“A Harlem Mother” and BeyondBullets.org shorts kick off LOMAL’s 2010 “Fall Downtown”

New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/16/2010 -- On Tuesday, September 21st at 2:00PM, DCTV will be hosting an anti–gun violence film screening, followed by a panel discussion with Richard Aborn, President of Citizens’ Crime Commission, Shaina Harrison, Program Coordinator at New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, Clarivel Ruiz, Director of PRO-TV at Downtown Community Television Center and other gun-violence activists and media leaders. The screening marks the beginning of Lower Manhattan Arts League’s Fall Downtown events series.

Headlining the event is A Harlem Mother by Ivana Todorovic, recently screened at Cannes, about how mother Jean Corbett-Parker turns the tragic and senseless death of her son into a project that heals a community. We will also be screening several short videos from BeyondBullets.org, DCTV's anti–gun violence media campaign, which highlight youth perspectives on gun violence from two deeply-affected cities: Chicago and New York City. Shorts include: Burying Your Friends, about Chicago teens coping with violence close to home, Shaina’s reACTION, in which a non-profit leader makes gun violence activism popular amongst students, My Camera’s My Gun Now, which shows the transformative power of filmmaking, and Halt, a response to the “Iron Pipeline,” the highway by which most illegal guns are brought into New York.

For the past five years, DCTV has been using media to help prevent gun violence. BeyondBullets.org is an online center for youth-driven, solution-oriented media about the effects of gun violence in communities in New York City and across the country. It follows a month-long campaign in New York, taking films and stories to schools in some of the hardest-hit neighborhoods in every borough.

The screening signals the start of Lower Manhattan Arts League’s (LoMAL) Fall Downtown event series, presenting events from eleven of Lower Manhattan’s premiere arts organizations. Accompanying DCTV are such prestigious downtown organizations as HERE, Dance New Amsterdam, SoHo Rep, The Flea and more. Over the following 14 weeks, Fall Downtown hosts affordable events from eleven powerhouses in Lower Manhattan.

DCTV Presents: A Harlem Mother and BeyondBullets.org Shorts is FREE and open to the public. Young people are encouraged to attend and participate in our discussion.

For more information, please visit: http://www.dctvny.org/events/harlem-mother-and-beyondbulletsorg-shorts. If you would like more information about our anti–gun violence media campaign, visit http://www.beyondbullets.org. For information on LOMAL’s Fall Downtown, please visit http://www.falldowntown.org.