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Local Film Screening to Address Breaking Cycle of Poverty

Jon Shenk

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Contacts: Vickie Devenport, WSIU Outreach Coordinator, (618) 453-6148, vickie.devenport@wsiu.org

Local Film Screening to Focus on Breaking Cycle of Poverty

Film Documents Activist Efforts of Children in Kolkata, India

Carbondale, Ill. -- WSIU Public Broadcasting, the public media arm of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, and the Carbondale Public Library will host a free Community Cinema screening of the film Independent Lens: The Revolutionary Optimists, on Saturday, May 25 at 2:30pm at the library, 405 West Main, Carbondale.

Martha Cropper, SIU retiree and Grant Manager at Community Life Concepts, will lead a discussion after the film and share her personal experiences working with the non-profit charitable organization Teach My Kenyan Children.

Independent Lens: The Revolutionary Optimists tells the story of lawyer-turned-social entrepreneur Amlan Ganguly who has transformed some of the poorest slums of Kolkata, India by empowering children to become leaders in improving health and sanitation. Using street theater, dance, and data as their weapons, the children have cut malaria and diarrhea rates in half, increased polio vaccination rates, and turned garbage dumps into playing fields. The film reveals how education and child empowerment can help to lift societies out of poverty.

The final Community Cinema film screening of the 2012-13 season will feature Love Free or Die on Saturday, June 29.

Community Cinema is a national civic engagement initiative featuring free monthly

screenings of films distributed by the Independent Television Service (ITVS), followed by discussion of the themes explored in each film. The project is designed to bring communities together to discuss key social issues of our time.

For more information about WSIU's Community Cinema screenings, contact Vickie Devenport at (618) 453-6148 or vickie.devenport@wsiu.org. More information can be found online at the WSIU Community Cinema website.

The Community Cinema initiative is a service of Independent Television Service (ITVS) and is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

About WSIU Public Broadcasting

WSIU Public Broadcasting is licensed to the Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University and is an integral part of the College of Mass Communication & Media Arts on the Carbondale campus. The WSIU stations reach more than three million people across five states and beyond through three digital public television channels, three public radio stations, a radio information service, a website, and an education and community outreach department.

WSIU's mission is to improve the quality of life of the people they serve. The WSIU stations partner with other community organizations to promote positive change and to support the academic and public service missions of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Learn more and get the latest station news online at wsiu.org and on WSIU's Facebook and Twitter pages.

WSIU's programs and services are partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

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