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Sensible City presents Asheville Premier Screening: World Peace and Other Fourth Grade Achievements
May 4
6:45 pm
Asheville’s Premier Screening is more than just a great evening in film. The event supports an important dialog in the community – one which is less political and more about engaging children at a deep level. After the screening, John Hunter (Star) and Director Chris Farina will host a Q&A, followed by a panel discussion with local education leadership.
The Asheville Premier of World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements, is an award winning documentary film set in a Charlottesville, Virginia public school. Following the film, teacher/star John Hunter and Director Chris Farina will host a Q&A and open dialogue with local leadership in education.
The Film:
World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements is a documentary film which depicts the transformation that happens as a class of students at a neighborhood public school work to solve all of the earth’s crises with a balanced budget. During the game, students assume the roles of world leaders confronted by an ongoing series of military, economic, and environmental crises teaching students the “work of peace.” The goal is to free each country from dangerous circumstances and attain global prosperity with the least military intervention possible. Although Hunter begins each class by ringing a peaceful bell, he understands that students need to learn how to resolve conflicts, both logistical and personal. Instead of leading the class toward peace, Hunter puts the responsibility in the hands of the participants and even empowers them to deal with deeper challenges by including a secret “saboteur” in the mix. The interactive experience triggers a transformation of the students from children to citizens of the world.
The film premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas in 2010. Since then, the movie has received the Audience Award at the 2010 Bergen International Film Festival, the Outstanding Achievement Merit at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and countless other awards and recognitions. In March, the film was screened during the TED 2011 Conference, following a standing ovation for John Hunter’s talk on stage.
John Hunter:
Hunter grew up in segregated Richmond, VA and was one of a few students chosen to be in the first integrated middle school class in the city. The son of a fourth grade teacher, he traveled extensively in Southeast Asia before returning home to discover his work in education. Throughout the movie, Hunter balances Ghandian non-violent principles with readings from the ancient Chinese military treatise the Art of War by Sun Tzu.
Chris Farina:
Filmmaker Chris Farina, of Rosalia Films, is a graduate from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in American Government and American University with an M.A. in Communication—Producing for Film and Video. Farina’s first two films, Route 40 and West Main Street look at the interesting perspectives of normal citizens in out of the way, rarely filmed settings. He has also worked with fellow Charlottesville filmmaker and Academy Award winner Paul Wagner on two films, The James River and Angels.
Sponsors:
Tickets for K-12 teachers are available on a first-come/first-serve basis at no cost, thanks to the generosity of its hosting sponsor, Sensible City, LLC (www.sensiblecity.com), with Presenting Sponsors Integritive, Inc (www.integritive.com), ITSG, Inc (www.itsgcorp.com), and Livescribe K12 (www.livescribek12.com).
Tickets: $16 / General Public - FREE to teachers in K-12 public or private schools*
*Thanks to a series of generous sponsorships from Asheville area businesses, admission is free (though RSVP is required) for K-12 teachers throughout the area.
