media contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com 

December 15^th is Extended Deadline for Submission to International Ocean Film Festival

January 9^th is Student Submissions Deadlines

Filmmakers around the world encouraged to submit works that inspire people to appreciate and care for the ocean by revealing its wonders through independent films.

17th annual celebration of features films about marine life, the ocean, coastal cultures and conservation takes place in San Francisco March 12 – 15, 2020

www.intloceanfilmfest.org 

29 November 2019 – San Francisco, CA:  Coming off its sold-out annual “Off The Reef” benefit earlier this month honoring “Ocean Champions” Dr. Sylvia Earle and Greta Thunberg (en absentia), San Francisco’s International Ocean Film Festival is gearing up for its 17^th annual Festival, March 12 – 15, 2020. Filmmakers around the world are encouraged to submit their films for consideration by December 15. The deadline for student filmmakers is January 9. Open to middle and high school students internationally, the contest offers prizes of up to $500 per category.  Entry details for both competitions may be found online at www.intloceanfilmfest.org. 

“Next year is an election year of incredible importance: perhaps the most important presidential election as far as what the next president might do to protect – or not protect —  our oceans,” said Ana Blanco, Executive Director for the International Ocean Film Festival. “We’re expecting an even more robust selection of envelope pushing films than ever before.”

According to Blanco, for the 2019 Festival, a record 148 submissions were received from around the world, including films from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malaysia and Germany. Submissions may include films of all genres – documentaries, narratives, shorts, and animation films of all lengths. Subjects may focus on all oceanographic themes including but not limited to: ocean exploration, wildlife, environmental, conservation, oceanography, seafaring adventures, maritime issues, ocean sports and coastal cultures. Student film submissions are limited to five minutes in length.

Since its launch in 2004, the San Francisco-based International Ocean Film Festival has attracted thousands of spectators of all ages from around the world, including film enthusiasts, sea athletes, educators, and environmental supporters. Since then, the Festival has presented over 560 films from 40 different countries and featured post-film Q&A sessions with visiting filmmakers, special panel discussions with content experts, and the Annual Free Student Education Program. It was the first event of its kind in North America, inspired by the well-established ocean festival in Toulon, France, which has continued to draw large audiences for more than 40 years.

Current sponsors for the 17^th Annual International Ocean Film Festival include National Marine Sanctuary, BigBus of San Francisco, Gray Line Tours, SSA, Alcatraz Cruises, the Port of San Francisco, the Consul General of Canada, and Pacific Gas & Electric. 

The 17th Annual International Ocean Film Festival takes place March 12 – 15, 2020 at San Francisco’s Cowell Theatre at Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture. The International Ocean Film Festival is a registered 501(c) 3 non-profit. www.intloceanfilmfest.org and social at: 

• https://www.facebook.com/intloceanfilmfest
• Twitter @oceanfilmfest
• Instagram @intloceanfilmfest

Media Contacts: David Perry (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

San Francisco’s Alliance for Smiles Returns To Lagos, Nigeria
November 15 – 21 

Rotary Support Is Vital for Trip to African Nation Featuring Teaching and Medical

Mission Helping Children with Cleft Palate Anomalies

15 November 2019 — San Francisco, CA: This fall, Alliance for Smiles(www.allianceforsmiles.org), the San Francisco-based global organization providing sustainable cleft-palate treatment and support worldwide, continued its global missions with trips to China, Egypt, Guatemala and the Philippines. From November 15 – 21, the Rotary-founded organization returns to Nigeria, undertaking a series of teaching and medical missions. 2019 marks 15 years working in 15 countries for Alliance for Smiles having served over 7000 young people.

“We are proud to have established an Alliance for Smiles treatment center in Lagos with our partners who share in our commitment to comprehensive cleft care,” said Alison Healy, Executive Director of Alliance For Smiles. “With our partnership, patients can be seen at any stage of their 16 year average recovery for speech therapy, orthodonture, or surgery. Moreover, while we are training our partners in this complex and long term care, we know that they will soon be experienced enough to be autonomous. This is a unique program which drives increased capacity in country regardless of economic challenges.”

In 2017, the Lagos State University Treatment Hospital (LASUTH) was identified as a potential Alliance for Smiles treatment center for cleft lip and palate by Smiles Barbara Fisher who previously had visited the hospital as the leader of an Alliance for Smiles surgical team. An essential collaboration with Dr. Deinde Shoga, president of Lagos Rotary District 10, had been established during several Alliance for Smiles surgical missions to Nigeria and was a major factor in choosing that hospital.

The local team of specialists consisting of a plastic surgeon, an orthodontist, a speech pathologist, a nurse coordinator, a dietitian/nutritionist, anesthesiologists and other allied professionals are now meeting regularly as an interdisciplinary team, discussing the cleft children’s treatment needs and providing treatment as needed.

“Our Alliance for Smiles team has visited the hospital every six months for a total of five times,” said Healy, noting that every visit has been supported by all three partners. “Dr. Shoga and his Rotary District 10 support have been essential to the functioning of the cleft team and have covered the expenses for surgical procedures. “

Earlier this year, Alliance for Smiles procured a new top of the line Panorex/ Ceph-X radiography system. It was installed at the hospital, providing free services for children in treatment by the cleft team.  Alliance for Smiles expects that as the team gains more experience and recognition and regular support, the number of children receiving comprehensive treatment will increase significantly from the current level of 60 to 80.

