Women and Girls Lead and EILEEN FISHER, Inc. Launch Second #SHEDOCS Online Film Fest

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Independent Television Service (ITVS)'s Women and Girls Lead campaign and EILEEN FISHER, INC. today announced the second annual #SheDocs, an online film festival showcasing 12 documentaries highlighting extraordinary women and their accomplishments in celebration of International Women's Day and Women's History Month. Running March 1st -31st, the festival presents a collection of films by prominent independent filmmakers, with a special focus on women working to transform their lives, their communities, and the world. All 12 films will be made available free online on the Women and Girls Lead website. The films will be supported by nationwide online social screening events to inspire dialogue and deeper connection with the films.

"ITVS is thrilled to again be working with EILEEN FISHER, INC. as lead sponsor of Women and Girls Lead's #SheDocs online film festival," said Sally Jo Fifer, president and CEO of ITVS. " Last year's festival attracted over 122,000 online viewers and we expect more this year as we offer a dynamic new slate of films to inspire further conversation worldwide."

"The Women and Girls Lead campaign has inspired and activated audiences to learn more about the plight of women around the world," said Eileen Fisher, founder and CEO of Eileen Fisher, Inc. "We're proud to sponsor #SheDocs again and build on the success of last year's event by continuing to celebrate women's contributions to society and to engage in conversations about what's possible when women and girls are center stage."

The 12 films featured in the #SheDocs online film festival were selected as extraordinary examples of leadership exemplified by women across the U.S and abroad from the Women and Girls Lead collection of 50 films. Among the featured selections are Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth (by Pratibha Parmar), which tells writer-activist Walker's inspiring story coming from a background of poverty and violent racism; from Steve James (director of Hoop Dreams, the International Documentary Association's pick for the all-time greatest documentary), comes The Interrupters, an acclaimed film in its own right about Chicago men and women like Ameena Matthews, a former gang member-turned-activist, trying to "interrupt" shootings and protect their communities from the violence they once employed; Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines, which traces the fascinating evolution and legacy of Wonder Woman and how popular representations of powerful women often reflect society's anxieties about women's liberation; Pray the Devil Back to Hell, the astonishing story of the Liberian women who took on the warlords and regime of a dictator in the midst of a brutal civil war, and won a once unimaginable peace for their shattered country in 2003; Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock, the story of a complex, unconventional, and largely forgotten heroine of the civil rights movement who led the charge to desegregate the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957; and The Revolutionary Optimists, which looks at child activists bringing about change in Calcutta.

The #SheDocs film festival will be supported through online events. In addition to the 12 films streaming online, #SheDocs invites viewers to watch and discuss films together online via a number of scheduled "OVEE" Online Social Screenings throughout March. In partnership with the national PBS Series American Masters, Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth kicks off the first online social screening on March 3rd, 3pm PST / 6pm EST featuring filmmaker Pratihba Parmar and other special guests. Visit screening here.

Watch and review all 12 of these feature and short films, beginning March 1st, at www.womenandgirlslead.org.

The social media toolkit can be downloaded here.

A link to the SheDocs Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bqSEXTBDjA&list=PLddmFiVTiU_ixxu2V0Es

ABOUT EILEEN FISHER, Inc.
EILEEN FISHER has been creating effortlessly chic clothes for the past 30 years. Designed with pure shapes and fine fabrics, the collections offer sophistication, comfort and style that lasts. As a socially conscious company, EILEEN FISHER is a pioneer in eco-friendly fashion and in supporting global initiatives that empower women and girls. The clothing is sold at more than 60 EILEEN FISHER retail stores in the US, Canada and the UK, as well as at major department stores and eileenfisher.com. For more information: www.eileenfisher.com/EileenFisher.

ABOUT WOMEN AND GIRLS LEAD
Women and Girls Lead is a multi-year public media initiative designed to focus, educate, and connect citizens worldwide in support of the issues facing women and girls. Combining independent documentary film, television, new media, and global outreach partnerships, Women and Girls Lead amplifies the voices of women and girls acting as leaders, expands understanding of gender equity, and engages an international network of citizens and organizations in acting locally and reaching out globally. By building a pipeline of some 50 public television documentaries and integrating content from partners across radio, commercial television, and beyond, Women and Girls Lead offers another model for using public media to serve its mission in the twenty-first century, connecting key stakeholders to sustain productive dialogue and participation on the most critical issues facing local communities, the nation, and the world.

Women and Girls Lead is spearheaded by ITVS, an organization founded by Congress in 1988 and funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a private corporation funded by the American people. Women and Girls Lead receives generous support through ITVS's Global Perspectives Project from Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Wyncote Foundation. For more information please visit www.womenandgirlslead.org.
 

About ITVS
Independent Television Service funds, presents, and promotes award-winning documentaries and dramas on public television, innovative new media projects on the Web, and the Emmy® Award-winning weekly series, Independent Lens on Monday nights at 10 p.m. on PBS. Mandated by Congress in 1988 and funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, ITVS has brought more than 1,000 independently produced programs to American audiences to date. For more information about ITVS, visit itvs.org.

SOURCE EILEEN FISHER, Inc.