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HBO Documentary Films and the Jewish Community Center East Bay Present a Free, Public Screening of Two Oscar-Nominated Documentary Shorts

By Staff
posted Jun 18, 2009, 12:36

SMILE PINKI (Oscar-Winner for Best Documentary Short) and THE CONSCIENCE OF NHEM EN (Oscar-Nominated for Best Documentary Short)

Discussion To Follow With Oscar-Winning Berkeley Filmmaker, Steven Okazaki

WHAT: The community is invited to attend a FREE screening of two Oscar nominated documentary shorts on Tuesday, July 7 at the Jewish Community Center in Berkeley followed by a discussion with local filmmaker, Steven Okazaki, whose film "The Conscience of Nhem En" was nominated for an Oscar for best documentary short.

"The Conscience of Nhem" En is the haunting story of a sixteen-year-old soldier who took ID photos of thousands of innocent people before they were tortured and killed by the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to 1979 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The deeper theme of the film is silence and complicity, what it means to stand-by and say nothing in the face of genocide.

"Smile Pinki", from UC Berkeley Journalism School Graduate, Megan Mylan, is this year's Oscar-Winning documentary short chronicling Pinki, a 5-year-old girl who was living with a severe cleft in one of the poorest areas of India, unable to attend school and ostracized because of her deformity.

"The Conscience of Nhem En" debuts July 8 at 8:00pm on HBO2. "Smile Pinki" is available via HBO On Demand.

WHEN: TUESDAY, JULY 7, 2009 6:30 P.M. - Doors Open 7:00 P.M. - Screening 8:15 P.M. - Filmmaker Discussion 8:45 P.M. - Dessert Reception

WHERE: JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER EAST BAY 1414 Walnut Street Berkeley, California

INFO: The public is invited to this free event.

RSVP at https://www.homeboxoffice.com/rsvp/oscarshorts

Info at: 888.684.0385