AIFF to Screen ETHEL on Dec 13th in Grants Pass
Ashland Independent Film Festival Announces Two Grants Pass Screenings of 2012 Audience Award-Winning Documentary Ethel
Ashland, Ore.—The Ashland Independent Film Festival (AIFF) today announced two special screenings of its 2012 Rogue Creamery Audience Award-winning documentary Ethel on Thursday, December 13th at 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm at the SouthGate Cinema in Grants Pass, OR. Rory Kennedy, the film’s director and the eleventh child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, will participate in a live Q&A via Skype immediately following each screening. This marks the first AIFF screening in Grants Pass, and reflects the organization’s mission to extend its programming reach into additional communities in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Proceeds benefit the non-profit Ashland Independent Film Festival, thanks to the generosity of the festival’s year-round sponsor Coming Attractions Theatres. Tickets available now at the SouthGate Cinema box office, 1625 SW Ringuette Street, Grants Pass ($8.50 general admission: $6.50 for seniors, students and AIFF members).
Ethel is a feature length documentary about the remarkable life of Ethel Kennedy, told by those who know Ethel best: her family. Directed by her Emmy-Award winning daughter, Rory Kennedy, the film features candid interviews with Ethel and seven of her children. The film is a personal portrait of Ethel’s political awakening, the life she shared with Robert F. Kennedy, and the years following his death when she raised their eleven children on her own. Intimate, funny, and deeply moving, Ethel offers a rare look inside a political dynasty strengthened by family bonds, a compassion for others, and a wisdom forged from both hardship and triumph. Watch the trailer.
The December 13th screenings are presented as part of the AIFF’s Monthly Film Series, held year-round on the second Thursday of each month. Recent monthly screenings at the Varsity Theatre in Ashland have included BURN: One Year on the Front Lines of the Battle to Save Detroit, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Bully, 2012 festival favorite Chasing Ice, and Gayby, which won the 2012 AIFF John C. Schweiger Audience Award for Best Feature Film. In keeping with the AIFF’s goal to connect local audiences with independent filmmakers, this summer the festival began using Skype technology to enable remote Q&A sessions with filmmakers immediately following the screenings.