The Aspen Institute and Aspen Film present the second annual NEW VIEWS series highlighting critically acclaimed documentaries and including post-screening discussions with special guests. The series begins Monday, July 18, and continues on Monday nights through August 8. All films will be shown at 7:30 p.m. at Paepcke Auditorium in Aspen.
New documentaries are playing an exciting role in public discourse, bringing a vibrant voice to culture and society. This selection of important films and speakers offers fresh insights designed to intrigue, expand and enrich the creative conversations of our time. Each screening will be followed by a conversation with the director or a relevant special guest that will be moderated by Laura Thielen, artistic director of Aspen Film. The Aspen Institute, which recently reinvigorated its arts and Harman-Eisner Artist-in-Residence programs, will play host to the series.
Tickets for NEW VIEWS are $17 per show and go on sale to the public June 28 through Aspen Show Tickets at the Wheeler Opera House box office and at aspenshowtix.com. If available, tickets will also be sold at the door starting 30 minutes before show time.
NEW VIEWS is generously sponsored by Judi and Alan Altman, Mel and Paulette Blumenthal, and Pete and Sam Louras.
NEW VIEWS: Documentaries & Dialogue Line-up
BUCK, July 18
The Horse Whisperer may be the stuff of Hollywood legend, but the cowboy who inspired the novel and film is very real. Trainer Buck Brannaman - master horseman, raconteur, and philosopher - travels the country sharing a hard-won wisdom that's often more about human behavior than animals. He possesses seemingly magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses - and people - with his unorthodox and down-to-earth approach. A Sundance audience-award winner, this wonderfully warm portrait reveals a teacher whose gentle methods evolve out of a fascinating personal story. As Brannaman says, "Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will."
Guest: Director Cindy Meehl
KORAN BY HEART, July 25
Once a year, the brightest kids from across the Islamic world head to Cairo for the world's oldest and most prestigious Koran-reciting competition. They must not only repeat randomly selected passages down to the last perfect syllable, but also perform to the highest standards of tajweed, ancient rules governing melody and rhythm. This lively film follows three extraordinary 10-year-olds: Nabiollah, from Tajikistan, has never attended school; Senegalese Djamil, an imam's son, carries the weight of his village's expectations; Rifdha, from the Maldives, is exceedingly bright and one of the few female competitors. Through the eyes of his three young subjects, acclaimed filmmaker Greg Barker (Sergio) provides a compelling and colorful glimpse into the many faces of contemporary Islamic culture.
Guest: Director Greg Barker
PROJECT NIM, August 1
From the Oscar-winning team behind Man on Wire comes the story of Nim, the celebrated chimpanzee who in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment that aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. Following Nim's extraordinary journey through various social and scientific experiments, and the enduring impact he makes on the people he meets along the way, the film is an unflinching and unsentimental biography of an animal we tried to make human. What we learn about his true nature - and indeed our own - is amusing, revealing, and, ultimately, profoundly unsettling.
Guest: Bob Ingersoll, who appears in the film and is now vice president of Mindy's Memory monkey sanctuary
FORKS OVER KNIVES, August 8
Weight gain, degenerative diseases and prescription meds are on the rise. Despite the most advanced medical technology, we are sicker than ever. Could there be a simple solution to all of these problems? Forks Over Knives offers compellingly persuasive food for thought. Dr. T. Colin Campbell, a nutritional scientist from Cornell, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a former top surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, share groundbreaking research on how a whole foods, plant-based menu can control or even reverse heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer. The camera also follows everyday people beset by chronic conditions as they learn how to change their diets, with remarkable results. Perhaps the most life-changing film you'll see all summer.
Guests: Creator and executive producer Brian Wendel and Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University
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The Aspen Institute Arts Program and Harman-Eisner Artist-in-Residence Program were established to support and invigorate the arts in America and to return the arts and artists to the center of the Aspen Institute's "Great Conversation." These programs bring artists and art works to the Institute, and also bring together leading artists, arts managers, sponsors, and patrons to generate, exchange, and develop ideas and policies to assure vibrancy and dynamism in all artistic realms, and to enrich civic culture in ways only the arts can do. The Aspen Institute has named Damian Woetzel to direct the Aspen Institute Arts Program and Harman-Eisner Artist-in-Residence Program. A retired ballet dancer turned director of international renown, Woetzel will assume his new role in June 2011.
The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC, Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore and has an international network of partners.
Established in 1979, Aspen Film is one of Colorado's most active film arts organizations, presenting dynamic programs and featured guest artists throughout the year. Internationally recognized, Aspen Film organizes a major film event in every season, along with an extensive education program: Aspen Filmfest (Sept. 21-25, 2011), Academy Screenings (Dec. 20, 2011-Jan. 1, 2012), Aspen Shortsfest (April 10-15, 2012), and Film Educates. With a mission to enlighten, enrich, educate, and entertain through film, Aspen Film stimulates thought, encourages dialogue, and broadens understanding of our world and ourselves through the diverse spectrum of ideas presented by filmmakers worldwide. To learn more, visit www.aspenfilm.org.
Chatelin Bruno 
