiences to engaging movies and series. He is also the author of Filmmaking for Change and Habits of Heroes: 100 Movies That Will Change Your Life.