Social Justice Film Award

This year, as part of the Indianapolis International Film Festival, Provocate is judging the Eric Parker Social Justice Award. This award is intended to recognize a film’s ability to change the audience, its ability to provoke new views of the world, and to stimulate new ideas about addressing serious problems, focusing on the conversations that take place after people watch the film.

The two finalists for the Parker Award are “Beyond Belief,” about two 9/11 widows who devote themselves to helping war widows in Afghanistan ; and “The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo ,” which examines the use of rape as a socially and economically devastating weapon in Congo ’s brutal civil war. Each will be shown three times (see below for times); after each screening the audience will be invited to stay for a free-ranging discussion of the significance of the film, the issues it raised, how those issues touch us here in the US, and what we might be able to do to help find solutions. When you join one of these discussions, you’ll help us determine the winner of the Parker award. For more information, see the attached flyer or go to www.provocate.org.

Here are the show times of the two films:

“The Greatest Silence”:

• Sunday April 27, noon
• Tuesday April 29, 5:45 PM (filmmaker Lisa Jackson will be present for this post-film discussion)
• Thursday May 1, 1:00 PM

“Beyond Belief”

• Saturday April 26, noon
• Monday April 28, 5:45 PM
• Wednesday April 30, 1:00 PM

Note the special appearance on April 29 by the maker of “Greatest Silence,” Emmy-winning director Lisa Jackson. This should be a particularly fascinating discussion. Ms Jackson will also discuss her film and other projects noon the next day, April 30, at Lockerbie Square United Methodist Church . See the second attached flyer for details.

The Indianapolis International Film Festival has emerged as one of the city’s cultural treasures, you should take advantage of it in the next week and a half. For more information about the 137 films being shown, go to www.indyfilmfest.org.