Sundance Film Series Coming to Jackson

Fondren’s Duling Hall will play host to a series of films making their way around the world as part of the Sundance Institute’s Film Forward program.

The films are presented in collaboration with the Mississippi Film Office and Crossroads Film Society and in partnership with the Sundance Institute, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

On Saturday, February 8 at 2pm, see ‘The Rocket,’ directed by Kim Mordaunt, a gripping yet heart-warming personal story about the determination of a boy who has the odds stacked against him. The film is set against the epic backdrop of a war-ravaged country on the brink of huge change.

On Sunday, February 9 at 2pm, Film Forward shows ‘Circles,’ directed by Srdan Golubovic. Circles unfolds as a triptych, exploring the moral convolutions and complex story strands that emerge from one fateful moment.

An additional film, ‘The World Before Her,’ will show at Duling on Saturday February 22 at 10am. Moving between two extremes — the intimate verité drama of the Miss India pageant’s rigorous beauty “bootcamp” and the intense regime of a militant Hindu fundamentalist camp for young girls — The World Before Her delivers a provocative portrait of India and its current cultural conflicts during a key transitional era in the country’s modern history. Director Nisha Pahuja will be in attendance for a time of question and answer.

Millsaps College also plays host this month with four films: Tuesday February 11 at 7pm; Tuesday, February 18 at 7pm; Saturday, February 22 at 2pm; and Tuesday, February 25 at 7pm. All screenings will take place in room 200 of Murrah Hall and are free and open to the public.

Additional films will be shown at Tougaloo College and the Mississippi Museum of Art.

FILM FORWARD domestic program locations include: Detroit, Michigan; San Diego, California; Jackson, Mississippi; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. FILM FORWARD international program locations include: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Colombia, Indonesia, China and Taiwan. In each location, FILM FORWARD seeks audiences that are new to independent film, students and the local filmmaking community.

“These films are an extraordinary representation of universal themes that will inspire and challenge audiences to look at their community and our world in a new way,” said Keri Putnam, Sundance Institute Executive Director. “FILM FORWARD uses the powerful medium of film and storytelling to bring people of different cultures, viewpoints, and backgrounds together in a shared dialogue.”

Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences.

For more, visit sundance.org/filmforward.