First Run Features is pleased to announce that A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps will have virtual theatrical runs across the U.S. beginning May 22, 2020.
After sold-out screenings at the Kennedy Center and the Denver Film Festival, numerous community screenings from Alaska to Washington, DC to Hawaii and Florida, not to mention international screenings in Colombia and Afghanistan, the film will finally be available to American cinema-goers…albeit via streaming.
Directed by Alana DeJoseph and narrated by Annette Bening, the documentary features indelible interviews of current and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, current and former staff, scholars and journalists, community members and leaders around the world (including Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf). Remarkable archival materials and stunning footage from around the globe by cinematographer Vanessa Carr bring to life an agency that represents to the world the American idea. By expertly weaving together personal volunteer experiences with the political machinations of the time, screenwriter Shana Kelly provides viewers with a visceral experience of Kennedy’s words “what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Among the notable people who have either served as volunteers or worked as staff for the Peace Corps are journalists Bill Moyers, Marco Werman, Maureen Orth, Peter Hessler, George Packer and Chris Matthews; Senators Jay Rockefeller and Chris Dodd; Congresswoman Donna Shalala and Congressmen Joe Kennedy and Christopher Shays; State Senator Jason Carter and his grandmother Lillian Carter; Ambassadors Vicki Huddleston and J. Christopher Stevens; Netflix founder Reed Hastings; novelist Paul Theroux; home improvement specialist Bob Vila; and Hollywood director Taylor Hackford.
In response to the current pandemic, in the first time in its history the Peace Corps has evacuated all Volunteers, and the future of the agency is in question. At a time when America is reevaluating its role in the world, the story of this uniquely American government agency takes viewers on a journey of what it means to be a global citizen. |