The II Dominican Global Film Festival Comes to an End with Young@Heart, a Song of Hope
Santo Domingo, November 23, 2008.
Young@Heart will lower the curtain tonight on the II Dominican Global Film Festival. The film will give the final, golden touch to this Film Festival that has featured not just brilliant films but educational activities and social events that have been going on for the past six days in five cities around the country.
Part of the documentary´s crew, along with the director, the choral director and four singers (average age: 80) will share the evening with guests at the National Theater. Among the guests will be a group of senior citizens from various senior centers around the city, as was done yesterday at the screening in Santiago. It will be a song of hope.
The screening will take place at the National Theater in Santo Domingo at 6:00 p.m.
The story has captivated those who´ve seen it and has drawn praise from around the world at the many international film festivals in which it has participated.
The choral group Young@Heart, made up of retired people between the ages of 72 and 88, was formed in 1982 in Northampton, Massachusetts. Stephen Walker´s documentary begins with the group making their travel plans for one of their tours called “Alive and Well.” As viewers we get to sit in on rehearsals and watch the singers wrestle with their rendition of “Schizophrenia” by Sonic Youth or rehearse their passionate interpretation of James Brown´s “I Feel Good.” Young@Heart is pure inspiration as it reminds us of two things we´ve heard all our lives: you can´t judge a book by its cover and we´re never too old to pursue our dreams.
The film won two Rose d'Or prizes, the People´s Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival, the People´s Award at the Atlanta Film Festival, the Best Documentary Award at the Sydney Film Festival and People´s and Jury Award at the Paris Film Festival.
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