About NYC Screening Event - Sept 20th,2008

As you all know we had this fund raiser screening at the TWO BOOTS PIONEER THEATER on September 20th, 2008. It was a very beautiful experience though we had a turn up of only 9 people and it was 14 including us!!
Each person who had come for the movie liked Wings of Evolution so much and said that it touched their hearts. They said they were inspired by the love that Uma & Muthuram had for the kids and how the kids were so mature and wonderful. We got some more leads with regards to screening the film in other venues like schools, universities etc.
We got a chance to have one-on-one connections with every single person who attended the screening which was very unique. To know about people who love the world so much and who are trying to make differences in their own way was such a positive experience!
I know I did not write about the Urbana, Champaign screening which took place at the Independent Media Center through the School for Designing a Society. It went very well and the film inspired a lot of students who came for the screening. There was a teacher from Korea Ena who was interested in visiting the Siragu School for sometime because she said she wanted to learn about their pattern of teaching. Many of them wanted to visit the School personally and learn a lot. They were also impressed by the kids' strength of mind and their knowledge about the world around them.
More screenings will come and we will create a world-wide awareness till kids all over the world are educated for free.
One of my friends gave me a book called Three Cups of Tea about which I will write another article!

Wings of Evolution - Documentary Film NYC Screening September 20,2008

For ticket details...please visit www.positivepeopletoday.org

Dear Positive Person,

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

A few of us got together and through dialogue, realized our common goal, an idealistic yet realistic one; of sharing the positivity in our beings with the world around us. We would like to project our filling of elation into others, and transcend cultures, time and space, which would be a realized beginning to a better world, where people are joyful creators and up lifters.

On this principle, we formed our non-profit organization POSITIVE PEOPLE TODAY.

And, here we are, sending our invitation to human beings all over the Earth to unite on one simple principle

"POSITIVE THINKING"

We believe that great societies rise with Positive Attitudes which in turn arise from
self-awareness and a proper education. Our objective is to reinforce a Positive attitude in today's world and connect both people and organizations that care, and want to make a difference.
Our Mission is to promote and sponsor projects relating to personal growth, creativity, talent, social and environmental awareness around the globe.

www.positivepeopletoday.org

In this line of thought and taking a step towards action, we at PPT, have adopted the cause of the homeless street children in Chennai, South India, and have decided to raise funds for Siragu Montessori School, a place that makes a bright future possible for underprivileged children through education.

Screening of Award-winning Documentary film
Wings of Evolution
a production of Accessisble Horizon Films

Saturday,Sept 20th,2008
at the
TWO BOOTS PIONEER THEATER, NYC.
SHOW STARTS AT 5PM.

Wings of Evolution at Sathyam Cinemas, Chennai

Hey folks, in Chennai there are 2 hot things happening. One of course, Chennai itself, with its scorching heat and the Other is our Exclusive Screening of 'Wings of Evolution' on May 18th, 2008, at 9:45 a.m at the Seasons Theater of Sathyam Cinemas, one of the biggest multiplexes in South India. Currently, preparations are being made with ticketing, posters etc. We'll have a post-screening panel discussion , the details of which have not been finalized. Will post an update soon. Folks in Chennai, rsvp to attend. Till then, keep beating the heat.

