Most Recent Series
Hope, Sweet Hope
Spring Online Series
Join us online for any or all of these Tuesdays for compelling screened content, shared conversation and group connection with our Featured Guests.and each other.
Dates: Three Tuesdays
Time: 5 - 6:30pm PT / 8 - 9:30pm ET
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Attend one or all.
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No cost to participate.
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Book salons in advance.
SERIES THEME
Often overlooked is the reality that many of us in our midst are individuals with their own traumas as well as their own hopes and dreams. Participants in this series will get to know those among us who, all too often, go unseen and unacknowledged.
Thanks to our Featured Guests and the screened content they will share with us, will go below the surface for a different look at hope... and home.
PROGRAM
Two Shorts / Two Vantage Points
- TRESPASS... Profiles of Unhoused Life, Love and Understanding
Kim Watson's book and this short film is a rare and intimate journey inside the world of the homeless, revealing the dreams, failures, and successes of those who live in the shadows of the world’s fifth largest economy - Los Angeles.
- In the Name of Hope
Through the promo reel for this feature documentary film in development, we will glimpse the magic that happens when formerly unhoused people move into 'forever homes.
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Featured Guests:
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Kim Watson, Trespass, Producer & Director
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Steven Ullman, In the Name of Hope, Producer
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'Home' - Revoked & Returned
- The Rescue
An award-winning, heart-pounding short film based on a true story about human trafficking. Her film won the Social Justice Award at the Cannes World Film Festival and the award for Best Female Director at the Whistleblowers Film Festival in Washington, DC.
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Featured Guest:
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Tess Cacciatore, Producer, Writer, Editor
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Closing Salon with Past Featured Guest Gabriel Diamond
- The Slum Dwellers - A Union for the Poor
A film created for the Skoll Foundation and shot in Nairobi, Kenya. this short film reveals how Slum Dwellers International (SDI) empowers individuals and communities to take charge of their neighborhoods, unite, pool their limited resources and make incredible changes.
- It's Not About the Question
This short film just premiered at the Skoll World Forum which took place in England from April 9 - 12. It shows what happens when we ask... and listen.
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Featured Guests:
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Gabriel Diamond, Producer & Director
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... and everyone participating... for further sharing, integration and ripples.
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Looking Back On Past Series
Diversity & InclusioN
vIP OnLine SCREENINg SALON Series
Join us online for any or all of these five consecutive Tuesdays for compelling screened content, shared conversation and group connection with our Featured Guests.and each other.
As usual, there is no cost to participate in public salons, though contributions to Support Our Featured Guests are very welcome. Click here for a video recap of a Past Screening Salon.
SERIES THEME:
As society becomes more diverse, inclusiveness becomes more important at all levels of society and across sectors. However headlines and sound bites often keep us at arms' distance from our fellow human beings, obscuring the personal experiences of individuals who walk on paths unfamiliar to us. While bringing diversity to communities and organizations is an important first step, it is inclusion that makes the real difference in how we relate to one another.
Especially in recent years, a clear mandate has emerged that dictates that diverse groups must be properly acknowledged and represented at all socioeconomic and social levels. But it doesn't stop there. Inclusion applies to where we live and work, as well as to academia, sports, governance, land use and elsewhere.
Thanks to our Featured Guests and the screened content they will share with us, this is where we'll find ourselves in this Spring series. Join us as we go behind the images and headlines for a different look at Diversity & Inclusion.
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Contact Us to add some Stone Soup Ripple engagement to your organization or community. More at SSR Pro.
Session 1: The Road to Justice
Featured Guests: Co-Directors Brendan Hall & Kaliya Warren
To start off the series, we will experience the power of place-based learning to better understand the Civil Rights Movement.
The Road to Justice follows two groups on a unique tour through the American South as they reckon with the country's legacy of racial injustice. The first is a group of predominantly Black middle school students from Chicago, and the second is a group of older, mostly White Americans who lived through the 1960s Civil Rights era. Both groups come face to face with the leaders and activists whose courage and perseverance paved the way for future generations.
The film is a testament to the power of direct experience and authentic communication to serve as bridges for transformational change, both within ourselves and in the world at large.
SCREENED CONTENT & FEATURED GUESTS
Though each salon stands on its own, this series offers various perspectives to more fully connect with the theme and fellow participants. Sign up here to receive announcements while the series is underway.
