Maro Chermayeff, 2012
USA | 224′ (English)
Take an unforgettable journey with six actress/advocates and New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof to meet some of the most courageous individuals of our time, who are doing extraordinary work to empower women and girls everywhere. These are stories of heartbreaking challenge, dramatic transformation and enduring hope. You will be shocked, outraged, brought to tears. Most important, you will be inspired by the resilience of the human spirit and the capabilities of women and girls to realize their staggering potential.
HALF THE SKY is a passionate call-to-arms, urging us not only to bear witness to the plight of the world’s women, but to help to transform their oppression into opportunity. Our future is in the hands of women, everywhere.
Presented by Think Act Change NYC and CRS, this screening is FREE but seating is limited! As the film is nearly four hours long, there will be an intermission with light refreshments, and there will also be a guest speaker and Q&A following the screening.
A suggested donation of $10 at the door will go towards the HALF THE SKY featured NGO’s to support their ongoing work for women across the world:

Grameem Foundation 
Somaly Mam Foundation 
Room to Read

We encourage everyone to bring a friend, neighbor, family member or co-worker along to this event. It is without doubt, one of the most important documentary to watch in this century.
 

 
HALF THE SKY premiered as a four-hour television series for PBS and international broadcast, shot in 10 countries: Cambodia, Kenya, India, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Liberia and the U.S. Inspired by the book of the same name by Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, the documentary series introduces women and girls who are living under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable — and fighting bravely to change them. Traveling with intrepid reporter Nicholas Kristof and A-list celebrity advocates America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union and Olivia Wilde, the film reflects viable and sustainable options for empowerment and offers an actionable blueprint for transformation. 
Across the globe oppression is being confronted, and real meaningful solutions are being fashioned through health care, education, and economic empowerment for women and girls. The linked problems of sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence, and maternal mortality — which needlessly claim one woman every 90 seconds — present to us the single most vital opportunity of our time: the opportunity to make a change. All over the world women are seizing this opportunity.
In additional to the documentary, this landmark transmedia project features, a Facebook-hosted social action game, mobile games, two websites, educational video modules with companion text, a social media campaign supporting over 30 partner NGOs, and an impact assessment plan all inspired by Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, the widely acclaimed book by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
About the Film’s Six Segments
1) Eva Mendes in Sierra Leone (Gender Based Violence): Mendes and Kristof report on a situation where most attacks against women go unreported. They meet up with a representative (Amie Kandeh) of the International Rescue Committee whose efforts to educate and protect women are tireless.
2) Meg Ryan in Cambodia (Sex Trafficking): In this episode, Ryan and Kristof meet a leader in the anti-trafficking struggle (Somaly Mam). In a country where about a third of the prostitutes are children, Mam personalizes the story as she herself was sold into the sex trade as a child. Her efforts to rehabilitate brothel girls packs a strong emotional punch.
3) Gabrielle Union in Vietnam (Education): Union and Kristof visit the country with John Wood. As a marketing executive with Microsoft, Wood has introduced Room to Read which is an organization that promotes both literacy and equal opportunity education for girls within developing nations. As girls can be seen as second class citizens in places like Vietnam, they sometimes are pulled from school and not given the same opportunities as boys.
4) Diane Lane in Somaliland (Maternal Mortality): The unpleasant fact in Somaliland is that one in twelve women die in childbirth. A combination of poor nutrition, female genital mutilation, and general neglect have made the act of giving life an unprecedented danger. They meet Edna Adan who has started the country’s first maternal health facility.
5) America Ferrera in India (Forced Prostitution): In India, there are about 3 million prostitutes with 1.2 million of them being children. Girls often follow their mothers into the trade with no other outlet. Here we meet Urmi Basu who works in the infamous red light district to try to break down these patterns and conventions.
6) Olivia Wilde in Kenya (Education): Wilde visits the Shining Hope for Communities organization and the Kibera School for Girls. Here we see a tuition free education established for promoting the advancement and opportunity of local girls who never had access to such things before.
— summary provided by K. Harris on Amazon.com
 

Think Act Change is a new monthly meetup where changemakers, thinkers, innovators, entrepreneurs or anyone who is passionate about social innovation, social enterprise or simply doing good meet once a month. At our meetups we want to talk about ideas, but more importantly we want to connect people to enable them to act on their ideas in order to implement real change.
More information coming soon at www.thinkactchange.org Starting local. Going global.
FILM+VIDEO SHOW & TELL provides a forum for local and independent filmmakers to share and discuss their work and ideas. 
http://www.crsny.org/film

http://www.meetup.com/NYC-FILM-VIDEO-SHOW-TELL/
 
August 2013102:30 – 7:30 pm