With the goal of sparking conversations around the topic of caregivers, breadwinners, and family policy, film director Bonnie Silvestri hosts an online film screening and post-film talkback.
The film Funnel of Dreams follows Silvestri, her husband, and their child on a quest to understand the United Kingdom’s policies for families. These policies include paid parental leave, childcare services, and the children’s right to play.
This way of life is often featured in academic presentations about Scandinavian countries, but in this film the Silvestris investigate how paid family leave affects families in the United Kingdom while they spend time together.
“In the midst of a global pandemic, we wanted to think about our work/home life paradigm and how we might improve things for a better future,” says Bonnie. “In our film, we dive into the history of motherhood, the struggle for women’s rights, and the issues related to family leave in the lives of working parents.”
Bonnie continues “When we became parents, we were surprised to learn that the United States is the only industrialized nation not providing paid family leave.”
She explains, “We wanted to learn more about a country with a robust framework for new parents. Our short documentary film explores our personal experience with our young daughter living overseas along with interviews with parents, policymakers, and other experts.”
The film was an official selection of the Through Women’s Eyes International Film Festival, Social and Economic Justice Festival, and the International Social Change Film Festival among others.
For over a decade Bonnie has taught courses including Women and the Law at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee and won the 2015 Graham-Frey Civic Award from the Florida Campus Compact for outstanding contributions to the development of civic learning and engagement in sustaining participatory democracy.
Funnel of Dreams is 34 minutes in length and will be screened in our Zoom room (LINK IS HERE/ JOIN AND RSVP) at the MOM Community site on Sunday May 22. The film will be screened first with a discussion to follow for a total of 90 minutes beginning at 7PM and ending at 8:30PM EST. Hope you can join us!
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