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These online salons are free to attend, though 100% of all contributions Support our Featured Guests.
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Space is limited, so book early, one salon at a time.
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What's a screening salon? Here's a short clip, and hope we'll be seeing you soon!
Thank you to Video Project for supporting this series, with access to The Road to Justice, Becoming More Visible and What Are You? More
Session 3: What Are You?
Featured Guest: Richard B. Pierre, Director, Producer & Writer
According to updated 2020 Census data, the multiracial population in the U.S. increased by 276%, from 9 million to 33.8 million people... in just ten years. At this pace, Americans under 35 could become a multicultural majority as early as this year.
What Are You invites us into the lives of multiracial people as they reveal the struggles of living in a racially divided world. Eleven people with a range of backgrounds share what it’s like being of mixed racial heritage within the context of North America. Each of the participants, including Richard Pierre our Featured Guest, will offer us a unique perspective on growing up mixed and of the challenges they’ve faced in their lives.
Session 2: Becoming More Visible
Featured Guest*: Pamela French, Producer, Director & Editor
Are you Male or Female? For the four fearless young transgender adults featured in Becoming More Visible, this is not a simple question. During this salon, we will get a better sense of their respective journeys as they defy social norms to be their true selves and become more visible.
In the film, we'll meet Sean, a trans male comedian from a small affluent town in upstate New York; Katherine, a Bangladeshi trans girl from a family steeped in cultural traditions; Olivia, who had to leave her family in Atlanta and enter the shelter system in order to be the woman she knows she is, and Morgin, a fully transitioned woman pursuing her musical ambitions as she makes her way in the world.
*Along with our Featured Guest, Pamela French, we might have some special guests with us, too.
Session 4: Miss Lillian: More Than a President's Mother
Featured Guest: Steven Ullman
According to AARP, age discrimination begins when we hit our 50s, but neither age nor racial barriers stopped Lillian Carter. An early civil rights activist, she was a hardworking nurse, an entrepreneur and served in The Peace Corps at age 70. She was an outspoken, all-around “fierce” woman who held unconventional beliefs for her time and place. She embodied the best of American ideals, including living a life of purpose and inclusion.
Miss Lillian is as timeless as the life she lived. The film, Miss Lillian: More Than A President’s Mother, is a poetic revelation of her life, as told by her friends and family who knew her best.
Along with a powerful interview with her son, President Jimmy Carter, the film also features Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Sam Donaldson, Tommy Lasorda, and the people of Plains, Georgia.
Session 5: Closing Salon
Featured Guests: Our Entire Group
(No Film)
Join us for this even more interactive salon when we will integrate our previous salon experiences to focus on connecting even more with the series theme and with each other.
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In lieu of a booking fee, please make a contribution to Support Our Featured Guests.
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100% of your contribution will be split among them to support their work.
Join us online for 4 Tuesdays in September/October for compelling screened content, shared conversation and group connection with our Featured Guests... and each other.
As usual, there is no cost to participate in these online salons, though contributions to Support Our Featured Guests are very welcome. Also, since space is limited, we encourage you to book each salon early.
THEME:
There are SO many ways to take a stand, and they don't have to be through acts of agression.
A year and a half ago, both on the screen and in our post-screening group conversations, we encountered champions of the environment and of girls' and women's rights. Among them were Ted Turner, Laura Seydel, Dr. Vandana Shiva and Camilla and Jim Becket... as well as Melissa Berton, Ruby Schiff and the girls and women they featured in their Oscar-winning documentary, Period. End of Sentence.
This time, we'll explore TAKING A STAND in a completely different way.
Instead of protest marches and warfare, we will experience the impact and ripples that come from acts of courage, love, leadership and service.
TAKING A STAND Part 2
Fall '22 OnLine SCREENINg SALON Series
SCREENED CONTENT & FEATURED GUESTS
Session 1: 9/11: Stories of Survival and Service
This film served as the centerpiece for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s Anniversary in the Schools program, highlighting the extraordinary stories from four ordinary individuals who directly experienced 9/11... a civilian who escaped from above the impact zone of the North Tower, a Port Authority Police Officer who survived the collapse of the South Tower, a first-responding firefighter and a daughter who honors the memory of her father by raising awareness for those facing 9/11-related illnesses. Together, they offer a moving portrait of those affected by the attacks and offer insights into 9/11’s ongoing legacy today.
