Gala Festivities and Screening to Celebrate Release of Shoes

Janelle McCuen's compassionate film focuses on childhood poverty and the need to belong

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - The premiere of Shoes, emerging filmmaker Janelle McCuen's intimate, child's-eye view of identity and the yearning for acceptance, will be celebrated with a gala party and screening on Saturday evening, July 27. The festivities will take place from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. at the Delancy Street Theater, 600 Embarcadero in San Francisco.

“This is going to be a very special evening,” McCuen promises. “Throughout the creation of Shoes, I've had the participation and support of a wonderful community of artists and friends. I'm expecting a packed house and a great celebration.”

The party will be held in Delancy Street's outdoor Theater Plaza, with cocktails, beverages and hors d'oeuvres to be served. Screenings of the 23-minute film will be offered at 7:45, 8:45 and 9:45 in the state-of-the-art indoor theater. Seating in the theater is limited, however, so attendees are encouraged to arrive early to ensure a spot for the screening of their choice. All ages are welcome.

“Shoes has been six years in the making,” McCuen says. “Pulling together the funds to get everything finished was a real challenge. It's great to finally be presenting Shoes to the world. I think we've created an entertaining film that has something to say to everybody. So I feel we have a lot to celebrate, and we are definitely going to make sure the party lives up to that.”

A Message of Compassion for School-Age Children and an Effective Tool for Their Teachers

In Shoes, a pair of worn and clunky brown shoes becomes the focus of nine-year-old Julia's struggle to fit in at a new school. As the shoes come to symbolize in Julia's mind her standing as a social inferior, they also become a magnet for her classmates' ridicule. Dealing with issues of isolation and self esteem, Shoes offers a discerning look at how we see ourselves through others, and how a single item can come to stand for the greater dream of acceptance and self-worth.

McCuen is launching Shoes with a series of submissions to children's film festivals and prestigious educational media competitions. In the long run, the filmmaker foresees a long life for Shoes as a powerful education tool, helping grade school teachers spark classroom discussion about crucial issues that affect their students on a daily basis. The release party also marks the beginning of a one-year tour of community screenings for Shoes.

“Shoes is designed to help educators reach out to their students on a very personal level,” McCuen says. “The film deals with class bias, the effects of poverty, and the damage that children inflict by marking one of their peers as an outsider. These are issues that children face all the time. When they see they have choices in how they react to adversity, it becomes easier for them to create a healthier, more powerful experience for themselves.”

To enhance the film's effectiveness as a teaching device, McCuen has assembled a team of expert, dedicated educators to create a comprehensive classroom curriculum and discussion guide for Shoes. McCuen plans to make film and study guide easily available to teachers via school libraries and a wide variety of Internet venues, including the website of McCuen's production company, The Girl Project.

A Rewarding Experience and Continued Community Support

Shoes was filmed using a class of fourth graders from the Popper-Keizer Advanced School in Santa Cruz, California, as actors, including Morgan MacWhorter, who plays Julia. Barbara Van Dermeer, a popular actress in the San Francisco independent film scene, plays Julia's mother, and veteran stage and screen actress Patsy van Ettinger plays Julia's grandmother.

“Working with those kids was incredibly rewarding,” McCuen says. “Being around them during production put me back in touch with how I felt at that age. It especially brought back memories of the experiences in my own life that inspired the creation of Shoes. Morgan, who plays Julia, was just outstanding. She gave me everything she had, every take.”

McCuen is currently undertaking a round of fundraising to enable the completion of the Shoes teaching package, her ambitious schedule of film festival and competition submissions, and her plans for active community outreach to educators and youth group leaders. The project has already received impressive support. Shoes was granted sponsorship by the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), making all individual donations tax deductible (including tickets to the Gala Premiere Party), and received production grants from The Mackin Foundation and The Open Meadows Foundation, as well as substantial assistance from individual donors. BAVC has also lent considerable logistical support to the Gala Premiere Party itself.

For Tickets and Additional Information

Tickets are available via The Girl Project’s website, www.thegirlproject.com, at $18 per ticket ($12 for attendees under 21 years old, with children under 5 admitted free). Event sponsorships are also available as follows: $100 for two tickets; $250 for four tickets, and $500 for ten tickets, with all sponsors acknowledged throughout the event publicity, including the Shoes Premiere Party and Screening event program.

“As far as attire is concerned,” McCuen says, “we're recommending 'swanky outdoor chic,' and what that means is entirely up to the individual. We just hope everybody has fun with it.”

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