How Many Lives FILM Screening & Art Exhibition
ART AUCTION & DONATION / FUNDRAISING EFFORT will go to the JCTC / THEATER CENTER - YOUTH ART PROGRAM and the EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM / LECTURE SERIES of the HOW MANY LIVES? DOCUMENTARY FILM
Selected Artists : Duda Penteado / Catherine Heart / Lorenzo Irico / Lorenzo Pickett / Robert Piersanti
In working with fine artists Duda Penteado and Catherine Hart the film, "How Many Lives?" follows student artists as they depict numerous well-publicized killings and mass murders, some that are local and deeply personal, others that have occurred across the country. Among the images painted by students on the mural are the Sandy Hook Elementary School, the site of one of the deadliest mass school shooting in American history, Philando Castile, who was shot and killed by police during a traffic stop, and a portrait of Jersey City Det. Melvin Vincent Santiago, who was fatally shot in the line of duty in 2014, which was painted by the late Detective's younger brother, Alex Bride.
The Documentary Film is a raw & transparent journey that simultaneously explores the American gun-control dilemma on a national and macro-level while venturing through the mirco-complexities that are experienced by a vulnerable group of teens in Jersey City who’ve been directly impacted by the unfortunate deadly reality of having lost loved ones to gun violence.
Duda Penteado, who directed the documentary and mentored the students as they painted the mural, takes the audience on an artistic journey beyond the barrel of a smoking gun throughout the film while exploring the tremendously weighty entanglements of the controversial issue of gun violence. Duda hopes America may be at a "turning point" in how gun violence is viewed.
"Art can facilitate a conversation," he said. "When you see an artwork, it takes you to a deeper level of thinking."
The Film also features the National March For Our Lives Rally in Washington D.C and the March For Our Lives Rally in Jersey City. The Film illuminates the voices of Gun Violence Survivors and the Youth as they explore Gun Violence as the Public Health Epidemic it is.
"My childhood friend, he was shot in broad daylight ... Nobody called the cops, nobody called the ambulance, people just pulled out their phones and recorded him, watching him struggle for his life," Student Artist Saidah Abdulkarim says in the film's trailer.
The social, political, and economic inquisitions that the film provokes is nothing short of brilliant because it aims to remain neutral and objective to its title. The Film is not only a call to action but a broader introspection about how the arts is a vehicle to steer the culture towards mutuality and collective understanding amidst tribalist extremes.
Instead of pushing the Jersey City teens to petition their legislators, which he is not adverse to, he challenges a discussion about the way people see & perceive the world around them through emotion, fear, and structures of government.
After the Documentary Screening, there will be a Panel featuring: Duda Penteado, Fine Artist & Director of How Many Lives? / Stephanie Bonne, MD & Director of Surveillance at the Center on Gun Violence Research at Rutgers School of Public Health / Jai Patel, National Youth Advisor at Everytown For Gun Safety / Carlos Hernandez, Ph.D., President Emeritus, New Jersey City University / Sam Cintron, Art Consultant & Interior Designer / The Panel will be Moderated by Issa Musharbash, Executive Producer of How Many Lives?
We hope you can join us at 770 Broadway NY NY 10003, on Thursday, June 20th from 5:00PM – 9:00PM on the 8th Floor (The Intrepid) to be a part of this historically relevant Event.