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Featured Guests:
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Noah Rauch, Senior Vice President for Education & Public Programs, 9/11 Memorial & Museum
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David Lim, Lieutenant, Port Authority Police Department (ret.)
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Session 2: Finding Courage*
In this feature-length documentary film, we go behind the scenes of modern-day China. The film opens with an old Chinese saying, "the family is the essential unit of human society, and you must honor and defend your family". A former journalist for the Chinese Communist Party, Yi Fei Wang, does just that, risking everything for her family. She is seeking justice for the murder of her sister at the hands of the Chinese authorities. While living in exile in San Francisco, she struggles to settle into life in the United States as she works to heal her family’s wounds from their tragic past.
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Featured Guest:
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Kay Rubacek, Producer & Co-Director
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Session 3: Shaping Solutions: Women Leaders for Climate Justice
Children and young people have been left with an uncertain—and likely unsafe—future. As the curator and moderator of this panel for the Skoll World Forum, Pat convened 5 female panelists with an almost unparalleled wealth of experience not only in climate change, but in ‘climate justice’, the deep injustice to nature itself, in the loss of biodiversity and the rapid extinction of so many species. Importantly, climate justice also includes a just transition from fossil fuels to renewables since the countries least responsible for the climate crisis are suffering the most and additional support is necessary.
The panel was is call to action for governments, corporations, investors, cities and communities to harness the ambition necessary to meet this moment and to highlight the current and future role of women in addressing this crisis.
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Featured Guest:
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Pat Mitchell, Media Executive, Producer, Curator
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Session 4: Closing Salon
This even more interactive salon will integrate prior salons to focus on connecting even more with the series theme and each other.
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Featured Guests:
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Our Entire Group
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POP-UP in PARIS: Mission JOY
Finding Happiness in Troubled Times
Summer '22 OnLine SCREENINg SALON
SCREENED CONTENT & FEATURED GUESTS:
Join me online for an encore screening salon of Mission: JOY, once again, with Featured Guest Producer & Co-Director Peggy Callahan.
Before and after watching the film, which features two extraordinary Nobel Peace Prize Winners, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, we will engage in shared conversation and group connection. Our focus will be on the ripple effect that JOY (and films like hers) can have on us as individuals and on the world in which we live.
Session: Mission: JOY -- Finding Happiness in Troubled Times
Consisting largely of never-before-seen footage shot at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala, India, this film is a behind the scenes exploration of the extraordinary relationship of two global thought leaders, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. With genuine affection, mutual respect and a healthy dose of teasing, these unlikely friends impart lessons gleaned from cutting-edge science, ancient traditions and lived experience regarding how to live with joy in the face of life’s challenges.
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Featured Guest:
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Peggy Callahan, Producer & Co-Director
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Ripples... & More Ripples
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You may have experienced this film during our Spring Screening Salon Series, Vulnerability & Connection when Peggy was with us.
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Or maybe you were one of the 68+ million people from around the world who saw the film during last weekend's 48-hour Global Watch Event, UNITE FOR JOY, co-hosted by Sir Richard Branson, Gloria Estefan, Cher, and many others.
Vulnerability & Connection
Spring '22 ONLINE ScreEning Salon Series
Join us online for four Tuesdays in April for compelling screened content, shared conversation and group connection with our Featured Guests and each other.
THEME:
For decades and even centuries, being vulnerable was perceived as a weakness. So much so that it could result in ridicule, ostracism and even death. However this character trait is now touted as a tool for personal fulfillment and intimacy in our personal lives. More recently its benefits have penetrated the business world, where it is one of THE power skills for effective leadership.
This series we'll explore what happens when we dare to be vulnerable and how it impacts our lives.
SCREENED CONTENT & FEATURED GUESTS:
Though each salon stands on its own, this series offers various perspectives to more fully connect with the theme and fellow participants.
* To reserve your place, first Join as a Member. Then book each gathering one at a time, by first selecting the date.
Session 1: Meeting Jim
Meet Jim Haynes, an extraordinary man who grabbed the spirit of the 60s with his heart and soul and continued to carry it throughout his 87 year-long life. For 4 decades Jim welcomed friends and complete strangers, mostly new to one another, to Sunday dinner at his home in Paris. In his own words, One of his books was called Hello, I Love You (1974). He claimed that his ambition was to have everyone in the world in his address book.
