West Newton Cinema – Local Spotlight

The West Newton Cinema and Newton Nomadic Theater are proud to announce the launch of Local Spotlight: Filmmaker’s Forum. The monthly series, supported in part by a grant from the Newton Cultural Council, highlights the extraordinary range of work produced by documentary filmmakers who come from or call the Boston area home. All screenings include in person introductions and discussion with filmmakers.

The series kicks off in February with Girl Talk, a story both hyperlocal and global. Set in the cutthroat, boy-dominated world of high school debate where tomorrow’s leaders are groomed, GIRL TALK tells the timely story of five girls on Newton South’s high school debate team as they strive to become the best debaters in the United States on their own terms.

The event will feature two guest speakers who were involved in the making of Girl Talk:

Jennifer Pearce has been part of the local documentary film community for more than 25 yrs, producing films for public television’s NOVA, American Experience, American Master and Independent Lens.  She joined the Girl Talk team in the 4th quarter, helping Lucia get the film to the finish line.  Girl Talk reflects a spirit of grit and passionate pursuit of excellence, characteristics shared by both Lucia and the young debaters. I am so proud of the impact the film has had since its Boston premiere at IFFB, nearly 3 yrs ago.

Rachel Clark is a documentary video editor currently residing in Boston. Born in Scotland and raised in England, she has been editing for the past twenty-five years, both in London, UK and Boston, MA. Past clients include the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, the BBC, Errol Morris, PBS, the National Geographic Channel, and Cinemax. Her work has received multiple Emmy-nominations. She edited the documentary Family Affair (OWN), premiering in competition at Sundance, HBO’s Have You Seen Andy, and The Amish: Shunned for PBS’s American Experience. More recently, she cut East of Salinas for the PBS documentary series Independent Lens, Eat Up, which won the ‘2019 Award for Excellence in Documentary Editing’ at IFF Boston, and the award-winning Pony Boys which is now a New York Times Op-Doc. Rachel was the editor for Girl Talk.