Category Archives: Education through films

2013 Sundance Film Festival Finalists

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“Filmmaking can be a fine art.” ~ Terri Windling 

The selections for the 2013 Sundance Film Festival have been announced, and they’re listed in Filmmaker Magazine and on Sundance’s website. Independent filmmakers covet being selected for this film festival, which was begun in 1978 as a way to bring more filmmakers to the State of Utah. 

Last year, a new festival director was put into place, and although the name of the festival has changed over the years, the mission of discovering independent artists, remains the same. Here are just a few picks from several categories that will compete for “best of” awards: 

U.S. Dramatic Competition

U.S. Documentary Competition

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

This winter’s festival will run from January 17 – 27th. To read the sixty-six selections, to purchase tickets and learn more about the Sundance Film Festival, held in Park City, Utah every year, please visit this site. http://bit.ly/TwQ6T .

Have a good weekend everyone. I am hoping to take in the Life of Pi at the local theatre.

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Music of Americana

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“Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.”  ~Woodie Guthrie

Did you happen to see American Masters on PBS last Tuesday evening? Woody Guthrie: Ain’t Got No Home was a wonderful documentary filled with songs of Americana. Click for info & ordering

There are so many dramatic twists and turns in Guthrie’s life story that it made for a fulfilling documentary, giving us insight into him as a person, well beyond his musical abilities. In my opinion, he and his family’s brokenness made for outstanding lyrical songwriting. His struggles  seemed to give him insight into the human condition and  he had the ability to simply translate those feelings into inspirational songs that have been remembered and still sung four decades later. A wandering minstrel he was, with such talent as a full rounded musician.

To read more about Woodie Guthrie and the complex life he led, please visit this link http://to.pbs.org/SosT2w.

If you missed this American Masters documentary, keep your eye out for a rerun of it. It is well-worth watching and the songs will take you back to some of the most poignant times in our country’s history.

To order cd’s of Guthries music Click on this link

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime:Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected and www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Imparting Knowledge to Younger Generations

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There is so much we can learn from generations who came before us, if we would only listen and read about what others have to say through their writing.

On Sunday afternoon, the photography of Andrew Zuckerman and his wisdom project was featured on Rocky Mountain Public Broadcast Service (RMPBS). Zuckerman’s portrait photography is really stunning. He captured 51 important celebrity personalities who are familiar to most of us through their careers in all different fields. Each person’s image was captured, through the lens of the camera, with a pure white background; completely eliminating any distraction to the eye when viewing the aging faces. Hence, each person’s unique facial characteristics really pop. The stark photographs allow the viewer to better see beyond the external.

Zukerman’s book, Wisdom: The Greatest Gift One Generation Can Give To Another  is accompanied by a DVD. An oral recounting tells each person’s truth about life as they know it. To read more about the people who are featured in this project, Click here for info and ordering

There is also a show produced by Maryland Public Broadcast Service called My Generation, hosted by Leeza Gibbons in association with AARP.  This weekly, Emmy nominated show also highlights individuals, aged 50 and older, who have much to share with younger people about living healthy, active lives. Lifetime experience and knowledge is the basis for great words of advice. http://bit.ly/SYWDae.

 The advice and knowledge imparted in the book/DVD and the TV programs all give insight into the art of living a fulfilling life. Check them out.

This blog brought to you Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpectedand by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Generation of Smart, Healthy Children

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“As a kindergarten teacher, I have come to understand the powerful interplay between our senses, memory and food.” ~ Grady Turner

There is an e-book project in the works that I am more excited about than many others I have heard about. I desperately want to see it come to fruition. Why? This independent publishing project is about the new generation and teaching through interactive e-books.

Eat, Play, Learn Books, LLC is a company that is developing “kids activities that use healthy food as a learning tool.” These lessons have been successfully used and tested in the classroom by award winning  kindergarten teacher, Grady Turner, B.A., MEd. They meet and reinforce academic standards.

The impetus behind this Eat, Play, Learn Books is a need our country has – raising children who know about the benefits of staying healthy and fit. 

This series published by Eat, Play, Learn Books, LLC covers four diciplines of learning – reading and writing, math, science and social studies. The e-books, complimented with video, will lead parents and children through a series of fun activities that reinforce healthy food choices. It is geared for children aged 4 to 9. The activities can be done at home, providing parents and children outstanding quality time together. Through the activities in the books, children are introduced food that is both nutritious and commonly found in homes and the grocery store.  

