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“AS AGENTS OF CHANGE
[artists] are the fi rst responders. They document change as it is occurring in the world around us, and they are the ones who will ultimately set the tone for the festival.” - Robert Redford
That’s when it happened – the Gonzo! Sundance moment. As if tinted by the hand of an overzealous USC film student, colors became saturated, the music faded, and time stood still. It might have been the mélange of independent films, thought-provoking panels, celebrity sightings, snowboard runs, and four Washington Life-hosted events. Or, it could have been the Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson screening earlier that day. It’s hard to tell at 3 a.m. Either way, the epiphany hit
me like a mescaline-induced sweat lodge vision. Washington was everywhere. To my left, Washington Life CEO and Kicking It executive
producer Soroush Shehabi together with fellow executive producers Jack Davies, Sheila Johnson, Raul Fernandez, Doug Smith, Nigel Morris, Rick Allen, and Mark Ein. Next to them, Teatro Goldoni owners Michael Kosmides and Jose Garcia savored Chef Nicola Amroune’s acceptance to “Chefdance” (more on that later) and mixed with John Cecchi, Kay Kendall, Erik Huey, James Woodyard, Kimball Stroud, Patricia Finneran, Jody Arlington, Bruce Keiloch, Brandon Lane, and MC Antil, among others, while Representative Rahm Emanuel and others chatted away nearby. How did this happen? How did Washington come to reign at Sundance?
POLLYWOOD SERVES UP THE POWER
The buzz started with an intimate Washington Life hosted dinner at Club Lespri in the private back dining room of Cellars Prime Steak House. The night was the unofficial kickoff for Kicking It, a locally produced documentary about seven homeless persons who transform their lives and represent their countries at the 2006 Homeless World Cup in South Africa. The guests included Washington-based director Susan Koch, an Emmy and Peabody award-winning filmmaker, whose work with husband Chris Koch has been broadcast on HBO, NBC, ABC, Discovery, MTV, National Geographic, PBS, and others; Kicking It cinematographer Neil Barrett, the film’s producer, Ted Leonsis along with his wife Lynn and daughter Elle; the aforementioned Washington-based executive producers of Kicking It; plus a few friends and special guests including former Virginia Governor Mark Warner and producers Michael Mailer and Burton Goldberg. The main event however was the “Pollywood: Salute to Washington Filmmaking” dinner hosted by Washington Life, The Paley Center for Media, ESPN Films and Celebrity Service International. The gourmet soirée, featured Bon Appétit Executive “Iron” Chef Cat Cora, and was held at the exclusive Bon Appétit supper club and generously sponsored by Veuve Clicquot, Pama, Stella Artois, Roberto Coin, Loews Hotels and the Dominican Republic Department of Tourism on the first Sunday of the festival. The event epitomized Pollywood. An exclusive 100-person guest list included former PBS and current Paley Center for Media President and Sundance trustee Pat Mitchell (who celebrated her birthday with Shehabi – as they have at past Pollywood dinners at Sundance).
KICKING HOMELESSNESS
COLIN FARRELL ON WHY HE GOT INVOLVED IN THE FILM KICKING IT When I saw the original documentary version of Kicking It, I found it undeniably moving. Anyone open enough will see elements of themselves in each of the seven players. The film evokes every human emotion – hope, fear, love, strength, and generosity.
I think it’s an important story that needs to be told. The words on the opening screen alone – “one billion people are homeless without access to a basic human need” – are shocking. That’s a sixth of the population. I actually played football myself until I was fifeteen; I wasn’t as good as I thought I was, though. (Luckily for – and perhaps for Irish football – I discovered girls, and going out and the like, soon after that, and a new hobby took its place). Still, if you chucked me a football right now, I’d get giddy. It puts me back to a time in life when everything was simple, and when there was a sense of community. Football is a universal language and potentially a cause of great change. The film makes real a world where many of society’s lost children can find themselves through sport. A roof over one’s head, a place to call home, a sense of belonging and community – are these too much to ask for? These basic human rights are a mere dream to over one billion homeless men and women. Too many live on the fringes of acceptance and exist beyond the boundaries of societal respect. They are not without hope, but sadly, they are often without help. Kicking It is a call to action. I am humbly honored to be part of this project and to be a conduit for its message. From an interview with Kat Byles, CommunicationsDirector, Homeless World Cup.
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