La Jolla Country Day Announces Summer Film Festival

Editor's Note: The following announcement was made by  Torrey Times on May 10, 2012.

La Jolla Country Day School, in its on-going effort to make summer count for you and your children, is hosting what it hopes will become an annual summer film festival aimed at inspiring young leaders.

The festival – which will run June 22-24 on the school's campus – will be open to the public and will feature films specifically selected from the Sundance Film Festival and other film festivals to inspire students and their families.

This year's festival, called "A Spark In The Dark," will include a mix of documentaries and shorts that are both entertaining and inspirational. The films will be accompanied by appearances of the filmmakers and other speakers who will lead audience discussions of the films and the issues they bring up. Student short films, specifically created for this festival, will also be included during the three-day gathering.

The Opening Night Film – Sing Your Song – tells the little-known story of the private crusades of famed entertainer Harry Belafonte. The weekend features will include Inside Hana's Suitcase, a film that links a valise found in a holocaust museum to the surviving family members today. Five Broken Cameras, a challenging film produced by both Israeli and Palestinian producers, is a Palestinian farmer's chronicle of his nonviolent resistance to the actions of the Israeli army.

A full listing of films, movie times and ticket purchasing will be available on line starting May 20. You can add your name to the festival e-mail list for updates as film titles are added by clicking here.

Country Day is presenting this "Spark In The Dark" festival with the assistance of a group of San Diego mothers who were inspired by films screened at the famed Sundance Film Festival as well as other film festivals. They formed Mom's With Issues to select and promote viewing of important films that often don't make it to the theaters.

"We saw a number of extraordinary films, primarily documentaries,'' said Pat Hughes, a member of Country Day's Board of Trustees and a founding member of Mom's With Issues. "These are some of the most important 'essays' of our times, but they never make it to commercial theaters. We want to give them a forum.''

Hughes was joined by San Diegans Carol Tager and Kathryn Brinton in selecting the films and negotiating their showings at the Country Day festival.

"The idea of a film festival creating a community of idealistic young leaders instantly appealed to us,'' Brinton said.

"We imagined a festival that would plant seeds in young minds, leading to action, growth and change,'' Tager added.

The films will be shown in the 350-seat Four Flowers Theater on a rotating basis throughout the weekend.

Music and other art performances will occur throughout the day to entertain families attending more than one film during the festival.

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