Please join us for our special screening followed by Q&A with
HOLLY CARTER
Founder and Executive Director, BYkids
SUSAN HOENIG
Producer and Film Mentor
DAVID ORLANDO RODRIGUEZ
First Secretary, Colombia Mission to the UN
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. | Registration
Screening begins promptly at 7:00 p.m.
Screening begins promptly at 6:30 p.m.
SUNY Global Center
116 East 55th Street (between Lexington and Park Avenues)
New York, NY
ADMISSION
UNA Members: $10
UNA Student Members: FREE
Guests and Non-Members: $15
In DISPLACED BUT NOT DEFEATED, an inspired — and inspiring — young filmmaker reveals how her family and community endure displacement, during their nation's ongoing civil war, through maintaining their sense of hope.
María Ceballos Paz, a 16-year-old Colombian girl, has been living in displacement for the past nine years as a result of Colombia's civil war. Decades of fighting between the army, paramilitary, guerrilla groups and drug cartels has forced approximately 4 million Colombians from their homes, creating the largest internally displaced population in the world.
Currently living in less than ideal circumstances, María intimately brings us into her world. After her father was killed by guerrillas, she and her family fled their farm, and now live in the slums of Cali. María shows us her family, friends and community as they rebuild their lives.
María directed, filmed and narrated this award-winning documentary that puts a human face on the statistics of displacement, as well as the cost of civil war and the drug trade. Through her lens and mentored by Hollywood television producer, Susan Hoenig, her story is like those of millions of people facing similar upheaval, not only in Colombia, but in other war-torn countries around the world.
"I am truly excited to be a part of a project that provides a forum for children to tell their own stories, stories that are often the most genuine yet often misinterpreted or never even heard," said producer Susan Hoenig. "By giving them the tools to create their own documentaries, these stories can finally be told from their perspective, a point of view that will hopefully strike a chord with others in similar situations throughout the world. By enabling such storytelling, BYkids will work to bridge cultural gaps, as well as help illustrate the universality of the human condition. At a time when people tend to focus on our differences as opposed to our similarities, such a contribution is invaluable."
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
María Ceballos Paz is 16 years old and was born in Nariño, a rural area in southern Colombia. She and her family left Nariño due to the violence when she was about 7 years old. Her mother told her they were going on vacation and once she got to Cali her mother told her that her father had been killed by guerillas and that they were not going back.
She moved around a lot when she first arrived in Cali, and now lives in Manuela Beltran in the Aguablanca district of Cali. There are 13 people living in her home — her mom, one sister, two brothers, a sister-in-law, three nieces and nephews, two cousins, and her aunt and husband.
María goes to school in Aguablanca everyday from 7-12. She is in 6th grade, likes to study English and computers. She loves to compose music and sing when she gets home from school. Dancing is like breathing — she and her family dance all the time. It is her passion and is part of everyday culture.
GUEST SPEAKERS
HOLLY CARTER
Holly Carter is the Founder and Executive Director of BYkids. Holly began her career as a writer and editor at The New York Times and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Since then she has lived in Korea as a Henry Luce scholar and print and television journalist; produced an award-winning documentary on Margaret Sanger; co-founded North Carolina's Full Frame Festival; served as a consultant for The After-School Corporation; produced the PBS series Media Matters; and most recently was the Executive Director of The Global Film Initiative.
SUSAN HOENIG
Susan Hoenig was the first BYkids board member and serves as a film mentor to María Ceballos Paz.
Among Hollywood's top TV producers, Susan has produced shows for Discovery, National Geographic, Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS. She received an Emmy nomination for Undercover Boss.
ABOUT BYkids
Because kids tell honest and important stories, but often go unheard, the non-profit organization BYkids was created to pair master filmmakers, such Albert Maysles and Ric Burns, with youth (ages 8-21) from around the world, to create short documentaries that educate Americans about globally relevant issues.
By giving kids the tools and mentoring to make documentary films about their lives and packaging those films for a wide American audience, BYkids gives voice to youth from diverse cultures, and encourages international understanding and engagement by giving viewers concrete ways to respond.
In October 2011, Edmond Mulet, Assistant Secretary-General for U.N. Peacekeeping Operations, became a core advisor for developing BYkids partnerships with United Nations agencies, extending the story sourcing, on-site logistics and strategic outreach for BYkids films. "Each BYkids youth storyteller mobilizes our conscience towards a larger sense of global solidarity. BYkids reminds us that we are one Humanity," said Mulet.
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