LOVE CHILD, FED UP + THE LION’S MOUTH OPENS from 2014 Sundance

Guest Bio

FED UP: Following a group of children for more than two years, director Stephanie Soechtig achieves a profound intimacy with them as they document their uphill battles to follow the conventional wisdom, ‘diet and exercise’, in order to live healthier, fuller lives. They are undertaking a mission impossible. In riveting interviews with the country’s leading experts, Fed Up lays bare a decades-long misinformation campaign orchestrated by Big Food and aided and abetted by the U.S. Government.

LOVE CHILD In 2010, a South Korean baby named Sarang died of malnutrition. The death of a child is always horrific, but the circumstances leading up to this one were even more shocking: Sarang died because her parents were playing games online. Ordinarily, this would be a clear case of negligence, but Love Child takes a different approach by looking at what led to the parents’ gaming addiction and how their child became a secondary concern. The film then expands from this tragedy to examine the way that South Korea’s place as the world leader of Internet infrastructure has adversely affected its communal society. Director Valerie Veatch skillfully weaves a story of personal tragedy together with social commentary. Instead of merely condemning the parents, she shows how embracing technology can have unforeseen negative consequences. By interjecting footage from the game the parents loved to play into the film, Veatch vividly conveys how intoxicating these games can be and shows how easily the lines between real life and virtual reality can blur.

THE LION’S MOUTH OPENS: A stunningly courageous young woman takes the boldest step imaginable, supported by her mother and loving friends.

Lucy Walker is best known for directing documentary features. Her films include Devil’s Playground (2002), Blindsight (2006), Waste Land, which won the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival; Countdown to Zero, which also screened at the Festival in 2010; and The Crash Reel, which screened at the Festival last year. Her shorts include The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, which won the Jury Prize in Documentary Short Film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Walker grew up in London, won a Fulbright to attend NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and has had two films nominated for an Academy Award. This is her sixth film to screen at Sundance.