Film Being Used in Nation's Classrooms to Keep Kids in School

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- This year's Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) will screen InsideOut, a documentary produced by The Mattie C. Stewart Foundation. InsideOut is currently being used in the nation's classrooms to combat the high school dropout rate. The film is scheduled for screening at the Festival on June 6 in Beverly Hills, California.

InsideOut is a 26-minute documentary where prison inmates promote education as a way for youth to avoid a life behind bars. In the film, Mattie C. Stewart Foundation founder Dr. Shelley Stewart interviews prison inmates who hope to give others the chance they no longer have - to avoid the pitfalls of dropping out of school and not getting an education. All of the inmates in the film are either serving life sentences or life without parole.

"We never specifically set out to make InsideOut into an artistic work, so to speak. We meant for the movie to keep kids in school and out of jail, period," Stewart said. "But if it's true that the arts inspire us to greater heights, no matter what level we are in life, then let it be called the truest form of art. We are just amazed at the lives that are being changed as a result of this documentary in our nation's schools, along with the other teaching tools that come with our program," Stewart said. The documentary comes complete with a teacher's guide and other materials that help bring the film's lessons home to students. The InsideOut program is currently being used in schools in 39 states across the country.

The HBFF is in its tenth year. Often referred to as the Black Sundance, it draws together established filmmakers, industry leaders and Hollywood's finest to celebrate achievements made by blacks in film. Its mission is to enhance the careers of emerging and established black filmmakers through a public exhibition and competition program. The festival's goal is to play an integral role in discovering and launching independent films and filmmakers by bringing them to the attention of the industry, media and public.

Past festival features in the invitational program have included director John Singleton's 2 Fast 2 Furious; The Hurricane starring Academy Award(R) winner Denzel Washington; director Kasi Lemmons' The Caveman's Valentine starring Samuel L. Jackson; Monster's Ball starring Academy Award(R) winner Halle Berry; the Jam Master Jay documentary 2 Turntables and a Microphone; and director Reggie Rock Bythewood's Dancing in September. To learn more about The HBFF visit www.hbff.org.

To learn more about The Mattie C. Stewart Foundation, visit www.mattiecstewart.org.

About The Mattie C. Stewart Foundation

The Mattie C. Stewart Foundation is a national non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the dropout rate. The Foundation was established in honor of Dr. Shelley Stewart's late mother, Mattie C. Stewart, in the summer of 2007 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Its primary corporate partner is o2ideas, Inc., a corporate communications and brand relations firm also based in Birmingham. The mission of the Foundation is to create tools and resources to help educators, community leaders and parents effectively address the dropout rate and increase the graduation rate. The Foundation also partners with America's Promise Alliance, the National Dropout Prevention Center and Communities In Schools. For more information, visit www.mattiecstewart.org.