From an email received this afternoon:
From an email received this afternoon:
Someone said to us that we are likely the very last Canadian artists to take our work outside the country on the Promart fund.
I also read that the Conservatives consider Promart a “boondoggle” which doesn’t achieve its aims of promoting Canada, Canadian foreign policy and Canadian artists. I would just like to tell you what Promart’s $2,000 will achieve for Canada and us. It will allow my husband and I to travel to South Africa where our film, THE GREAT GRANNY REVOLUTION has been used to change South African health policy. A change that all the power of governments and the UN could not achieve.
Two Wakefield Grannies and I took the film there in March on CHC funding. While there Johannesburg announced a whole new package of services for grandmothers raising their AIDS orphans. The City gave the film a gala screening and then it was shown four more times. We did a training workshop to teach others to set up a Granny support group.Now, September 5th Robert and I will return – on Promart funding and we will show the film 7 times in Pretoria. One of those times as the Gala opening event. During the days we will be at the University teaching young people how to shoot, how to tell their own stories, how to use the media. We have meetings set up to discuss a co-production with one company and broadcast of our doc with another.
In South Africa we are heroes because we are willing to do this. Our activities will be covered by the media. We don’t mind donating our time, and the use of our equipment but we certainly can’t afford to buy round trip tickets so that we can promote Canada and Canadian doc makers. Without the support of Promart we would not be able to go.
www.rooneyproductions.com to see more about the film, the tour, the work.
Brenda Rooney.