For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Jody Sahota
415.391.1474
(Oakland, CA) California Humanities is pleased to announce that three award-winning films from the California Documentary Project (CDP) are currently featured in the SkyFest independent film showcase, available exclusively on Virgin America. SkyFest is available on Virgin America airlines through May 2017.
“These films all do what documentaries do best—they take us places we might otherwise not have gone and allow us the opportunity to better understand the struggles and successes of others. These three California stories offer new ways for us to understand our past, present and future” said Julie Fry, President and CEO of California Humanities.
California Documentary Project films featured in SkyFest:
REAL BOY
Dir. Shaleece Haas
REAL BOY is an intimate story of a family in transition. As 19-year-old Bennett Wallace navigates early sobriety, late adolescence, and the evolution of his gender identity, his mother makes her own transformation from resistance to acceptance of her trans son. REAL BOY has screened at more than 70 festivals worldwide, received more than 15 awards, and will be broadcast on PBS’ Independent Lens in June 2017.
THE RETURN
Dirs. Kelly Duane de la Vega and Katie Galloway
In 2012, California amended its “Three Strikes” law and within days the reintegration of thousands of “lifers” was underway. THE RETURN examines this unprecedented reform through the eyes of those on the front lines—prisoners, their families, reentry providers, attorneys and judges wrestling with an untested law. THE RETURN won the Audience Award at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival and kicked off the 2016 series of POV.
OVARIAN PSYCOS
Dirs. Joanna Sokolowski and Kate Trumbull-LaValle
A new generation of women of color in East Los Angeles are redefining identity and building community through a raucous, irreverently named bicycle crew: The Ovarian Psycos Cycle Brigade. OVARIAN PSYCOS premiered at SXSW in 2016 and was broadcast nationally on PBS’ Independent Lens in March 2017.
About the California Documentary Project
The California Documentary Project is a competitive grants program from California Humanities supporting film, audio and new media productions about compelling and provocative issues, ideas and subjects of universal value, as seen through the lens of the California experience. Since 2003, it has awarded over $5 million in funding to projects that include Academy Awards-nominated films, critically acclaimed radio series and podcasts, and new media productions merging the best of nonfiction storytelling with technological innovation to create compelling and creative cultural experiences for diverse audiences.
About SkyFest
SkyFest is an original independent film exhibition program that showcases award-winning narrative and documentary films—and the festivals and institutions that support them—on Virgin America and other U.S. domestic airlines. The program is created by the arts and media collective, Compound, and other SkyFest partners include SXSW, Chicago International Film Festival, and the Disposable Film Festival.
About California Humanities
California Humanities is an independent non-profit and state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. To learn more about California Humanities and the projects we support, visit www.calhum.org.
