Join the discussion in person

Would be great to get input on this large topic. If you are in NY on the 23rd please come on out to a screening/ summit being organized by Working Films.

Info From Their Site
92Y Tribeca: Body Typed (aka Wet Dreams & False Images)
New York, NY

April 23, 2009 07:00PM to 10:00PM
Hosted by Working Films
Event Description:

Chicken & Egg Pictures and Working Films
AND Special Guest Co-Hosts The Fledgling Fund and Rooftop Films, present the next installment of STORY LEADS TO ACTION, a monthly series at the 92YTribeca Screening Room

Thursday, April 23rd at 7:00 PM

Please Join us for a Special Evening

CELEBRATING
the Power of the SHORT
to Engage, Enrage, Entertain and Initiate
LONG term transformation.

FEATURING
Jesse Epstein’s
"Body Typed"
a series of award-winning shorts exploring every angle (and then some) about the pursuit of physical perfection.

WET DREAMS AND FALSE IMAGES ('04)
THE GUARENTEE ('06)
34x25x36 ('08)
SKIN a work-in-progress/rough-cut (to be released in 09/10)

This evening is dedicated to that gorgeous moment when the movie stops and the lights come up, the YouTube ends, and the audience wants to know: What they can do? Where to go? What to wear!

After each screening of each short there will be an interactive highly engaged discussion/brainstorming session
WITH and BETWEEN
New York’s best and brightest activists, educators, class room teachers, community organizers and health care professionals working women and girls/men and boys health, identity and body image
Award-winning filmmaker Jesse Epstein, named by FILMMAKER MAGAZINE to be one of the "25 new faces of independent film" in 2008

Moderator
Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Judith Helfand,
Co-Founder, Chicken & Egg Pictures/Working Films

THE GOAL
Jesse Epstein walks out with a more advanced understanding of how her serious and and seriously funny & engaging shorts can be used effectively
to promote a more healthy, evolved, aware and engaged NEW YORK and support the ongoing work of the best/brightest activists and educators etc... (no pressure).

The audience walks out knowing a little more about what linking filmmaking to organizing, “community engagement” and how story leads to action.


WHEN
7:00 pm

WHERE
92YTribeca
200 Hudson Street
New York , NY 10013
Tickets are $12
Click here to purchase tickets

ABOUT CHICKEN & EGG and WORKING FILMS

Chicken & Egg Pictures is a hybrid film fund and non-profit production
company dedicated to supporting women filmmakers who are as passionate about
the craft of storytelling as they are about the environmental, human rights
and social issues they're embracing, translating and exploring on film.
www.chickeneggpics.org

Working Films advances social, economic, environmental and racial justice by
linking non-fiction filmmaking to cutting-edge activism.
www.workingfilms.org

OUR SPECIAL GUEST CO-HOSTS
The Fledgling Fund seeks to improve the lives of vulnerable individuals, families,
and communities by supporting innovative media projects and community-based
organizations that target entrenched social problems.
www.thefledglingfund.org

Rooftop Films is known internationally as one of the most dynamic film festivals in the world.
The 2009 Summer Series will run from May through September and will feature more than 200 daring new films,
all screened outdoors, in front of big, loyal audiences in parks, along the water, and on rooftops overlooking the greatest city on earth.
More than 15,000 people attended Rooftop screenings in 2008, making it one of the most popular festivals in New York City .
The 2009 Summer Series will surely feature even bigger crowds, even more beautiful venues, and more incredible films.
www.rooftopfilms.

blogs

Was excited to come across this link to blogs that have posted/ discussed the issues in 34x25x36.

http://www.wikio.com/video/347848

MUSIC AND FILM

Been checking out the comments on 34x25x36 since it’s been in the Youtube Screening Room for a few days, and was thinking about the music – about how much music can influence the feel of a film.

The composer T. Griffin who produced an original score for 34x25x36 was trying to evoke the repetition of the assembly line. And as an experiment,

I've posted another version – with music by Loscil. With lower tones, the music feels different and haunting.

Would love to hear what people think – does the different music change the story? Please chime in.

Here's the link to both versions:
http://www.youtube.com/jessedocs

Regards,
Jesse

Hello.

Decided to create this blog to start discussions around body image and media.

I'm in the process of producing a series of short documentary films -- that will work together as a feature. The over-all goal is to take a look at various cultural definitions of beauty, and to raise questions about striving for physical perfection.

The first short is called WET DREAMS AND FALSE IMAGES and uses humor to raise serious questions about the marketplace of commercial illusion. The second, THE GUARANTEE, asks what it means for a person to change their physical appearance through plastic surgery -- does changing our bodies change our cultural identity? And, the third segment, currently in the YouTube Screening Room, is called 34x25x36 and is about mannequins, perfection, and religion.

Instead of just bashing the beauty industry or something, I'm much more interested in why we do the things we do. What purpose does striving for perfection serve -- if any?

Thanks for chiming in on YouTube -- maybe we can start more of a discussion here.

Regards,
Jesse