Electronic books published by Eat, Play Learn Books, LLC are downloadable on e-readers, computers and palm-size digital devices, too – such as cell phones.Click here for Eat Play Learn – Lessons 1-3 Reading and Writing

Please join me in supporting this wonderful publishing project and raise a generation of healthier children.

This blog brought to you by Sue Batton Leonard, author of Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected

Film Friday: Adaptation

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It has been a busy week on All Things Fulfilling. I feel as if I have been knocked over by a self induced hurricane this week. Between daily blogging, my creative writing course and other business meetings and commitments, I am glad it is Friday. It was a delight to be part of author Mara Purl’s blog tour this week also. If you missed out, scroll down to read my interview with Mara about her second book “Where the Heart Lives.”

At lunchtime today, local writers from the independent publishing networking group that I started a year and a half ago here in Steamboat, will be presenting their books and will talk about the independent publishing process with the Yampa Valley University Women. Another group I belong to. 

This morning as I start my blog writing, I feel exactly like Charlie Kaufman in the film Adaptation. Here are his words and also my thinking.  

“To begin… To begin… How to start? I’m hungry. I should get coffee. Coffee would help me think. Maybe I should write something first, then reward myself with coffee. Coffee and a muffin. Okay, so I need to establish the themes. Maybe a banana-nut. That’s a good muffin.” 

Too bad I am not a coffee drinker, hot tea will have to do as a substitute. I will take that banana-nut muffin, though, sounds good!

Speaking of the film  Adaptation, my creative writing teacher says that it is a good movie suggestion to pass along to others. The movie is  directed by Spike Jonze.  She says, it is well worth watching.  “Interesting,” she said “how the screenwriter creates a story out of a person who has a passion for orchid collecting.” For information on this movie, Click here.

This is not a newly released movie. It hit the movie screens back in 2003. It is an adaptation of the book “Orchid Thief.” It won an Oscar and many other film awards.  Actors include Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, just to name a few of the cast. 

Sorry for the quick blog, today. Have a fulfilling fall weekend, everyone! Please return on Monday for more independent thoughts, words and views from www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

International Spiritual Film Festival

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“Where people are now in terms of economic crisis… I think that’s when people look to film and to spirituality.” ~  Emilio Estevez 

Spirit, enlightenment, personal transformation, personal fulfillment have been the focus over the past few days on All Things Fulfilling. In keeping with that theme, today we will share some information about an event that is coming up in March, for those of you who enjoy independent films of the spiritual nature. 

The Center for Spiritual Living in Morristown, NJ will play host to Awaken! International Spirit Film Festival in March.  An world gathering of independent filmmakers, films about a variety subjects about our spiritual universe will be screened. Wonderful connections of like minded-people, will no doubt take place over this three day period and tickets can be purchased for individual movies. 

Stay informed for developing details about the event through this website. http://bit.ly/RWn4d2. Last year’s selection of films are posted on the site, and many of them can be obtained through www.imdb.com, The Internet Movie Database. At a later date, information will be posted about the films that will be shown in 2013 and the exact date of the event.

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Film Friday: Books for Indie Filmmakers

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“A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them.” ~Lemony Snicket 

The holiday buying season will soon be upon us. In order to give you a head start on gift ideas for family or friends who are interested in filmmaking as amateurs or professionals, today’s blog will be focused on books about the industry. 

The Independent lists a selection of thirty books, many independently published, on things such as: 

  • Visual effects in films
  • Directing Films
  • History of Film and Cinematography
  • Finding success and fulfillment as a filmmaker
  • Legal issues of the film industry
  • Acting
  • Techniques for photography and filming
  • Film Editing
  • Film Distribution 

To see the list of recommended books, please visit this link. http://bit.ly/VaeoQQ.

Help your favorite filmmaker or want-to-be filmmaker build his or her library and career by purchasing one or more of these books to give as gifts this holiday! You will be giving a gift that will contain valuable information to reference from year after year. 

See you on Monday, for more independent thoughts, words and views from www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Film Friday: Won’t Back Down

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“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” ~ Chinese proverb

The film “Won’t Back Down” will be making its debut in movie theatres today, September 28th.  It is a movie that many parents will relate to because it is about doing the right thing for children by providing them with the best opportunity for education.

