LA Premier of Shine Global's The Harvest/La Cosecha
2011 was one of Shine’s richest yet in terms of artistic production and growth, and we want to take this opportunity to thank all the artists, our professional colleagues, and friends for their contributions.
After four years, we finally released THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA! We are indebted to our Director/Producer, U Roberto Romano, Producer Rory O’Connor, and Executive Producers Eva Longoria, Alonzo Cantu, and Raul Padilla. We also want to thank all the activists, politicians, and organizations that stepped up to help child migrant farmworkers. Among the many successes are:
- THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA was released theatrically this summer after winning 2 festival awards. It also aired on EPIX and is now available on DVD.
- Shine Global contributed to the US Department of Labor’s campaign to change the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to better protect child workers. This began in 2009, when Labor Secretary Hilda Solis screened THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA trailer to members of government to kick off her campaign to crack down on violators of the FLSA.
- Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard introduced the CARE Act to raise the minimum age of child workers on June 16th, the same day she hosted a screening of THE HARVEST on Capitol Hill.
- Shine created free, downloadable curricula to accompany THE HARVEST for Grade 7-12 classes in English, social studies, mathematics, economics, geography, and health and college courses in history, political science, social justice and https://skincarepillsshop.com public health. We want to thank the many teachers and pre-service teachers who contributed to its creation. Take a look and let us know what you think.
It’s also been very exciting to reunite with our WAR/DANCE directors and cinematographer, Sean and Andrea Nix Fine, on the short documentary, INOCENTE, that introduced us to Producer Yael Melamede of Salty Features. The film is now in post-production, and will air on MTV and Epix this spring. Please watch the beautiful trailer by clicking here.
2011 also gave us the opportunity to work with talented director Hilla Medalia and producers Diane Nabatoff and Neta Zwebner-Zaibert to raise funds for DANCING IN JAFFA, which will be completed in 2012. We love this film about a Palestinian dance instructor who returns to his hometown of Jaffa, Israel to teach ballroom dancing to Arab and Jewish 10-years olds, asking them to partner in a final competition.
And there is much more to look forward to in 2012!
Very excitingly, EPIX commissioned Shine to explore doing a film about preventing mother to child transmission of HIV. We did initial filming in South Africa and plan to raise funds to do a feature length documentary.
Shine is also working with Jet Films to make BMX BOYS, now filming in London. It tells the story of kids in inner-city London resisting gang pressure by racing BMX bikes and hoping to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. Finally, we’re in early development on two more projects. Shine and director Hilla Medalia are exploring funding options for a feature documentary on child brides in India. The other is a possible film/educational project, tentatively called THE GIRLS FROM YAO, with Fulbright Scholar and Professor, Natalie Jesionka, who’s recently returned from 2 years in northern Thailand. Natalie works with the Children’s Organization of Southeast Asia to rescue young girls from being trafficked as sex workers.
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Every one of these stories teaches us about children struggling against very tough odds from an angle few of us would otherwise see. And every one will potentially change the lives of thousands of other children like them.