Free Spirit Media community screening in collaboration with WTTW and DCASE
By FSM Communications
On a blistery Saturday afternoon, Free Spirit Media hosted a screening at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater. The screening, presented in collaboration with WTTW - Window To The World and DCASE - Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, showcased two films produced by Free Spirit Media’s young creatives: “Ahimsa” and “Fuzzy Legs”.
What do these two films have in common? Ahimsa, a short documentary film produced by FSM PRO artists, profiles the journey of individuals from the Chicagoland area during their Peace Exchange trip through India. In the film, they search for the meaning of peace for both themselves and their home communities. Its co-featured short narrative film, Fuzzy Legs, focuses on a young Pakistani American girl who encounters bullying on her first day of middle school for her body hair. The film explores confidence as well as racial identity and body image. Both films not only focus on South Asian culture and identity, but also touch on larger themes of empowerment, peace, cultural exploration and journeys on both the individual and community level.
2019 Peace Exchange members
Despite the snow, the screening was well attended. It was followed by a panel featuring Fuzzy Legs director, writer, co-producer and InPathways Cohort Alum Amber Eswani, Peace Exchange Program Manager Henry Cervantes, Free Spirit Media Deputy Director Glenance Green and WTTW’s Barbara Allen as moderator. “You shouldn’t give into the pressures of what society is doing,” Eswani commented, as a major takeaway from Fuzzy Legs, “even if [your] body image is different than mainstream media’s.”
