FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sarah Spurgeon, Patient Advocate 216.281.0872 sspurgeon@nfpmedcenter.org

COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE U.S. HEIGTHEN PUBLIC AWARENESS AROUND THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD REFUGEE DAY WITH KIM A. SNYDER’S DOCUMENTARY “WELCOME TO SHELBYVILLE”

Cleveland, Ohio— Cleveland’s refugee and immigrant resource providers are partnering with Active Voice and the BeCause Foundation to screen Welcome to Shelbyville, directed and produced by Kim A. Snyder for World Refugee Day. These Cleveland community agencies are joining dozens of other organizations that will host events nationwide throughout the month of June, in honor of the global holiday, which occurs on June 20th.

World Refugee Day 2011 will mark the 60th anniversary year of the United Nations Refugee Agency, which has worked to support the plight of more than 40 million uprooted people around the world.

WHAT: FREE screening of Welcome to Shelbyville • Suggested $10 donation

WHO: Hosted by Neighborhood Family Practice with additional support by Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services, International Services Center, Building Hope in the City, Refugee Response, El Barrio, SEWA International USA, and Asian Services in Action, Inc. Welcome to Shelbyville is directed and produced by Kim A. Snyder and executive produced by BeCause Foundation in association with Active Voice.

WHEN: Wednesday, June 22 at 7:00 PM • Doors open at 6:30 PM

WHERE: Capitol Theatre • 1390 West 65th Street • Cleveland, OH 44102

For more information, visit: www.shelbyvillemultimedia.org

About Welcome to Shelbyville
Change has come to rural Tennessee. Set against the backdrop of a shaky economy, Welcome to Shelbyville takes an intimate look at a southern town as its residents – whites and African Americans, Latinos and Somalis – grapple with their beliefs, their histories and their evolving ways of life. Welcome to Shelbyville is directed and produced by Kim A. Snyder and executive produced by BeCause Foundation, in association with Active Voice. It will air on PBS’s Independent Lens series on May 24, 2011 (check local listings).

About Kim A. Snyder
Kim A. Snyder is an award-winning filmmaker with over a dozen shorts and two feature documentaries. Welcome to Shelbyville is a recipient of a 2010 Gucci-Tribeca Documentary Fund grant, an official selection of the U.S. State Department’s 2010 American Documentary Showcase, and will air nationally on PBS’s Independent Lens on May 24, 2011. Over the past four years, Kim worked with the BeCause Foundation to direct and produce four documentaries, which have won numerous awards

About Active Voice
Active Voice uses film, television and multimedia to spark social change from grassroots to grass tops. Our team of strategic communications specialists works with mediamakers, funders, advocates and thought leaders to put a human face on the issues of our times. We frame and beta-test key messages, develop national and local partnerships, plan and execute high profile, outcome-oriented events, repurpose digital content for web and viral distribution, produce ancillary and educational resources and consult with industry and sector leaders. Since our inception in 2001, Active Voice has built a diverse portfolio of story-based campaigns focusing on issues including immigration, criminal justice, healthcare and sustainability. One of its main projects is Shelbyville Multimedia, a platform inspired by the cast of Welcome to Shelbyville, designed to promote community-building and harmony between native-borm Americans, immigrants and refugees nationwide.

About BeCause Foundation
BeCause Foundation ignites social change through the powerful fusion of documentary filmmaking and creative outreach and engagement projects. BeCause films tell moving stories about individuals, organizations and communities who, with compassion and determination, are finding innovative solutions to complex social problems. By implementing engagement campaigns and coalition building around the films, BeCause Foundation helps transform these solutions into broad-based movements for social change.

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