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Posted January 19, 2006
Contact: Justin
Leroy, Director, Chasing
Daybreak: A Film About Mixed Race in America
MAVIN FOUNDATION RELEASES CHASING DAYBREAK: A FILM ABOUT MIXED RACE
IN AMERICA
(Seattle) This week, MAVIN Foundation premiered the
documentary film, Chasing
Daybreak: A Film About Mixed Race in America, to a packed audience
at the University of Washington.
The Film chronicles the Generation
MIX National Awareness Tour, a 10,000-mile road trip sponsored by
the MAVIN Foundation to raise awareness of America's multiracial baby
boom. "Chasing Daybreak" follows five mixed heritage 20-somethings
- Aaron, Ashley, Charles, Geetha and Jamie - as they travel across the
U.S. in a 26-foot RV to spark discussions on race, mixed race and diversity.
As the crew meets with thousands of people from U.S. Senator Barack
Obama to Bubba the tow truck triver, they share their hopes, fears and
aspirations for the future of race in America.
Shot almost entirely by the crew themselves, Chasing Daybreak explores
how our nation imagines mixed race identity. It poses provocative questions
about outdated definitions of race, and warns us against idolizing multiethnic
people as an antidote to our painful history with race. Ultimately,
the film reveals that mixed race people complicate, rather than eliminate,
race in America
"I want Chasing Daybreak to highlight the personal struggles of
the crew members, but also to show how those struggles reinforce the
idea that race and racism are very real for the five of them,"
says Justin Leroy, the Film's Director and Editor. "I hope the
film can open up discussions about the challenges mixed people face,
and how they influence larger discussions on race and inequality in
America."
As the first feature-length, widely-distributed documentary film on
the mixed race experience, Chasing Daybreak is generating a buzz. The
Film has already booked twelve screenings across the U.S. and internationally
in Brazil and South Korea. A review in today's Village Voice praised
the Film for, "...illuminat[ing] facets of race and racism that
don’t often get the attention they deserve... in this case, five
mixed people traversing a literal landscape gets to the ideological
heart of America's racial landscape."
The Film can be purchased via the MAVIN
Foundation website for $19.95 ($17.95 for MAVIN Foundation members).
Individuals can contact MAVIN Foundation to inquire about screening
opportunities. Director Justin Leroy, Producer Matt Kelley and members
of the crew can be made available for interviews by request. Visit www.chasingdaybreak.com
for more information.
MAVIN Foundation builds healthy communities that celebrate and empower
mixed heritage people and families. Since 1998, MAVIN has invested over
$2.5 million into innovative and award-winning projects
focused on mixed heritage people, transracial adoptees and multiracial
families. For more information, visit www.mavinfoundation.org.
Chasing Daybreak was made possible through the generosity of funders
like the Pride
Foundation.
For more information, email Justin
or call 206 622 7101.
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To purchase the Film:
($17.95 for MAVIN Foundation members and $19.95 for non-members), go
here or call toll-free: 1 888 77
MAVIN.
Film Screenings:
For more information about screening the Film at your school,
organization or conference, email here.
For more information:
The
official Chasing Daybreak web site
The Generation
MIX National Awareness Tour web site
The
Generation MIX Tour Blog
Film Screen Captures:
Four of the five during their 2-week training in Seattle.
Crew member Aaron Kendeall.
The Crew interviewed Senator Barack Obama in his Washington,
DC office.
Ashley reacts to being asked, "What percent African American
are you?" on her blog.
The Crew members visited the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery,
Alabama.
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