Kunhardt Film Foundation & CSSP

"A Choice of Weapons" A film inspired by Gordon Parks, and presented by the Kunhardt Film Foundation. 

The students had an unique opportunity to participate in a test screening of a new film about iconic photographer Gordon Parks, best known for documenting the everyday life and injustices facing African American families in a career that spanned over sixty years 

Best known for his iconic portraits of everyday Black Americans in all their pain, ordinariness and glory, photographer and filmmaker Gordon Parks shot everything from fashion to Malcolm X, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Muhammed Ali. Parks captured the deep humanity of anyone fortunate enough to be in front of his lens. Using Parks’s career as a historical map through the Black American experience, this documentary film reveals Parks to be a true American treasure. An inspiration to generations, his captivating story is told here by Ava Duvernay, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Spike Lee, and a host of contemporary photographers who stand on his shoulders.
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The Kunhardt Film Foundation invited the summer 2021 students of the Chappaqua Summer Scholarship Program to participate in a preview screening of this new project, set to air on HBO in November. We hope this film will introduce new audiences to an iconic artist, and we would like to hear the thoughts and reactions of young people. A guided discussion followed the film and provided an opportunity to reflect on the documentary and offer us insight - a real life test screening for the resources we will create to help support the film. Click here for more information about the Kunhardt Film Foundation and the screening.

The students loved the film and we were so happy to be able to host the CSSP seniors in person in Chappaqua for the screening. We followed the screening and discussion with a celebratory graduation lunch and pool party. We are very proud of these seniors !
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