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Featured Guests:
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Steven Ullman, Producer/Director and longtime friend of Jim Haynes
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Gilliam (Gigi) de la Torre, Cinematographer & Co-Producer (Directed by Ece Ger) - Schedule Permitting
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Session 2: Mission: JOY -- Finding Happiness in Troubled Times
Consisting largely of never-before-seen footage shot at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala, India, this film is a behind the scenes exploration of the remarkable friendship between Nobel Peace Prize Winners Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. With genuine affection, mutual respect and a healthy dose of teasing, these unlikely friends impart lessons gleaned from cutting-edge science, ancient traditions and lived experience regarding how to live with joy in the face of life’s challenges.
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Featured Guest:
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Peggy Callahan, Producer & Co-Director
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Session 3: The Lesson
The Lesson is an emerging platform that connects audiences with a growing collection of personal stories... stories that dig deep and seek to connect, teach and inspire, including those of:
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Bea Arthur: a young entrepreneur and Shark Tank survivor
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Ginny Glider: a two-time Olympic rower and battle-tested leader
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Karl Wagner, an ex-CIA agent, widower and father
Ginny and Karl will be with us for the post-screening conversation, and Bea might be, too.
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Featured Guest:
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Reed Frerichs, Co-Founder & CEO
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Session 4: Closing Salon
This even more interactive salon will integrate prior salons to focus on connecting even more with the series theme and each other.
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Featured Guests:
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Our Entire Group
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Connection & Belonging
Fall '21 ONLINE SCREENINg SALON Series
SCREENED CONTENT & FEATURED GUESTS:
Each salon stands on its own. The series offers various perspectives on the series theme.
Session 1: Ground Operations: Battlefields to Farmfields
America needs a million new farmers. Veterans want the job.
This is their journey, transitioning home to find a purposeful path and a new life.
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Featured Guest:
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Dulanie Ellis, Producer-Director
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Session 2: My So-Called Enemy
Six courageous Palestinian and Israeli teenage girls participate in a U.S.-based women's leadership program.
In this 7-year coming-of-age story, we see how that experience meets with the realities of their lives at home.
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Featured Guests:
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Lisa Gossels, Director, Producer & Co-Editor
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Justin Schein, Director of Photography & Co-Producer
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Joline Makhlouf Rukab, Film Subject & Advisor
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THEME:
Starting in late October and leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, we explored the sense of belonging that is possible when we dare to explore unfamiliar territory and connect in unexpected ways..
Session 3: Disconnected
A fed-up mom forces three teens to have an actual conversation by confiscating their cellphones for one hour.
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Featured Guests:
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Meredith Thomas, Actor In the role of the mother
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Monika Hochreutener, Executive Producer & Community Volunteer
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Session 4: Closing Salon
This even more interactive salon integrated prior salons to focus on the series theme.
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Featured Guests: Our Entire Group
TAKING A STAND Part 1
Spring '21 ONLINE SCREENINg SALON Series
THEME:
What happens when we dare to go against the current... and stay the course?
In this series, we experienced trailblazers whose vision and conviction have revolutionized lives, mindsets, practices, policies... and generations.
SCREENED CONTENT & FEATURED GUESTS:
Each salon stands on its own. The series offers various perspectives on the series theme.
Session 1: Period. End of Sentence.
“A period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education.”
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Trailer. The film won the 2019 Oscar for Best Documentary Short.
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Featured Guests:
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Melissa Berton, Producer. Executive Director of The Pad Project
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Ruby Schiff, Executive Producer. Co-Founder of The Pad Project
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Session 2: The Seeds of Vandana Shiva
"When you control seed, you control life on Earth." The life story of Dr. Shiva.
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Featured Guests:
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Camilla & Jim Becket, Directors and Producers
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Session 3: Ted Turner: Captain Planet
Dr. Sanjay Gupta's intimate profile of Ted Turner and his environmental work, often lost in the headlines.
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Featured Guest:
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Laura Turner Seydel, international environmental advocate & eco-living expert & Chair of Captain Planet Foundation
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Session 4: Closing Salon
This even more interactive salon will integrate prior salons to focus on the series theme.
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Featured Guests: Our Entire Group
