Media Release from Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative

Dateline: May 23, 2018

Advance Screening of New Feature Documentary, “GRIT,” by Academy Award® Winning Filmmaker Cynthia Wade at Berkshire International Film Festival on June 2

- A staggering eco-disaster that you’ve never heard of. A heroine you’ll never forget -

Oscar Winning filmmaker, and Berkshire resident, Cynthia Wade will present a special advance screening of GRIT, her newest documentary feature chronicling a young girl’s years-long fight against a drilling company in Indonesia. The film, which just had its world premiere in Toronto to rave reviews, will screen at the historic Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington on Saturday, June 2 at 1:30 pm.  Director Cynthia Wade will participate in a conversation after the screening, as part of the 13^th Annual Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF) Tea Talk series. The screening is sponsored by the Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative (BMFC).

“Shot with poetic grandeur and packed with stirring political heft” – Hot Docs Film Festival, Toronto

GRIT follows Dian, a young Indonesian girl who lost her home when an enormous tsunami of mud, causing by natural gas drilling, slammed into her village in 2006. Twelve years later, 16 villages lie buried under 60 feet of mud and the mud continues to explode every day. The film chronicles Dian’s awakening as a political activist as she had her community organize against the drilling company. GRIT was created in collaboration with the Sundance Institute.

 “An exquisitely shot film that draws upon the evocative power of manmade landscapes to create an eerie tale of what’s at stake for our planet” – POV Magazine

About the Director: Academy Award-winning director Cynthia Wade has won over 50 awards for her films. Her documentary Freeheld won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short in 2008; Wade was a lead producer on the 2015 fictionalized adaptation starring Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Steve Carell and Michael Shannon. In 2013, Wade received her second Oscar nomination for her documentary Mondays at Racine. Her work can be seen at  http://www.cynthiawade.com

About the Sponsor: The Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative (BFMC) creates educational, workforce and production opportunities in the film and media industry an economic initiative for the western Massachusetts region.  http://www.berkshirefilm.org.

Screening Time: Saturday, June 2 at 1:30 pm at The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA. Box Office:  413-528-0100. Tickets $15 for screening and conversation:  http://www.mahaiwe.org/BIFF2018Grit"