In a US state of mind

A media event features American films and much more.

By HANNAH BROWN
Updated: FEBRUARY 25, 2016 16:27
‘Experimenter’ (photo credit: PR)
‘Experimenter’
(photo credit: PR)
The American Film Festival for States of Minds 2016 is an event that combines a film festival with a media tech conference. The film festival component of this one-week, multi-platform media and technology event will run at the cinematheques in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa from March 1 to 5. The opening film event is a screening of Concussion on March 2 at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque.
The event’s slogan is “The US & Israel: A Meeting of States. A Meeting of Minds.” It is geared toward media professionals, filmmakers and entrepreneurs to promote cultural exchange, social change and a creative economy between the US and Israel.
In partnership with the US Embassy in Israel, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), JVP Media, JVP Community Bakehila and other leading US and local public and private sector cultural, educational institutions and business organizations, States of Minds 2016 is an interdisciplinary media event that includes an American independent film festival, a media-tech conference and media educational programs to promote social change.
Concussion, directed by Peter Landesman, stars Will Smith in a dramatic thriller based on the true story of American immigrant Dr.
Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who discovered how professional football players were suffering from brain damage.
Among the other films in the festival is S. Craig Zahler’s Bone Tomahawk, which stars Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox and Richard Jenkins in a story of four men in the Wild West who set out to rescue a group of captives from cannibalistic cave dwellers.
The Case Against 8, directed by Ben Cotner and Ryan White, is a documentary that takes an inside look at the groundbreaking Supreme Court case that overturned Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage. Five years in the making, the film chronicles the struggle that helped pave the way for marriage equality battles nationwide.
Stephen Herek’s The Great Gilly Hopkins is a dramedy that tells the story of a wisecracking 12-year-old who is in the foster care system but believes that her real, glamorous mother is out there waiting for her.
But her plans change when she goes to live with a particularly eccentric family. Adapted from the awardwinning novel by Katherine Paterson (The Bridge to Terabithia), the film stars Sophie Nelisse, Kathy Bates and Glenn Close.
Geeta and Ravi Patel’s film Meet the Patels is a combination documentary and romantic comedy about Ravi Patel, an almost-30-year-old Indian- American who enters a love triangle between the woman of his dreams and his parents. Filmed by Ravi’s sister, it started as a family vacation video.
The film uses humor to address the societal pressures of marriage in firstgeneration Indian-American families.
The movie won the Audience Award at the Hot Docs Film Festival and many other prizes.
Experimenter, directed by Michael Almereyda, tells the controversial story of social psychologist Stanley Milgram, who in 1961 conducted a series of radical behavior experiments that tested ordinary people’s willingness to obey authority. It stars Peter Sarsgaard and Winona Ryder.
States of Minds 2016 includes new and cutting-edge programs to engage diverse audiences through film screenings, conferences, discussion panels, workshops, training sessions and World Café events, led by US and Israeli media, communication and film experts. In addition to the film festival, various programs are designed for business and community leaders, tech and media professionals, young professionals, NGOs and students to expand their perspectives on media tech innovation and culture, business, digital communication, data analysis and digital civic engagement.
For more information and to order tickets, go to http://statesofminds.org.