The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today it will present Lifecasters, a film project featuring short films by Adam McKay (ANCHORMAN, "Funny or Die"), Shira Piven (FULLY LOADED), Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert (THE LAST TRUCK: CLOSING OF A GM PLANT, A LION IN THE HOUSE), and Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly (THE WAY WE GET BY) that tell stories of Americans who have discovered creative ways of realizing their dreams - a bit later in life. The event will take place at the Walter Reade Theater (165 West 65th Street) tonight, February 6 at 6:30PM and will include the screenings as well as a live musical performance by MC5's Wayne Kramer, a subject of one of the films.
Produced by the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) and Sunny Side Up Films, Lifecasters is an innovative public television program that unites fiction and documentary filmmakers to tell inspiring stories of overcoming the odds.
Supported by PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), LIFECASTERS is scheduled for broadcast on Thursday, February 7, 2013 on PBS (check local listings) and via streaming video on PBS.org. Emmy-nominated filmmakers Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly are Executive Producers for the project, which is also overseen by BAVC's Executive Director Carol Varney.
"BAVC is thrilled to have worked with these incredible filmmakers on three inspiring documentary projects. The subjects in the films will move those who have an unfulfilled dream to take steps toward their goal. And I hope viewers will use the Lifecasters interactive site to share their own stories of overcoming odds," says Varney.
"We're very excited at Film Society to offer a big-screen presentation and event to launch what promises to be an inspirational film project," added FSLC Director of Programming, Year-round, Robert Koehler.
Adam McKay (ANCHORMAN, "Funny or Die") and Shira Piven (FULLY LOADED) produced and directed THE BEAST AND THE ANGEL, a short film profiling influential MC5 guitarist and ex-prisoner Wayne Kramer, chronicling his own complicated journey of recovery using music as rehabilitation with prison inmates through his charity Jail Guitar Doors.
Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert (THE LAST TRUCK: CLOSING OF A GM PLANT, A LION IN THE HOUSE) created SPARKLE, the story of African-American dancer Sherri "Sparkle" Williams, one of the oldest female professional dancers still practicing in the United States.
Emmy-nominated filmmakers, Gaudet and Pullapilly (THE WAY WE GET BY) produced THE GAMBLING MAN, a portrait of Albert Hurwit, an 80-year-old retired doctor who could not read or write music, yet composed an award-winning symphony.
"There are so many talented individuals across the country finding ways to inspire, help, and motivate others to achieve their full potential in life. We hope Lifecasters will be a model for supporting creative, innovative endeavors and allow others across the country to take a chance on themselves," explains Pullapilly.
Visit
Filmlinc.com to purchase tickets or for more information about this event.
For more information about Lifecasters, visit:
http://lifecaster.bavc.org/.
FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER
Founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, under the leadership of Rose Kuo, Executive Director, and Robert Koehler, Year Round Program Director, works to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film. Among its yearly programming of film festivals, film series and special events, the Film Society presents two film festivals in particular that annually attract global attention: the New York Film Festival, led by Program Director Kent Jones, which just celebrated its 50th edition, and New Directors/New Films which, since its founding in 1972, has been produced in collaboration with MoMA. The Film Society also publishes the award-winning Film Comment Magazine, and for over three decades has given an annual award-now named "The Chaplin Award"-to a major figure in world cinema. Past recipients of this award include
Charlie Chaplin,
Alfred Hitchcock,
Martin Scorsese,
Meryl Streep,
Tom Hanks, and
Sidney Poitier. The Film Society presents its year-round calendar of programming, panels, lectures, educational and transmedia programs and specialty film releases at the famous Walter Reade Theater and the new state-of-the-art Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.
The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from Royal Bank of Canada, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stella Artois, the National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visit www.filmlinc.com and follow #filmlinc on Twitter.
