Middle School student Logan Wilson organized a screening and discussion at the Carolina Friends School this week. The event took place during the Adolescent Issues Forum; and Logan and other students hope to organize a school-wide screening later in the Spring 2011.  This was the first screening in a school setting and it was clear that students were moved and engaged with the film and the issues it explores.  We hope other students and teachers find ways to use the film to spark dialogue and discussion in their classrooms.

The Inclusive Arts Campaign continues in Raleigh! Join us for a Community Screening on Fri., January 28th @ 7pm at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, 1801 Hillsborough St., Raleigh, NC 27605. The event is free and open to the public.  There will be a post screening discussion led by local advocates and artists. Thanks to the following Community Partners: Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Arts Access of NC, ArtStream, Alliance of Disability Advocates, Arc of NC, First In Families NC, & The Power of the Dream, Inc.

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Here’s to a New Year of peace, fun and inclusive arts!

A New Kind of Listening received the 2010 Positive Images in the Media Award from TASH.  Announced at the TASH Annual Conference last week, the award honors films which promote positive images of people with disabilities in all aspects of community life, support the philosophy of independent living and self-determination, and contribute to the elimination of stereotypes by portraying people with disabilities and their lives accurately and in respect of the complexities of being human.  We are honored to receive this award and thank all members of the theater group for sharing their talents and helping tell this important story about the power of the arts to build community.

You can learn more about TASH at their website.

Polly just returned from Russia where the film was an official selection of the 5th Annual “Breaking Down Barriers” International Film Festival. ” During her time in Moscow, Polly met some amazing people including international filmmakers who are working to advance inclusion and disability advocacy issues, parents, and people with disabilities from all over the Russian Federation and the world.  Many thanks to Perspektiva and Denise Roza, who, as festival sponsors, were wonderfully generous and supportive.

Stay tuned for more big news coming up later this week…..

Polly and Kenny had a great time at the 16th Cucalorus Film Festival. The screening was a great success and the film was very well received. The pre-screening breakfast offered an opportunity to meet local artists and advocates and begin planning for a second Wilmington screening and additional inclusive arts opportunities in the area.

See David Morrison’s film review here.

Reminder of our upcoming screening at the Cucalorus Film Festival on Saturday, Nov. 13 @ 10:45am at the Thalian Hall,  Box theater. For more info visit festival website HERE.

Polly attended a screening and discussion at UNC-Asheville’s Center for Diversity Education on Nov. 2nd. Read more about her visit  by visiting this piece in The Blue Banner.

Our film has been selected to screen at the 16th Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington, NC.  The film will screen on Saturday, Nov. 13th @ 10:45 am at the Thalian Hall Ballroom. We will be organizing a gathering of local artists and advocates prior to the screening on Saturday morning.  Contact us for more info.

Cucalorus is one of the great film festivals in the US and Southeast and has been called one of the “top 25 coolest festivals” by Movie Maker Magazine,  a “film festival for the rest of us” by Time Magazine and one of the “top 10 festivals in the US” by Brooks Institute.

The Peterborough, NH Community Screening of A New Kind of Listening on October 4 was well-attended by an enthusiastic crowd of over 100 people, filling the small theater to capacity. The screening was sponsored by Turning Point Theater and its co-directors Richard Reho and Gail Dupre, and the Polus Center for Social and Economic Development. There was a Q&A after the film presentation, followed by a demonstration of the inclusive theater group process  Richard Reho leads in Peterborough. One member of the audience raised his hand to say: “This film is so awesome that I’M speechless!”