PTAFF Debuts in New York City

New York, NY, October 24, 2017 --(PR.com)-- Pembroke Taparelli Arts and Film Festival is proud to present its Inaugural New York Festival. This is the Second Annual Pembroke Taparelli Arts and Film Festival in Los Angeles. This year’s festival will focus on the topic of Mass Incarceration and Education. Pembroke Taparelli Arts and Film Festival is dedicated to the discovery and presentation of emerging artists, giving them an opportunity to let their voices be heard around the world. PTAFF received a total of 120 films for consideration. The films are divided into the following segments: Youth, Reentry, Mass Incarceration, and Gender related issues, LBGTQ, Education & Immigration. Forty (40) films were chosen for screening including the Opening Night film “Asinamali” a powerful prison musical film from the internationally renowned South African playwright and theatre-maker, Mbongeni Ngema. Other titles screening in PTAFF’s New York Debut include “The Return” The passage of Prop. 36 marked the first time in U.S. history that citizens voted to shorten sentences of those currently incarcerated. The Return examines this unprecedented reform through the eyes of those on the front lines—prisoners suddenly freed, families turned upside down, reentry providers helping navigate complex transitions, and attorneys and judges wrestling with an untested law. A line up of films by or about youth which includes “Lunch Time” “Microchip Jones” “Pull Up Your Pants” and “Saving Barbara Sizemore.”

PTAFF’s 2017 Public Forum Panels examining our Penal and Education systems will include panelists such as Baz Dreisinger (Author of Incarceration Nations: A Journey to Justice in Prisons Around the World (2016) was heralded by the New York Times, NPR and many more, and was named a notable book of 2016 by the Washington Post.), Khalil A. Cumberbatch (Formerly incarcerated advocate for social justice movements within the NYC area.), Jamal Wilkerson (Former youth counselor and director of athletic for the Dept. of Juvenile justice in Newark New Jersey.) and actress, producer and activist Gina Belafonte.

When asked about why she felt there was a need to create Pembroke Taparelli Arts and Film Festival, Founder Michelle Smith states "The Pembroke Taparelli Art and Film Festival was founded as a means to provide independent artists committed to social justice with a place through which to share their work with our global community and to bring to light such issues as, poverty, gender inequality, homelessness, hunger, physical and psychological abuse, racism, sex trafficking, war, and grief. The hope is to inspire and motivate ordinary individuals to take action in creating change.

The festival will run from October 30th through October 31st in New York at Maysles Cinema located at 343 Malcolm X Blvd and November 1st through November 4th in Los Angeles at Laemmie’s Royal Theater located at 11523 Santa Monica Blvd.

Pembroke Taparelli Art and Film Festival will donate a portion of their proceeds to their 2017 Charitable Partner Amnesty International.

To join in on the conversation on social media, please make sure to follow @PTAFilmFestival on Instagram and to purchase tickets, please visit www.ptaff.org.

If you're a media outlet interested in covering Pembroke Taparelli Arts and Film Festival, please send your inquiry to masmith@ptaff.org.

“Artivism by Any Medium Necessary”