New Dawn’s Films For Change presents screening of Miss Representation – May 14

Recognizing that our Cape Breton community continues to want to participate in a growing conversation about our future, New Dawn encourages citizens to engage, grow, transform, and perhaps be inspired to take action on the issues that hold deep meaning to them. New Dawn’s new series, Films For Change, uses the power of film to raise awareness of important social and environmental issues to provide an accelerated and entertaining educational experience.

The third film in the series, Miss Representation, exposes how mainstream media contributes to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.

Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Miss Representation first premiered in the documentary competition at the Sundance Film Festival where it caught the eye of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. It made its television debut as part of the OWN documentary film club in October 2011, with over 1.3 million people tuning in to its multiple airings. Additional screenings with corporations, non-profits, religious groups, government organizations and communities are happening every day all over the world.

Miss Representation includes stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists and academics like Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, Jackson Katz, Jean Kilbourne, and Gloria Steinem. The film offers startling facts and statistics that will leave audiences shaken and armed with a new perspective.

In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality–and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made strides in leadership over the past few decades, the U.S. is 90th in the world in terms of women in national legislatures. Women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media, and 65% of women and girls have disordered eating.

Miss Representation screens Tuesday, May 14, 7pm at the Island Arts Café (CB Fudge Company) in Sydney. Tickets are available at the door on a Pay-As-You-Can basis with a $10 suggested donation. After the screening, there will be community / panel discussion lead by Ardelle Reynolds and Alison Uhma.