Wings Of Evolution Screening at Scarsdale Public library, New York

We had a screening of Wings of Evolution yesterday at the Scarsdale Public Library,New York, at 1pm. The screening was arranged by Susan Grosz, a friend we made from the South Asian International Film Festival in October 2007. We did not have to do anything except show up for the screening at the library because Susan had taken care of everything that was needed; right from the publicity to the arrangement of the venue including all the formalities involved. Jeff took care of the technical part of things and arranged for a projector for the screenings. We have wonderful people to help us in this journey and they volunteer their time and effort for this cause.
Susan introduced us to the audience and said that amidst all the chaos in the world and news every single day, Wings Of Evolution was there to give hope. What an introduction!
We were inspired by just those words!
A group of around 40 people showed up for the screening even with the weather being so cold outside. The after-session of the screening was very interesting with people asking us questions about a lot of things.
Firstly, the overall response was amazing and the audience said that indeed they agreed to Susan's introductory comment that there was hope in the film. There were around 6-7 school teachers who were very interested to know about the details of the syllabus at the School. They were interested in the fact that the children at the Siragu School were allowed to take any classes they preferred whether it was the reading corner or writing or math or science or anything they chose to attend. Some of them voiced out their concern about the public schools in India and how the attendance worked there. They were impressed at the kids' openness to the learning process in spite of being first generation learners and also appreciated the kids for teaching their parents English when they went home.
Some of them voiced out their concern for the exam patterns in schools in the world and how competitive children have forced to become.
Well, they were also keen on the World Wide Postcard Sharing project and said they would ask their kids to participate in it.
So, the overall response was very positive yesterday.
We also introduced our non-profit organization POSITIVE PEOPLE TODAY to the audience and requested them to take a look at the cause. We are trying to raise funds for the Siragu School through Positive People Today. Please go to the following link to take a look at the fund raising page of Siragu School.
We reminded the people that remaining positive about things changing for the better in the world was very important and PPT was one such attempt to spread Positivity!

Wings of Evolution - Post-Film Screening

Wow, this has gotta be the longest break in our blog. Surprising none of us had the time and energy or even the slightest inclination of writing something.
But hey, here it is finally, after our screening at the South Asian International Film Festival 2007.
"Wings of Evolution" screened on October 6th, 2006 at 2:30p.m at the Rubin Museum of Art, NYC. Before the screening we had a filmmakers lunch at Rialto's, NYC - just a networking event I'd say. Nothing extraordinary but we met a few of the directors/producers who were mostly from other states. We also met filmmakers from the Pune film institute.
Anyway, as for the screening itself, we were standing outside the theater and till about 2:20p.m or so, we hardly had people coming in. Just 1 or 2. But by 2:30, the theater had about 35-40 people were sitting in. Not a bad number I'd say but not the best either.
Many of our friends, that is, some of you readers - didn't or couldn't turn up because of excuses, excuses - and we are supposed to understand. Hmmphh!
Ok anyways, we got some good response/feedback from the audience. Also, some suggestions as to what could be done to improve. We have someone who's interested in showing the film to a school audience in NY. So we are working on it. Hopefully sometime early next year.
The above is a pic of the post-screening discussion moderated by Richa from the SAIFF staff.
Alright then, will get back on the other sundry news soon. Watch out!

Wings of Evolution - World Premiere

Hi folks,
As some of you may know, Wings of Evolution is World Premiering at the South Asian International Film Festival 2007 on October 6th, 2007, which is a Saturday at 2:30 p.m under the Doc'Film Series 3. Do try to attend the screening and let us know what your thoughts are.

Just a little information about the production and the team.
This is the second feature-length documentary project by the Accessible Horizon Films team, the first one being Men of Burden - Pedaling Towards a Horizon. The film was finished in June 2007 and has just started going the festival route. This is way different from Men of Burden, not only in terms of theme, but also in style and tone - primarily focusing on children and the educational system in India and even focuses on global culture and understanding.
Directed by Ramesh Mourthy & Raghu Jeganathan, Edited by Kousalya Jeganathan and Mohandass Radhakrishnan, Produced under the Accessible Horizon Films banner with excellent music by Composer Srikanth Devarajan of Studio 1234, the film has come a long way from production in Dec.2006. Check out for more updates soon.

FRANCE-wwpcs!!

Hey guys! We just got the cards from the kids in France...As you all know this could not have been possible without our dear friend and teacher Lalitakumari and her wonderful school kids!
Check out the beautiful postcards at the WORLDKIDSUNITE Blogspot...we have not uploaded all the postcards...we will upload it soon and post the link so you all can enjoy the kids' artwork....!!
We are so glad that WWPCS is spreading its wings...Come join us!
You can view the initial footage from here...

