Hundreds Attend Lena Dunham & Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s Sex, Politics, & Film Reception during Sundance Film Festival
For Immediate Release: Jan. 26, 2015
Jill Soloway, Tig Notaro, Jessica Williams, Brie Larson, Mae Whitman also in attendance
Park City, Utah ― Last night, several hundred prominent writers, directors, producers, and actors joined Lena Dunham, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and the Planned Parenthood Action Council of Utah for their Sex, Politics, and Film reception during the Sundance Film Festival to celebrate the content makers who accurately and sensitively depict sexual and reproductive health in their films and television programs.
To see photos from the event, please see here.
The Sex, Politics, and Film reception brought together the top creators, executive producers, directors, writers, and actors across the entertainment industry to honor the women on both sides of the camera whose stories provoke new conversations and inspire women and girls everywhere.
“As storytellers we have a unique power to spread a message to advocate for the causes that are important to us,” said Lena Dunham creator and star of Girls. “There is no overstating how important it is to see honest non-stigmatizing storytelling that shows women tackling issues of reproductive health and choice. We don’t have to be preachy, didactic or explicit, just honest. Planned Parenthood has the resources to help filmmakers do that. At the end of the day, depicting these honest stories about women dealing with huge choices should not be a political issue it should be a human issue.”
Youth bloggers from Planned Parenthood Action Council of Utah’s Teen Council, a group of diverse volunteers from local schools who work together to educate each other and their peers about sexual health, passed condoms around on serving trays throughout the event.
Everyone in attendance was gifted with their very own “Sex, Politics, and Film” T-shirt designed by Rachel Antonoff.
Jill Soloway, Tig Notaro, Jessica Williams, Brie Larson, Mae Whitman, Jay Duplass, Anders Holm, Julianne Nicholson, Jenni Konner, Cathy Schulman, Liz Garbus, Christine Vachon, Elizabeth Holm, and David Hinojosa we’re also in attendance.
“Through your realistic and relatable portrayals of real people’s lives you are changing the conversation on abortion, on birth control, on gender, on stigma, on rape, and more fundamentally about sex and sexuality,” said Dawn Laguens, vice president and chief experience officer at Planned Parenthood Action Fund. "Legislatures in dozens of states have forced mandatory delays and waiting periods on women, they are forcing doctors to lie and to intimidate their patients and they are saying no to honest sex ed in our schools. Despite these challenges we’ve gotten a lot done. The teen pregnancy rate is at a historic low, more parents than ever are talking to their kids about sex, and 43 million women are getting their birth control covered without a co-pay because of the Affordable Care Act. The same freedom you all desire as creative people to craft your story, to bring your vision of the world to life, that is what Planned Parenthood supports for all women and young people in this country, but we couldn’t do it without you."
Caren Spruch, senior advisor, arts & entertainment, discussed the many ways Planned Parenthood Action Fund serves as a resource to the entertainment community, including reviewing scripts for accuracy and authenticity in sexual and reproductive health content, providing set materials, coordinating film shoots at Planned Parenthood health centers, and organizing screenings.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund is proud to help support the work of the entertainment industry as content makers continue to bravely portray honest and medically accurate sexual and reproductive health information and stories in their films and television programs.