NEWTOWN with producer Maria Cuomo Cole, director Kim Snyder, and Sandy Hook Promise Mark Barden

Producer Maria Cuomo Cole, filmmaker Kim Snyder, and Founder and Managing Director of Sandy Hook Promise Mark Barden will join us for a post-screening discussion.

Filmed over the course of nearly three years, the filmmakers use unique access and never before heard testimonies to tell a story of the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting of schoolchildren in American history on December 14, 2012. Newtown documents a traumatized community fractured by grief and driven toward a sense of purpose. Joining the ranks of a growing club to which no one wants to belong, a cast of characters interconnect to weave an intimate story of community resilience.

Kim A. Snyder
Director/Producer Kim A. Snyder’s most recent film, NEWTOWN premiered in competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and was hailed in Entertainment Weekly as among the “Best of Sundance.” NEWTOWN will continue to screen at premiere festivals worldwide and is poised to have a theatrical release in September 2016, with a national broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens in late
2016.  Snyder’s last feature documentary, WELCOME TO SHELBYVILLE was also nationally broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens.  In 2007, Kim co-founded the BeCause Foundation to direct and produce a series of socially conscious documentaries which have won numerous awards with campaigns furthering the work of the social innovators they highlight. Kim’s award-winning directorial debut feature documentary, I REMEMBER ME was theatrically distributed by Zeitgeist Films. In 1994, she associate produced the Academy Award-winning short film TREVOR directed by Peggy Rajski. Kim graduated with a Masters in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and resides in New York City.

Maria Cuomo Cole
Maria Cuomo Cole is the award-winning producer of the feature documentary, NEWTOWN, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.  In her career, she has tackled such relevant subjects as gun violence, homelessness, veterans’ PTSD, Domestic Violence, and sexual assault.

Most recently, she executive produced THE HUNTING GROUND, directed by Kirby Dick.  This Emmy and Peabody award winning film has been lauded as a powerful investigation into the epidemic of sexual assaults on college campuses. In 2012, Ms. Cuomo Cole worked with the same film team, executive producing the 2014 Oscar® nominated documentary, THE INVISIBLE WAR. This groundbreaking documentary about the epidemic of rape and sexual violence in the U.S. military, which served as a catalyst for federal legislation and enacted federal policy reforms.

Cuomo Cole’s 2011 documentary, LIVING FOR 32, about gun laws in America, was short listed for an Academy Award® and premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.  In collaboration with national communities of gun violence survivors, faith leaders, political leaders and nonprofits, the film has served as a catalyst for awareness and advocacy on the subject of federal and state legislative reform across the country.

Since 1992, she has led HELP USA, the national nonprofit leader in both homeless and permanent supportive service housing and employment programs  for veterans, families and survivors of domestic violence.

Mark Barden

As Director of Advocacy, Mark Barden leads policy and outreach efforts for Sandy Hook Promise and frequently serves as a spokesperson for the organization. Since the tragic loss of his son Daniel, one of 20 first-graders murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School—along with six educators—Mark has dedicated himself to bringing people together to find sensible solutions that will prevent future tragedies and spare other families the pain of losing a child to gun violence. An accomplished professional musician with a B.A. in music and formal training in jazz and composition, Mark stopped touring to spend more time with his family. He still performs regularly with his own band and others in New York and New England.

“Kim A. Snyder’s Sandy Hook documentary is an elegant, devastating portrait of a town in mourning.” – Andrew Barker, Variety

“A breathtaking gut punch. This film is an important historical record, and an important reminder of an event in American history that could have changed everything, that should have changed everything. NEWTOWN is a crucial reminder of that.” -IndieWire

“It is a visceral, powerful experience. You will cry. It is worth it.” -Marie Claire