Peery Film Festival (Week 10)

This semester I will be posting my thoughts every week on some media I've consumed. This is a semester-long project for my SFL 358 class: Media and Family Development. 

The Peery Film Festival- Week 10 

The BYU Ballard Center, an organization on campus that focuses on social innovation, sponsored a really cool film festival for the last two weeks, and I got to watch almost all of the films. The theme of the festival was social change. They each filled me with hope, but some of them also left me feeling discouraged by the incredible amount of need in the world. 

RBG

This was about the Notorious RBG (Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg), and was my favorite. It was probably the best funded, and had interviews from the protagonist herself. I had no idea the type of law that she practiced before she was a supreme court justice and I am super impressed. I loved that her husband was so supportive of her- supportive enough to step back and follow her career when needed. I've come to feel very strongly about getting a Master's degree recently, and this film made me feel like I was absolutely, unequivocally able to do that. At times I have doubted my abilities academically, but this film blew those doubts out of the water. You can be a woman, a shy, unassuming, listening woman, and present winning arguments to the supreme court. Those things are not mutually exclusive. Bonus points-it was REALLY funny. 

Won't You be My Neighbor?

This sweet film focused on the life and work of Fred Rogers. As someone who has studied childhood and children, I feel so impressed by this man's dedication. Though his manhood, his marriage, his sexual orientation, and so many other things were questioned he fearlessly went forward to help the people he was passionate about. He had a very important message, and one that I wish was shared more widely today- that people are special just because. They don't have to do or be anything to be valuable. 

Shout, Gladi Gladi

I really loved this documentary. It made me feel a lot of hope. I was not aware in the slightest of the population in Africa who deal with obstetric fistula, but someone was and she decided to help. Compared to the general needs in Africa, the population suffering from this is kind of small- but she was empowered to help in that specific area, and didn't let the more overwhelming needs stand in her way. 

Afghan Cycles

This was a very inspiring story about the women's cycling team in Afghanistan who pass through so many challenges just to train on a daily basis. One of my favorite parts was when a woman asked the viewers to think about Afghanistan. When I think about Afghanistan, my opinions are colored by the news media, by the violence there, and by the books I've read. But she wants us to think of the good parts of Afghanistan- the friendships that grow there, the food, the mountains and forests, etc. I thought that was such an inspiring example of love. 

Leave No Trace

This was the most challenging film that I watched. It had no interviews and no call to action. But it really made me think about why we feel the way we do about mental illness. The filming is beautiful and it is really well- done.