CHCI’s Ready to Lead Program To Screen Shine Global’s New Documentary, INOCENTE – The Triumphant Story of a Homeless Latina Teenage Artist
Wednesday, September 11th at 12:10 PM, The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Atrium Ballroom
Directors to Present Film to Hundreds of Local Latino High School Students
Washington, D.C. – INOCENTE, an intensely personal coming-of-age documentary about a vibrant Latina teenage artist from a dauntingly tough background in San Diego who refuses to allow her struggles with poverty and homelessness to get in the way of her extraordinary talent, will be screened at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) 2012 Public Policy Conference during its annual Ready to Lead (R2L) workshops this week.
On September 11, 2012 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. hundreds of local Latino High School students from DC, Virginia and Maryland will join the film’s directors, Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine, to watch INOCENTE and engage with the directors in a Q&A session.
R2L empowers Latino high school youth to attend college and trains hundreds of kids each year in college planning, financing a college education, and leadership development.
The film chronicles Inocente, an irresistibly likeable young woman who has overcome poverty and homelessness and won widespread recognition for her whimsical, colorful artworks. Color, as she likes to say, is her revolution. More at Inocentedoc.com
WHO: Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, directors of INOCENTE
WHAT: Screening and discussion of the acclaimed new documentary, INOCENTE, with hundreds of local Latino students
WHERE: The Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Atrium Ballroom, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004
WHEN: Wednesday, September 11, 2012 at 12:10 PM
Directors Sean Fine and Andrea Nix fine said about the event today, “More than a million and a half children are homeless in America today, yet they are invisible. We wanted to share a story that was personal and shared this experience and Inocente had the courage to open her life to us.”
We come to Inocente’s story as she realizes her life is at a turning point, and for the first time, she decides to take control of her own destiny. Irreverent, flawed and funny, she’s now channeling her irrepressible personality into a future she controls. Her talent has finally been noticed, and if she can create a body of work in time, she has an opportunity to put on her first art show, a high profile affair that she knows has the potential to launch her career. Meanwhile, her family life is at a tense impasse— to leave home is terrifying but to stay is unbearable.
Neither sentimental nor sensational, INOCENTE will immerse you in the very real, day-to-day existence of a young girl who is battling a war that we never see. This film will usher you into the secret life she returns to at the end of every day, where she navigates the instability, despair, and neglect of a situation she must endure through no fault of her own. The challenges are staggering, but the hope in Inocente’s story proves that her circumstances not define her—her dreams do.
Advocacy organizations, including the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) and A Reason to Survive (ARTS), moved by the film’s genuine and beautiful telling of Inocente’s story are partnering with INOCENTE to help bring about change by highlighting her plight with campaigns and events through the rest of the year.
Media credentials are needed to attend these events. No media will be allowed in sessions without CHCI press badge. CHCI 2012 Public Policy Conference Media Credentials
About CHCI
Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), a nonprofit and nonpartisan 501(c) (3) organization, provides leadership development programs and educational services to students and young emerging leaders. The CHCI Board of Directors is comprised of Hispanic members of Congress, nonprofit, union and corporate leaders. For more information call CHCI at (202) 543-1771, visit www.chci.org, or join us on Facebook, Twitter (chci), LinkedIn, and YouTube.
THE FILMMAKERS
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine of Fine Films are Academy-Award nominated directors who have been directing and producing documentaries for the last decade for both theater and broadcast outlets. Their film War/Dance won several awards including 2 Emmys and the 2008 Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary.
Yael Melamede co-founded the independent film production company Salty Features in 2003 to make feature films that showcase unique vision, strong storytelling, and thought-provoking subject matter. Her films include Small Beautifully Moving Parts, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and the Academy Award-nominated documentary, My Architect.
Albie Hecht and Susan MacLaury co-founded Shine Global, a non-profit filmanthropy dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of children through films and other media. They produced and executive produced the Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning War/Dance and The Harvest/La Cosecha. Previously, as head of Nickelodeon Films and Television, Albie had been nominated for an Academy Award for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
Media Contact: Naomi Seligman, (310)617.4577, Naomi@SeligmanConsulting.com – Scott Gunderson Rosa, (202) 548-5876, sgrosa@chci.org