Still submitting my application to attend TEDWomen - need to get at least two references & still screwing up my courage to ask Emily Jane, waiting to hear back from Erica - but have discovered an even more amazing reason to visit my beloved City by the Bay this fall: the Legacy Film Festival on Aging!
Astonishing, the things discovered researching posts. Came across this gem researching movies for my older2elder May Film Fest. Massive huge WOW!
The best way to get the flavor or the film fest is to let the website speak for itself:
WE DID IT AGAIN! The 5th Annual Legacy Film Festival on Aging offered thought-provoking, entertaining films to enthusiastic audiences.
We showcased independent short films, documentaries and feature-length narrative stories made in the USA, as well as Australia, Iceland, Ireland, and Israel.The 2015 themes were about Love, Sexuality, Generations, Memory, Friendships, End of Life Choices. As always, there were lively post-screening audience reactions led by a key facilitator.
Some of the many highlights (from 2015):
- The Opening Night program, Friday, September 18, at 5:30 PM, featured one touching and funny documentary film, The Age of Love, about 70- to 90-year-olds taking part in a speed-dating event. Just shows that we all want the same things, no matter the age: love, warmth, caring, togetherness.
- Robert E. Cartwright, Jr, Honorary Consul General of Iceland, discussed the Opening Night droll Icelandic short, Chum/Hjonabandssaela, with Executive Director Sheila Malkind and the delighted audience.
- Three films on Caring: (1) Hibernation, by Dir. Tomer Werechson (Israel), a grandson who lovingly filmed his grandfather’s secluded life; (2) Director Sophie Sartain’s wrenching film, Mimi and Dona, about her 94-year-old grandmother who cared for her (Mimi’s) 60-year-old cognitively challenged daughter since she was born; NYTimes: “The film is as unflinching as it is beautiful, chronicling difficult decision-making that comes to involve the whole extended family.” (3) Protect Family Caregivers, by Toni Miles, a short PSA. Directors Miles and Sartain were present to discuss the issues with the attentive audience. Read Koko Kawasaki's reflections on Mimi and Dona in the blog GeroInspired, 9/28/15.
- LFFOA board member Maxine Berzok led a Q&A following the screening of The Farewell Party, an Israeli fictional film about end of life choices. Two weeks later, in ‘real life’, California governor Jerry Brown signed ABX2 15, "End of Life Option Act."
This year's extended due date for submissions was May 15, but begging & pleading might do some good. (Wonder if that works with TED folks?) And there is always next year!
Per the website, criteria include:
- Film must portray people 55* years of age and older.
- Both foreign and American short and feature-length narrative, documentary, experimental and animation films are welcome.
- Films must be in English, or have English subtitles that are clearly differentiated from the background.
- Films must be submitted online, or in DVD hard copy format for pre-screenings.
- If chosen, films must be available for screening September 2016.
- Label entries with title, name of artist, date of completion, and length.
- Films should dispel stereotypes about aging and older adults, and educate viewers about aging in an entertaining and compelling manner.
- Intergenerational stories with one key subject 55 + years are welcomed. (Also interested in a film on boomers and their millennial children).
- Films may be eligible for future Legacy Film Series and distribution: see www.legacyfilmseries.com.
- Note: Films will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, postage-paid mailer with the title of the production clearly indicated on the mailer.
* There it is again! WHEN did 55 become the old 65, the accepted start of senior citizenship? Definitely a future o2e posting in this!
Okay, younger friends - gather around. This is something I was pretty clueless about as a kid of 40 & 50: life surprises me more than it hews to my best-laid plans.
Which is not to say "don't lay plans."
Quite the opposite. The Universe LOVES to see well-laid plans - the better they're laid out, the clearer the desired end is, the more readily the Big U' can figure out unexpected, fabulous ways to deliver that AND more, much more. Can only speak for myself, but that's sure been my experience.
Florence Has Left The Building was the inspiration between my May Film Fest of flicks about aging & the elderly. OH MY GOSH! Little did I know the wealth of films - numbers & quality - out there. NO idea that anything like the Legacy Film Festival of Aging is heading into its 6th year. I just thought it would be fun to share the few shorts I knew - Going the Distance, Being Mortal, Old?!, the video of older folks listening to Beyonce's new album.
Look at all the abundance & joy of road trippin' out to San Francisco that blossomed out of that small seed of happiness. Thanks, Universe, for the unexpected goodies - they are greatly appreciated! As always, please feel free to send more of the same.
Credits:
legacyfilmfestivalonaging.org
agesong.com
agesong.com
legacyfilmfestivalonaging.org
No comments:
Post a Comment