WHAT'S NEXT?

First, we need to finish production on Creating4Change in 2015, and that means spending another 8 weeks on the road in Africa, India, and the United States. In February, we'll be heading to the Kolda Region of Senegal, to film singer and activist Sister Fa as she goes on tour to end genital mutilation in her home country. From there, we'll be visiting American fashion designer Anna Taylor in Kenya, to show how she's helping women living in Nairobi's slums break the cycle of poverty. Finally, we'll be returning to India to visit our dear friend Sohini Chakraborty, and to see her new pilot project using dance to rehabilitate sex trafficking survivors who need to testify in court against their traffickers.

PRODUCER - DIRECTOR

EMMY® Award-winning documentary filmmaker SOPHIA KRUZ’s work has screened at film festivals, museums, libraries, community centers and health-care facilities across the country and is regularly broadcast on PBS. Kruz is a producer in the award-winning National Documentary Unit at Detroit Public TV, where she is currently producing a documentary on the science of bipolar disorder for national PBS broadcast called RIDE THE TIGER. Previously, Kruz produced the EMMY® Award-winning documentary, A SPACE FOR MUSIC, A SEAT FOR EVERYONE, on the 100-year concert history of UMS performances in the University of Michigan's beloved concert hall, Hill Auditorium.

MEET THE ARTISTS

SOUTH AMERICA // GRAFFITI // VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

As a young artist, PANMELA CASTRO was drawn to graffiti and its power to convey a message. When Brazil’s first comprehensive law on domestic violence was passed in 2006, Castro, a victim of domestic violence herself, was moved to inform those living in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro about their right to live free of violence. Castro continues to raise awareness about women’s rights and to draw attention to gender-based violence via an organization she founded called Rede Nami. Rede Nami hosts workshops throughout Brazil, teaching women and girls about domestic violence, as well as instructing attendees in graffiti art. 

In 2014, the Creating4Change production team spent three weeks with Castro as she worked to create a kilometer-long mural in Rio de Janiero raising awareness about domestic violence on the eve of the FIFA World Cup. The C4C team produced a short story for the PBS NewsHour on Castro's work that was broadcast nationally in the United States.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA // DANCE THERAPY // HUMAN TRAFFICKING

SOHINI CHAKRABORTY was a dancer, choreographer and sociologist when she met survivors of human trafficking at a local shelter in India. She knew instinctively that dance could serve as a vehicle for recovery, and by encouraging girls to move their bodies, she thought they could unlock the pain trapped inside, and begin the process of healing. Since then, Chakraborty formed Kolkata Sanved, an organization that uses dance to rehabilitate survivors of sex trafficking, and to intercept young women who are at risk of falling prey to traffickers.

The Creating4Change production team spent three weeks with Chakraborty in 2014, and will be returning to Kolkata in 2015 to document Chakraborty's use of dance to prepare women to testify in court against their traffickers.

ANNA TAYLOR was a typical American girl growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas, until her parents decided to move her and her siblings to Nairobi when she was in high school. When Anna returned to the US to begin apparel studies at the University of Arkansas, two things remained in the forefront of the young designer's mind: the colorful African fabrics and the rampant poverty of Nairobi's slums. 

When Anna returned to Nairobi mid-way through her college career, a Kenyan leader in the slums introduced her to an impoverished seamstress named Judith. Anna designed custom pieces inspired by the brightly-colored East-African fabrics, and hired Judith to sew these high-end clothing items for friends and family back in the United States. Each piece produced sold quickly, and at a good price. Taylor developed an understanding of the Nairobi slum culture and the needs of the women living there. She established relationships with local suppliers and industry experts, and she did all this at an earlier age than most American college students pick their major. After finishing her degree, Anna launched Judith&James to train and employ impoverished women to manufacture high fashion clothing. At the age of 22, Taylor's Judith&James collection made its debut at New York Fashion Week.

WEST AFRICA  // MUSIC // FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING

OUTREACH & EDUCATION CAMPAIGN

A robust outreach and education campaign will accompany the documentary film, ensuring a broad audience will learn about some of the injustices facing women and girls globally, as well as the many creative solutions.

• Film Festival Screenings and Q&A Discussion Events
• “Creating4Community” Events: Creating4Change will create an event toolkit and work with partner organizations, including Zonta District 15 and the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association, to host events globally
• Government & Policy Screenings: Creating4Change will work with NGO and government leaders to screen the documentary at international and U.S. policy and development meetings, such as the United Nations.
• Online Q&A Events

Creating4Change will partner with professional associations, corporate sponsors, and governmental agencies to implement the activities above.

As of December 2014, Creating4Change partners includes:

• Art Works for Change
• Detroit Public TV (WTVS); a PBS member station
• Education without Excision
• International Expressive Arts Therapy Association
• Judith&James /James127 Foundation
• Kolkata Sanved
• The Marian Chace Foundation of the American Dance Therapy Association
• Michigan Council on Arts & Cultural Affairs
• National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapy Associations
• Rede Nami
• Zonta District 15

Creating4Change welcomes additional partnerships. Please contact Sophia Kruz for more information at: sophie.kruz[at]gmail[dot]com.