I first met Jon Fitzgerald in Austin back in December at the IFFS – The International Film Festival Summit. Jon is a genuine, generous gent and Founder and CEO of CineCause, an amazing communication arts concept that uses great cinema to affect positive change in the world. The motion picture business is the prominent medium of mass communication. As an industry, entertainment has become America’s number one export and therefore has tremendous power and ability to share meaningful stories. CineCause recognizes and fosters this as a great opportunity to connect the dots between the films, related causes, participating celebrities and their audiences for the greater good. We joined him and Actor Mathew Modine for a special CineCause Screening event of Moving On, a film I knew nothing about that turned out to be a film everyone should know about. The documentary journeys with a young, somewhat naive couple from Colorado as they head to Africa to adopt a baby, and become so entrenched with what they experience, they decide to stay and make a penetrating change to the village, the women who live there, and ultimately, themselves. The film reminded me why I care so much about film, and why you should care about this cause. CineCause that is. But let’s get back to being happy…
‘Happiness’ was a 3-day CineCause Spotlight showcase that featured 3 remarkable, award-winning films on the exploration of happiness - what it is, why we need it and how to achieve it. Turns out Happiness is within reach - and it has nothing to do with shoes or cars - for those who choose to search beyond their own needs and share a strategy of compassion, mindfulness and collective giving through collaborative efforts. I have been preoccupied with this philosophy after experiencing this event, even irritated that it could actually be that simple, and available to us, this whole time. Damn that sneaky happiness!
CineCause will become the go-to filter of quality film programming and will curate showcases of such films based on theme, subject or topic, pairing these films with relevant causes. Audiences will learn more about the cause, have an opportunity to make a donation and take action, giving them the ability to participate in our collective efforts to affect positive change.
The JIFFD guys, Christopher Kulovitz, Brad Parks and Michael Coty at the CineCause evnet in Los Angeles in February.
CineCause and its concept are worth exploring, and we plan to make it easy for you to access. The Julien Dubuque International Film Festival in April will hold a CineCause event on Friday April 20th at the Hotel Julien. Join us on the journey where only film like this can take you. This ‘don’t miss’ event will move you, motivate you and maybe even make you happier than we all know you already are.
Learn more ar JIFFD.com