May 2 — The IIFF & Provocate presents the Eric Parker Social Justice Award
The Eric Parker Social Justice Award honors a film that confronts the audience with urgent social problems and inspires innovative solutions. After watching the winning entry, you will be unable to see the world in the same light, and unable to resist the hope that these conflicts can some day be overcome.
From four nominees, Provocate has selected two finalists: The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, an examination of the use of sexual violence as a weapon in the world’s deadliest civil war; and Beyond Belief, a documentary following two “9/11 widows” who dedicate themselves to helping widows of the conflict in Afghanistan. After screenings of these films, audience members will have an opportunity to participate in special events exploring more thoroughly the cultures and countries, the filmmaking process, and groups that are addressing the problems documented by the films. Rather than focusing only on a movie’s technical merits or emotional impact, the Eric Parker Social Justice Award recognizes film’s power to provoke change. This makes it unique among film festival awards.
Provocate exists to connect culture and politics, education and entertainment, the global and the local. Every month Provocate contributes to more than a dozen events that help groups imagine solutions to problems in their communities and around the world. Until his untimely death in 2007, Eric Parker was Director of the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership, where he acquired national renown for improving the lives of workers through partnerships with unions, employers, and community organizations. The activism he displayed throughout his life is the inspiration for this honor.
For more information, including show times and theater directions, visit www.indyfilmfest.org.
