From today until Friday, October 21st, the free KTQ50 film is On Beauty (2014). Watch it now.

"On Beauty is, quite simply, a masterful example of how cinema can serve as a humanizing force in the world. We need films like this. We can't afford to lose them."
– RogerEbert.com
 

From Emmy-nominated filmmaker Joanna Rudnick comes a story about challenging norms and redefining beauty. On Beauty follows former fashion photographer Rick Guidotti, who left the fashion world when he grew frustrated with having to work within the restrictive parameters of the industry's standard of beauty. After a chance encounter with a young woman who had the genetic condition albinism, Rick re-focused his lens on those too often relegated to the shadows to change the way we see and experience beauty. 

Rudnick, the director of Emmy-nominated In the Family, which follows her deeply personal story about coming to terms with having the BRCA gene mutation, was drawn to making On Beauty because her own mutation couldn't be seen. As Editor Liz Kaar said, "She came across Rick's exhibition and thought it was amazing that he was having people accept their mutation by showcasing it."

At the center of On Beauty are two of Guidotti's photo subjects: Sarah, who left public school for homeschool after being bullied so harshly for the Sturge-Weber birthmark on her face and brain; and Jayne, who lives in Eastern Africa where witch doctors hunt people with albinism to sell their body parts and the society is blind to their unique health and safety needs. Rick's photos challenge both mainstream media's narrow scope of beauty and the dehumanizing black-bar convention of medical textbooks.

On Beauty was shot over the course of five years, and took the filmmakers across the globe in their efforts to change public perceptions of difference in communities worldwide. 
The crew traveled across Kenya to follow Guidotti and his organization Positive Exposure's partnerships with local and international organizations to create public awareness programs and empower people with albinism in Kenya. Guidotti also collaborated with medical students in Doha, Qatar to develop self-esteem and self advocacy programs for people living with physical or behavioral differences in the Middle East. 

The film has had an international impact. In August 2015, Kartemquin Films, the U.S. Department of State Office of the Special Advisor for International Disability Rights and the American Film Showcase hosted the Washington D.C. premiere of the film in honor of the 25th anniversary of the signing of the American Disabilities Act. In February 2016, Rudnick took the film to Indonesia after she was selected as an envoy through the American Film Showcase–a partnership between the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and the United States State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

On Beauty has launched several educational initiatives, partnering with Women Make Movies to create educational DVDs for schools and other institutions to screen. 

The film had its World Premiere at the 2014 Chicago International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Choice Award, an award it also collected from the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival. It also won jury awards as Best Documentary Short at the 2015 Geneva Film Festival and 2015 Cleveland International Film Festival. It has screened regularly at the Reelabilities Film Festivals across the nation. 

On Beauty is available for purchase on DVD here.

In 2016, several organizations around the country will host a series of screenings and events to celebrate Kartemquin's 50th Anniversary. We also invite you to watch all of our films for free, week by week, at http://watch.kartemquin.com and join the conversation at #KTQ50. 

Kartemquin is a collaborative center for documentary media makers who seek to foster a more engaged and empowered society. In 2016 Kartemquin will celebrate 50 years of sparking democracy through documentary.

A revered resource within the film community on issues of fair use, ethics, story and civic discourse, Kartemquin is internationally recognized for crafting quality documentaries backed by audience and community engagement strategies, and for its innovative media arts community programs. The organization has won every major critical and journalistic prize, including multiple Emmy, Peabody, duPont-Columbia and Robert F. Kennedy journalism awards, Independent Spirit, IDA, PGA and DGA awards, and an Oscar nomination.