Doc. Film 'Wings of Evolution' Completed

Hi all
This is news from two weeks back. Our second documentary film, 'Wings of Evolution' on a revolutionary system of education for homeless and underprivileged children is now complete and ready to go. We are just getting it DVD-ready for film festivals and possibly other screenings in the near future. The trailer and preview clips should be out in a couple of days. So watch out!

Wings Of Evolution meets Asim H. Premji

Ok, so we thought we had only a few proponents of quality education in India - education towards building a better tomorrow, education that lets children decide what they want to study, education that truly focuses on the learning process. Guess what? The (above) theme of our documentary film Wings of Evolution is exactly the same as what Asim H. Premji, Chairman of Wipro Technologies, thinks that education should do.
Wings of Evolution, based on Siragu School in the outskirts of Chennai, focuses on Education that makes children an integral part of creating the learning process, themselves. Children have playtime and study time mixed up in the right combination that children never feel the pressure or the need to compulsively allocate study time. This has helped them to focus on areas of learning that they truly feel attracted to. This has enhanced the quality of learning such that there has not been a single dropout during the 3-4 years of their school's inception.
Best of all, all this quality comes FREE. Free education combined with quality and international standards can only result in India looking forward to a better future.
Asim Premji in his column The Weight Of Wings on Outlook India magazine, talks about revamping the entire system of education in India. Of course, this is an issue that needs to be addressed not only by the independent NGOs or social organizations or Trusts, but also(obviously) by the Government of India, through policy makers who have to play an instrumental role in seeing this change happen.
Key quote from his article:

In India now, there is a growing realization of the need for change. We have begun to realize that our children don't seem to learn how to learn; numerous studies have proven this. We have made the transition from concern for just basic literacy to quality education. We need to progress from a compulsion to mass-produce stereotypes to creating independent thinkers and active learners.

For more, check out The Weight Of Wings, We need a revamp -- to create free thinkers, not compulsive learners

The Evolution of "Wings of Evolution"

We came to know about Siragu and Suyam, two NPOs in Chennai, India who were doing so much for the street children in Chennai, India. They were in great need of Media attention and donations to improve their school facilities. So we initially created a post to let the world know more about Siragu School in this blog Media Attention Needed: Suyam and Siragu. They did get some publicity but that was not enough.

After talking with Uma and Muthuram for a while we became good friends with them, the founders of Siragu and Suyam. They started Siragu with the objective of providing International quality of Education to first-generation learners, the children of the scheduled tribes, pavement dwellers and mendicants and also children from brick chambers and from various parts of the so-called under-privileged people of this society.

Our main motive is to make Films for Change, after hearing so much about the school, the children and their life, we were so much interested in making a documentary film about the school. We went to Chennai to start our documentary film Siragu Documentary - In Production on Dec 15th, 2006. Wow, what a wonderful experience to be with those children. They are young, energetic and full of energy. They knew so much information about the Trees, Global Issues, Pollutions,.etc.

During our course of filming we met the parents of Siragu students, and Meenakshi , a cute girl who will join Siragu in few months, you can see the picture of her in our post Siragu Documentary Update. We also filmed a unqiue feature in Siragu where the kids talk to trees and make friends with them and you can see some of their alien friends in those pictures. We had so much fun playing with those kids and finally wrapped up the shoot after a week. After coming here we started a new blog for Siragu Montessori School where we posted our experience and it is being updated by Muthuram regularly with the school activities.

Along with this film, we also started a project WorldWide Postcard Sharing this post has a short video, where the kids drew some postcards for the kids around the World. We distributed those to the kids, Peace Tree organization in Ontario, Canada. And they have already finished their postcards and are gonna send it to Siragu Kids. As a result we started this new blog for World Kids Unite, where we put all the postcard images for the kids around the globe to view and comment. We initiated this as an effort to bring the Kids of this World Together and PEACE.

Yeah, forgot to tell you we named this Documentary Film “Wings of Evolution”