National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa announced today that Shine Global is one of the nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. Shine Global is recommended for a $70,000 grant to support the post production of our documentary film Selling Our Daughters.
Produced by Shine’s Susan MacLaury and co-directed by Josie Swantek and Dave Adams of Run Riot Films, Selling Our Daughters documents the exploitation of young girls in Thailand from the perspective of the girls themselves, their parents, a trafficker, and the organization founded to help them. Principal photography has been completed and the NEA grant will support aspects of post-production.
NEA Acting Chairman Shigekawa said, “The NEA is pleased to announce that Shine Global is recommended for an NEA Art Works grant. These NEA-supported projects will not only have a positive impact on local economies, but will also provide opportunities for people of all ages to participate in the arts, help our communities to become more vibrant, and support our nation’s artists as they contribute to our cultural landscape.”
Shine’s Executive Director Susan MacLaury said “We are thrilled to be recommended for this prestigious grant to support our work making documentary films aimed at ending the exploitation and abuse of children worldwide through the production of films and other media that raise awareness, promote action and inspire change.” Shine Global’s films include the 2013 Academy Award®-winning short documentary Inocente, The Harvest (La Cosecha) with Executive Producer Eva Longoria about child labor in the US, and the Academy Award®-nominated and Emmy Award®-winning War/Dance.
Shine Global deeply believes that social issue filmmaking inspires positive change for numerous societal challenges. For each film, Shine creates a tailored outreach and engagement campaign, develops and distributes free downloadable curriculum for teachers that expands the films’ educational impact, and screens its films for policy makers and influencers in support of policy change. Shine believes that the value of the arts to education and social change is intrinsic and exponential over time. Students learning in this way are engaged socially, emotionally, and intellectually, and develop into socially minded leaders of society.
Art Works grants support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and enhancement of the livability of communities through the arts. The NEA received 1,515 eligible applications under the Art Works category and recommended grants totaling $25.8 million.
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