Nigeria’s Andrew Dosunmu’s Mother of George World Première at Sundance Film Festival

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Nigeria’s Andrew Dosunmu’s Mother of George and seven other films sponsored by JustFilms (the Ford Foundation's social justice film fund) have been selected for competition and premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, the world's leading showcase for independent filmmaking. The following are the details of Dosunmu’s film and the complete news release on all the eight films.



2012, 106 minutes, color, U.S.A., U.S. Dramatic
At long last, handsome Ayodele Balogun, owner of a small Nigerian restaurant in Brooklyn, will wed his beautiful fiancée, Adenike, and they will start a new life together in the United States. Their traditional Yoruba wedding culminates in a ceremony where Adenike is named for her yet-to-be-conceived son, George. But as the months pass without pregnancy, Ma George is torn between her Yoruba culture and her new life in America as she faces uncomfortable and unfamiliar choices in her struggle to save her marriage.

Director Andrew Dosunmu returns to the Sundance Film Festival (his film, Restless City, screened in 2011) with this astonishingly radiant portrait of Nigerian immigrant family life. Featuring soulful performances by Isaach De Bankolé and Danai Gurira, and opulent cinematography by the award-winning Bradford Young, Mother of George is a singular cinematic accomplishment that elevates this illustration of the complicated challenges of African immigrant life to a place of beauty and reverence. - S. F.

About the Director
Dosunmu’s first narrative feature, Restless City, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in the NEXT program. His documentary Hot Irons (1999) won the best documentary award at FESPACO, the Panafrican Film and Television Festival at Ouagadougou, and the Reel Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Dosunmu has also directed episodes of the widely acclaimed South African television show Yizo Yizo and many music videos.

Cast and Credits:

Director: Andrew Dosunmu

Screenwriter: Darci Picoult

Producers: Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Matt Parker, Carly Hugo, Darci Picoult, Chris Maybach, Saemi Kim, Patrick Cunningham, Tony Okungbowa
Cinematographer: Bradford Young
Editor: Oriana Soddu
Production Designer: Lucio Seixas
Composer: Philip Miller
Costume Designer: Mobolaji Dawodu
Principal Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Tony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi
Contact: Katelyn Bogacki / Strategy PR / katelyn.bogacki@strategypr.net

18 Jan 2013 18:10 Africa/Lagos

Ford Foundation JustFilms Supports Eight Films Set for World Premiere at Sundance Film Festival

Initiative supports works that address urgent social issues

NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- JustFilms, the Ford Foundation's social justice film fund, is providing major support to eight independent films selected for competition and premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the world's leading showcase for independent filmmaking.

Launched in 2011, JustFilms fosters film and media makers who are creating passionate and purposeful narratives. Film is an ideal medium to present a wide range of complex issues in a way that engages and inspires. Over the course of two years, JustFilms has given grants totaling $20 million to hundreds of exceptionally talented individuals and has partnered with numerous organizations such as the Sundance Institute, ITVS, HBO, Tribeca Film Institute, the Princess Grace Foundation and many others.

One of the five JustFilms-funded projects that premiered at last year's Sundance Film Festival, "How to Survive a Plague," has been nominated for a 2013 Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary Feature. This powerful, inspiring movie exemplifies film's ability to educate and motivate.

"We are constantly thinking of ways to inspire and bring attention to the intractable issues of our time," said Darren Walker, vice president of Ford's Education, Creativity and Free Expression program. "Our JustFilms initiative seeks inventive ways to creatively, financially and programmatically support underrepresented and deserving filmmakers who highlight courageous people confronting difficult issues and actively pursuing a more just, secure and sustainable world."

The Ford Foundation works with many partners in an effort to lift up worthy films during the long cycle of production. In addition to the films that received major support from the Ford Foundation, twelve films premiering at this year's festival were produced by the foundation in collaboration with the Sundance Documentary Film Program. A partnership with ITVS yielded "Fallen City" by Qi Zhao, furthering the international perspective of JustFilms. And the film "When I Walk," a moving chronicle of filmmaker Jason DaSilva's experience of learning to live with multiple sclerosis, received a finishing grant from the Princess Grace Foundation in support of South East Asian American filmmakers, funded by the Ford Foundation for this very purpose.

