HEROIC GIRLZ: 4 STARS FOR FOUR STARS
Fran Heaney
ccSCOOP News
Saturday afternoon, January 31, The Crandell Theater in Chatham was the scene of a film screening and benefit for “Heroic Girlz Go to the United Nations.” Four lovely young women—Elon Michaud, Thea Ezinga, Emma Parrish Post, and Devyn Yurko—have been invited to the U.N. by Dr. Carolyn Hannan, the Director of the United Nation’s Division for the Advancement of Women, to screen their coming-of-age biopic, Heroic Girlz. The girls will participate in the U.N.’s annual Commission on the Status of Women on March 6. The event is co-sponsored by UNICEF and the NGO Committee Working Group on Girls. |
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Elon Michaud, Thea Ezinga, Devyn Yurko and Emma Parrish Post |
The Crandell Theater benefit screening to raise funds for that momentous trip was sponsored by the Chatham Film Club. Calliope Nichols introduced proud mother Cindy Parrish and mentor Meg Agnew, who explained the perfect journey the four 11-year-old girls began as 6th grade students at the Mountain Road School in New Lebanon. In the fall of 2004, the girls participated in a one-day-a-week home school program led by their mothers. The moms’ program was to help the girls through their coming of age, inspired by the work of “The Mother-Daughter Project” and psychiatrist SuEllen Hamkins. Dr. Hamkins spoke at the screening.
Using writing, visual arts, and drama, the girls explored the young lives of historically prominent women. Guided by playwright and University of Albany English professor Parrish and art therapist Laura Yurko, the girls chose four women to imagine at their age of 11. Elon Michaud chose to examine the young life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who grew up in New Concord. Thea Ezinga chose Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, as her subject. Emma Parrish Post imagined the young life of Amelia Earhart. Devyn Yurko chose to research the life of Amelia Bloomer.
The project invited Meg Agnew—actress, theater director, and teaching artist—to help with the playwriting. Agnew directed the play in half a dozen venues in Berkshire and Columbia counties. Parrish took the play’s script and turned it into a screenplay.
Heroic Girlz received the 2007 Moondance International Film Festival Award for Best Children’s Short. In 2008, the four girls were honored with the In Her Footsteps Award by the Friends of Women’s Rights National Historical Park and were inducted into the National Hall of Fame.
Agnew and Parrish have created a curriculum guide for use in schools and educational settings. Emilie-Anne Michaud presented the work in progress in the Crandell Theater entry way. The funds raised during the screening will help to pay for the film production, the curriculum guide, and United Nations trip.
A reception at the Tracy Memorial followed the screening.
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