Can Film Change The World?

Gleitsman Social Change Film Forum

 
CAN FILM CHANGE THE WORLD?

Registration is free, but space is limited, so SIGN-UP TODAY!

Join us as we explore the ways in which the art and craft of filmmaking can be a source of motivation for social change.

The Center for Public Leadership is excited to present the inaugural Gleitsman Social Change Film Forum (GSCFF), the first film event bringing social change films and filmmakers together with an audience that is driven to make a difference.

For CPL, whose mission is to develop leaders dedicated to the common good, the GSCFF is a rare opportunity to inspire and motivate students and connect them with others who are committed to social change.

The two-day event will explore the most effective means of harnessing the power of film for social change. Two unreleased documentary films—COUNTDOWN TO ZERO & A SMALL ACT—which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival will be honored with screenings and panel discussions. Speakers include luminaries from the fields of filmmaking, social change, and academia such as Lawrence Bender, Valerie Plame Wilson, Diane Weyermann, Graham Allison, David Gergen, and many more.

Registration is free, but space is limited, so SIGN-UP TODAY!

WHEN: April 16-17, 2010

WHERE:
Northwest Building
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

WHO: The GSCFF will convene a diverse group of filmmakers, social change leaders and Harvard University students over two days, and engage a larger audience through year-long programming. We are also fortunate to have an Advisory Board that includes film industry executives, award-winning filmmakers, leading academics and pioneering social entrepreneurs.


SCHEDULE:

FRIDAY, April 16

4:30pm–4:45pm Opening Remarks

David Gergen, Professor of Public Service & Director, CPL
Donna Kalikow, Executive Director, CPL
Casey Otis-Cote, Director, Gleitsman Program for Leadership in Social Change

4:45pm–6:00pm Conversation: Harnessing the Power of Film for Social Change
To set the framework for all conversations to follow, this group will look at the various stages in the creation of an effective social change film.

Roderick Kramer, Visiting Professor of Public Policy at HKS & Center Advisor, CPL
Diana Barrett, Founder, The Fledgling Fund
Bill Guttentag, 2-time Oscar-winning filmmaker & Lecturer in Organizational Behavior, Stanford Business School
Liana Schwarz, Senior Vice President of Social Action, Participant Media
Tiffany Shlain, Filmmaker & Founder, Webby Awards

SATURDAY, April 17

9:30am–10:00am Opening Remarks

David Gergen, Professor of Public Service & Director, CPL
Donna Kalikow, Executive Director, CPL

10:15am–11:45pm Screening: COUNTDOWN TO ZERO
During the Cold War, public consciousness fixated on the atomic bomb. Then the Cold War ended, and we retreated into denial. In fact, the danger of nuclear annihilation never disappeared; it only swelled. Countdown to Zero sweeps us into a scorching, hypnotic journey around the world to reveal the palpable possibility of nuclear disaster and frame an issue on which human survival itself hangs.

12:00pm–1:00pm Conversation: COUNTDOWN TO ZERO
Moderated by an academic authority on the history of nuclear weapons, the panelists’ conversation will dig into the need for action regarding nuclear weapons and their proliferation worldwide, as well as the filmmakers’ strategy for having as great an impact as their last joint production: An Inconvenient Truth.

Peter Galison (Moderator), Filmmaker & Joseph Pellegrino University Professor of the History of Science and of Physics, Harvard University
Diane Weyermann, Executive Producer, Countdown to Zero
Lawrence Bender, Producer, Countdown to Zero (3-time Oscar Nominee)
Valerie Plame Wilson, Former CIA Officer
Graham Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government & Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

2:00pm–3:30pm Screening: A SMALL ACT
As an impoverished boy in Kenya, Chris Mburu's life was dramatically changed when an anonymous Swedish woman sponsored his primary and secondary education. Now a Harvard-educated human-rights lawyer, he hopes to replicate the generosity he once received by founding his own scholarship fund to aid a new generation. The challenges Mburu faces instituting his new program seem at times insurmountable but lead him down the path to discovery. Who is Hilde Back, the person who signed the checks that gave him a chance to succeed?

3:45pm–4:45pm Conversation: A SMALL ACT
This film is a modern day account of what Robert F. Kennedy called a “tiny ripple of hope” and highlights how one act of kindness precipitates another. The conversation will look at the power of film to emotionally impact its audience by shining a light on an important social problem. It will also explore future efforts of the film’s subject and other effective social enterprises around the world, which serve as models for those moved to act.

Robb Moss (Moderator), Filmmaker & Rudolf Arnheim Lecturer on Filmmaking, Harvard University
Chris Mburu, UN Human Rights Officer & Founder, Hilde Backe Educational Fund
Patti Lee, Producer and Director of Photography, A Small Act
David Ager, Lecturer on Sociology, Harvard University

4:45pm - 5:15pm Closing Remarks

Peter Bisanz, Founder, Entropy Films, HKS graduate & former Reynolds Foundation Fellow
Roderick Kramer, Visiting Professor of Public Policy at HKS & Center Advisor, CPL

Registration is free, but space is limited, so SIGN-UP TODAY!