MarilynAgrelo Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Please, please, please let this be as good as it could be. The Hollywood Reporter posts that America Ferrera has signed on for a new coming-of-age drama, but it sounds like a little bit more than a pair of magical, traveling pants that fit every friend who tries them on. The project is called An Invisible Sign of My Own, and it's Marilyn Agrelo's first film since her documentary, Mad Hot Ballroom.

My hopes are stemming from the plot. The film is based on Aimee Bender's novel "about a 20-year-old loner named Mona Gray (Ferrera) who as a child turned to math for salvation after her father became ill. As an adult, Gray now teaches the subject and must help her students through their own crises." Now, it sounds like your typical feel-good school story, but I'm really loving the idea of a popular young woman on the big screen who finds comfort in math, rather than makeovers or the rest of the stereotypical scenarios Hollywood throws at us. As long as it's put together in a solid film, this could be really great. That aside, the story is not without its quirks -- this girl has a hidden passion for soap eating and a habit for knocking on wood, but maybe that will come together in a charming manner.

However, I'm not as comforted by the thought that the adaptation comes from Wedding Planner scribes Michael Ellis and Pamela Falk. Please, please, please let this be better than that!

Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine are working to create global change. The husband and wife directing duo are not only filmmakers but humanitarians, and the two have created the nonprofit organization, Shine Global, which is dedicated to improving the quality of life for those devastated by unyielding catastrophes. On Shine Global's website their mission in their films is most eloquently stated: "To illuminate the positive efforts made by children and their families to overcome devastating odds." This is exactly what they intend to do with their upcoming film War/Dance.

The film is already receiving attention and is being distributed by ThinkFilm; its first screening will be at the Sundance Film Festival. For nearly 20 years, Uganda has been plagued with a civil war that is causing great devastation to its people. War/Dance profiles three individuals directly affected by this civil war as they find hope through dance at Uganda's annual dance and music competition. Children who are displaced by the war look forward to traveling to this competition, free to enjoy themselves through this incredible form of self-expression.

This won't be the first time we see a documentary that brings light to a drearier part of our world through dance. In a less extreme circumstance, but still bearing the same influence on the audience and the children in the film, was Marilyn Agrelo's Mad Hot Ballroom. Instead of Ugandan children, the subjects were the children of lower income families in New York City. Typically, these kids most often fall into drugs and a life of crime, but teachers with a passion for dance manage to instill that same passion in the hearts of their students. Through the documentary, the audience was able to see with their own eyes the children's incredible transformation.

Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine have set out to make a film that directly rocks the global perspective on Ugandan children. It is their way of hoping to contribute to the relief of these communities ... and I for one am sold. I look forward to more documentary filmmakers not only opening everyone's eyes, but also using the proceeds of their films to directly donate to their causes. Paramount donated 5% of An Inconvenient Truth ticket sales to Alliance for Climate Protection and Shine Global is doing the same; all proceeds from War/Dance will directly fund the individuals projected on the screen. It's amazing how easy they are making it for us to contribute; all we have to do is buy a ticket to sit down and watch a film.