Shortly after hearing that INVITATION TO DANCE would have its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, we learned that our film was placed in competition in the Social Justice Documentary Film category. Extraordinary!!
We are honored to be nominated for the award given annually by The Fund for Santa Barbara “to a film that makes a particularly valuable contribution to advancing social justice.”
The Fund (www.fundforsantabarbara.org) is a nonprofit community foundation that supports organizations working for social, economic, environmental & political change in Santa Barbara County. We have since learned that The Fund has recognized disability as a social justice issue from the beginning. In fact, the first grant they gave, in 1980, was to Rod Lathim and Access Theatre (a wonderful integrated theatre company).
The Fund has helped us with outreach in Santa Barbara, and has provided funds to increase the number of wheelchair locations in The Lobero Theatre for our Sunday night premiere.
On Monday, February 3, at noon Christian and Simi will be on a panel of Social Justice Filmmakers, chaired by Geoff Green, the Executive Director for The Fund for Santa Barbara. The Fund has a long history including:grassroots organizing against discrimination of all kinds, supporting the rights & dignity of working people, promoting community self-determination, organizing for peace and nonviolence, working to improve the quality of our environment, and building cross-issue/cross-constituency coalitions and alliances.
It is deeply meaningful to us that an organization whose motto is “change not charity” has recognized INVITATION TO DANCE, whose motto is: “equality, justice, and a place on the dance floor.”