The story focuses on two parents, one of whom is a teacher, who are unhappy with their children’s inner city school and they face issues of how to “fix it.”

Evidently, this movie is raising eyebrows of the Teacher’s Union. Although controversial, I feel compelled to share this movie because the subject is so familiar to my family.

We went through a similar situation in rural Vermont back in the 1990s.  Our son was going to a tiny elementary school, 30 students, in danger of closing entirely due to budgetary constraints and not so great quality. The parents were unhappy with the public school system. Our town boldly voted to close down the public school, and re-open it as a “private school, with a public mission.” The transition was not an easy one; there were dissenters.

In the end, it seems the children are receiving a better and different kind of education. Moving into a unique school model grew the school, which now includes middle school grades. Parents from surrounding towns are able to send their students to it. According to everything I am reading, some fourteen years later, students are scoring well above state and national averages on standardized assessments.”

Look for “I Won’t Back Down” in your neighborhood theatres. To read more about this film,Click here for info & ordering.

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From Dust to Dreams

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“Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Did you see “From Dust to Dreams” on PBS on Friday night? What an outstanding program; made for a fulfilling and fun evening. I can only imagine what it must have been like to have been at the opening evening of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts. http://www.thesmithcenter.com   A stunning arena!

The 2,050 seats in the auditorium were filled to capacity reminding us as they pointed out in the show that “if you build it, people will come.” Like other top performing arts centers in the country, this creative space will stay booked and busy. It is in the city of Las Vegas, long known for its outstanding entertainment.

The show could not have been better orchestrated. Stars like Martina McBride, John Fogerty, Willy Nelson, Jennifer Hudson, Carole King, violinist Joshua Bell and many others ushered in the opening season and nearly brought down the house of this much heralded new venue that opened on March 10, 2012.

For me, however, the crème de la crème, were the artists trained in musical theatre; they sing so succinctly and clearly. Musical theatre is my favorite form of art, bar none. The range of tunes, from some of the most notable musicals in history, really carried the night. The audience heard songs from West Side Story, Ragtime,Man of LaMancha, Rent, Life of the Party, Sweet Charity and The King and I.  Some of my favorites.

The cost to build this facility was $470 million dollars and construction took 33 months to complete it. The finale was so appropriate to the evening. “Take Care of this House,” sung by Jennifer Hudson was performed with panache.

If you missed this show, there is a DVD of “From Dust to Dreams” available to the public, thanks to PBS. It is well worth buying and it would bring personal fulfillment as a Christmas present to the fan of performing arts in your family. Here is the link.From Dust to Dreams.

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A Venerable Photojournalist of the 1960s

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My photography is committed to the discovery of the basic spirit of human beings in their natural environment and to unrehearsed moments of human expression.” ~ Cherel Ito

A few weeks ago, I was in an art gallery in Telluride, Colorado and came across an art book of a photojournalist. The book could be described as a “volume,” it was quite large in size. “That’s some book,” I thought, purely because of its dimensions. Naturally, I wanted to peak between the covers.

I couldn’t believe the similarity between this photojournalist’s work, and that of another. To my way of thinking, Steve McCurry‘s images are so stunning similar to that of Cherel Ito’s  that it made me wonder whether he studied Ito’s work intensely before he became a photojournalist. Ito’s work is revered by students of film, art, photography and photojournalism. Her images from the 1960s and 1970s so uniquely tell a story, that her work is featured in the permanent collections at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. http://www.nmwa.org/

There are two differences I saw between the compositions of these two creative people. Ito used only black and white film, which makes her work more valuable and interesting from the perspective of the historical development of photography and filmmaking.

Also, when you read her journal entries, you realize she was an outstanding writer as well as a talented photographer. She had the ability to powerfully communicate so much, in so few words; an all encompassing artist.

If you are not familiar with Cherel Ito’s work, her images and her journal writings have also been preserved for future generations of students of photojournalism in the book “Through the Lens of Her Camera.” Her work is an important study in human nature as well as different cultures around the world.

To learn more about photographer Cherel Ito’s book, please visit this link  www.cherelitobook.com.

Return on Monday, and there will be more independent thoughts, words and views from

www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.