"Through collaboration with our valued partners we endeavor to find support for under-represented and deserving filmmakers," said Orlando Bagwell, director of Ford's JustFilms initiative. "The fruits of those labors are on display at International Festivals like Sundance, in creative and dramatic films that bring social justice issues to the forefront."

The Ford Foundation's JustFilms initiative builds on the foundation's longtime support for scores of documentaries, including such landmark productions as "Eyes on the Prize," "State of Fear" and "Why Democracy" It also leverages the foundation's global network of 10 regional offices to identify and lift new talent from around the world and to strengthen emerging communities of documentary filmmakers.

The eight films premiering at the Sundance Film Festival with major financial support from JustFilms are:

American Promise (US Documentary Competition)
Directors: Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson
As two African-American boys journey from kindergarten through high school graduation at an elite prep school, they encounter hurdles both in and out of the classroom.

Citizen Koch (US Documentary Competition)
Directors: Carl Deal and Tia Lessin
Following the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United, corporate money played a political role during a contentious decision on organized labor in the state of Wisconsin.

Gideon's Army (US Documentary Competition)
Director: Dawn Porter
Three young public defenders in the Deep South face long hours, heavy caseloads and minimal resources in their efforts to ensure that justice is served.

God Loves Uganda (US Documentary Competition)
Director: Roger Ross Williams
With values imported from America's Christian Right, missionaries in Uganda attempt to eliminate "sexual sin" and advance anti-gay legislation.

Mother of George (US Dramatic Competition)
Director: Andrew Dosunmu
One immigrant struggles to balance the expectations of her native Basotho culture and the opportunities of her new life in America.

Outlawed in Pakistan (Shorts Competition)
Directors: Habiba Nosheen and Hilke Schellmann
Pakistani teenager Kainat Soomro, accuses four men from her village of gang-raping her. She takes her case to the Pakistani courts and faces a deeply flawed criminal justice system.

Valentine Road (US Documentary Competition)
Director: Marta Cunningham
In 2008 a 8th grader's murder of his classmate shocked the nation. But both the murderer and the victim had troubled lives that complicate our very notion of justice.

Who is Dayani Cristal? (US Documentary Competition)
Director: Marc Silver
After one migrant finds himself in a deadly stretch of Arizona desert known as "the corridor of death," his life becomes testimony to the tragic results of the U.S. war on immigration.

JustFilms will also host two panel discussions at the Sundance Festival, at which filmmakers and others will focus on the medium's ability to foment change.

Turning the Tide (Friday, January 18, 1-2:30 pm)

Changing the direction of national discourse can seem an impossible task, but sometimes film can inspire a sea change. From immigration to health to the economy, this year's films suggest that political dialogue is inextricably bound to cultural expression. Artists and activists Pablo Larrain (No), Gael Garcia Bernal (Who Is Dayani Cristal?, No), Jehane Noujaim (The Square) and Robert Reich (Inequality for All) join moderator Orlando Bagwell (Ford Foundation JustFilms) to explore the ways film can activate grassroots campaigns that alter the course of history.

OP-DOCS (Tuesday, January 22, 4-6 pm)

Op-Docs is The New York Times editorial department's forum for short, opinionated documentaries, created by both renowned and emerging filmmakers, and produced with wide creative latitude and a range of artistic styles, covering current affairs, contemporary life and historical subjects. Filmmakers Heidi Ewing (Detropia), Laura Poitras ( The Oath), Dawn Porter (Gideon's Army) and Roger Ross Williams ( God Loves Uganda ) join Orlando Bagwell (Ford Foundation JustFilms) and Jason Spingarn-Koff (The New York Times) to discuss the new frontiers of online documentaries and the intersection of filmmaking and opinion journalism.

MORE INFORMATION

To view the films the Ford Foundation has supported over its history, visit the foundation's Film Collection.

Learn more about JustFilms' strategy and partners, and explore its grant making.

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than 75 years it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

SOURCE Ford Foundation

CONTACT: Joshua Cinelli, j.cinelli@fordfoundation.org, +1-212-573-5128, www.fordfoundation.org

Web Site: http://www.fordfoundation.org

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