Date: Monday, October 19, 2015
Time: 7PM
Location: Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA
Details: 2015, UK, 98 min
Director: Kim Longinotto
Post-Film Q&A with Lisa Stevens (Producer), Brenda Myers-Powell (Film Subject), and Audrey Morrissey (Associate Director of My Life My Choice)
Winner of the 2015 Sundance Directing Award for World Cinema Documentary
Film Synopsis: Dreamcatcher takes us into a hidden world through the eyes of one of its survivors; Brenda Myers-Powell. A former teenage prostitute who worked the streets of Chicago, Brenda defied the odds to become a powerful advocate for change in her community. With warmth and humour, Brenda gives hope to those who have none. Her story is their inspiration.
For twenty-five years Brenda Myers-Powell called herself ‘Breezy’ and she dominated her world, or that’s what she thought. It was a world that had turned her into a teenage, drug-addicted prostitute. After a violent encounter with a ‘john,’ Brenda woke up in the hospital and decided to change her life. Today she is a beacon of hope and a pillar of strength for hundreds of women and girls as young as fourteen who want to change their own lives. ‘Dreamcatcher’ explores the cycle of neglect, violence and exploitation which each year leaves thousands upon thousands of girls and women feeling that prostitution is their only option to survive. By following the very charming, charismatic and truly empathic Brenda, we enter the lives of young women and see in verite footage their realities from their points of view. While the world may overlook these women and men, thankfully Brenda has not, providing an unflinching expose which contrasts seeming hopelessness against the difference that one person can make in the lives of many.
DREAMCATCHER is on tour this Fall with generous support from The Fledgling Fund in collaboration with Women Make Movies and The British Council.
We invite audiences to join Brenda Myers-Powell from the Dreamcatcher Foundation and the film and producer Lisa Stevens for a post-screening Q&A and discussion with local advocacy leaders working to combat sex trafficking. In Boston, we will be joined by Audrey Morrissey, Associate Director of My Life My Choice, a program of Justice Resource Institute.
For more information on the film and the tour visit:
dreamcatcherfilm.com/usa & wmm.com/longinotto
For more information on The Dreamcatcher Foundation visit:
thedreamcatcherfoundation.org
Film courtesy of Women Make Movies. For more information visit www.wmm.com.
Prior to this feature screening, the DocYard will theatrically present a selection from THE REAGAN SHORTS, an ever-growing collection of short films about small but revealingly awkward moments from President Reagan’s years in office (ceremonies, presentations, and interviews that wander off-script).
Tonight’s featured short film is RONALD REAGAN LIGHTS THE LIGHTS (3 min, 2014)
Director – Pacho Velez
Producer – Sierra Pettengill
Editor – Daniel Garber
The DocYard is an award-winning film and discussion series at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, and which also sponsors special screenings and co-presentations throughout the year. Each screening is a new experience as we connect audiences directly with filmmakers exploring the documentary form through insightful post-screening discussions.