In addition to organizing and sending two-week medical missions of surgical teams comprised of approximately 15 medical volunteers, supported by approximately 5 non-medical volunteers to a country, Alliance for Smiles also works side-by-side with local medical practitioners to exchange ideas on proper medical techniques and procedures, as well as to provide follow-up care. Additionally, the organization also works to build sustainability in country, through the establishment and maintenance of Medical Treatment Centers that provide follow-up and continuing care to children who receive surgery. 

Alliance for Smiles provides care to all patients, regardless of sex, age, economic status, educational background, race, color, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity or marital status.

In October 2004, Alliance for Smiles was founded by five members of the Rotary Club of San Francisco: Past Presidents, John Uth, Anita Stangl, Jim Patrick, and Jim Deitz and long-time Club Member John Goings. The ongoing support of the Rotary International Community is still key to the success of Alliance for Smiles. Fondly known as “people of action”, Rotarians associated with Alliance for Smiles hope to eventually setting up multi-disciplinary international cleft treatment centers in underserved countries around the world, and exchange ideas on proper medical techniques and procedures.

“Traditional international efforts to repair cleft lips and palates have consisted of small teams that perform surgical procedures to correct defects,” Healy says.  “However, the initial surgery only addresses one part of the problem. Cleft patients require ongoing treatment in the disciplines of dentistry, orthodontia, speech therapy and sometimes psychological counseling.”

Current Alliance for Smiles Medical Missions:• November 2 — 16, 2019 – Wenzhou China, Teaching Mission• November 3 — 17, 2019 – Aswan, Egypt Medical Mission • November 15 – 21, 2019 — Lagos, Nigeria Medical Mission 

Learn more at: www.allianceforsmiles.org

Media contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

World’s Most Unique Holiday Tree — A gift to the world from the LGBTQ Community Promoting Peace, Love and Humanitarian Action

People Around the World Asked to Submit “Wishes for the Future of the World” to be hung on tree decorated with up to 17,000 Folded Origami Cranes — the largest such annual installation on the planet

The 14th Rainbow World Fund “World Tree of Hope”
at Grace Cathedral December 8 – January 11

www.worldtreeofhope.org 

13 November 2019 – San Francisco:  Wishes are powerful: they are the seeds of action. For the 14^th year, those seeds bear fruit. At 23 feet tall with up to 17,000 delicately folded origami paper cranes, the Rainbow World Fund World Tree of Hope is a visible symbol of a world hungry for connection and peace. The Tree will be displayed at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral (1100 California Street atop Nob Hill) from December 8, 2019 to January 11, 2020, open daily from 8am to 8pm. Since its first year, tens of thousands of wishes have adorned the tree, sent in by email and online from people in over seventy countries.

“We created the World Tree of Hope to inspire hope and to encourage people to think about what they would like for the future of the world, and then take action,” said Jeff Cotter, Rainbow World Fund founder and executive director. “The tree illustrates that while a single person’s offering is valuable, the collective effort of many possesses great power and strength. If each person would do just one small thing that is good for our world today, we will be better off tomorrow than we were yesterday.”

The process is simple: Wishes are sent in from around the world, printed, and folded into paper origami cranes by a diverse team of more than 300 Rainbow World Fund volunteers including members ofSan Francisco’s LGBTQ and Japanese American communities, survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, local children, and life-sentence prisoners from San Quentin. The origami “crane wishes” are then placed on the tree.  The process takes over 2500 hours. Wishes may be submitted by mail to RWF World Tree of Hope / 4111 18^th Street # 5 / San Francisco, CA 94114 or online at www.worldtreeofhope.org. Submitting a wish is free and open to everyone. Wishes will be added to the tree throughout December and are accepted year round.

Previous notable wishes on the tree have included President Barack Obama, Dame Jane Goodall, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Arianna Huffington, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Isabel Allende, the late SF Mayor Edwin M. Lee, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Mariela Castro, Mātā Amṛtānandamayī Devī, the late Shirley Temple Black, Frances Moore Lappe, Danielle Steel, the late Patty Duke, Sharon Gless, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Phyllis Diller, Stanlee Gatti and RuPaul.  Samples of celebrity and children’s wishes are at https://www.worldtreeofhope.org/celebrity-wishes 

“A world for our children more just, more fair, and more kind than the one we know now.” – President Barack Obama

“I dare to wish for a world in which people live in harmony with each other and with the natural world and all the wondrous animals with whom we share the planet.” – Dame Jane Goodall

“The Rainbow World Fund’s World Tree of Hope is a gift to the San Francisco Bay Area and the world  express our shared hopes and intentions to create a better, more peaceful world,” says Cotter. “Each crane or star is hand folded and inscribed with wishes for the future of the planet. This is much more than a Holiday decoration: it is a global symbol of unity and hope for a better world and a unique and inspirational feature as we look forward to a new year.”

The Tree was inspired by the story of Sadako Sasaki, the Japanese child whose journey and death several years after the bomb was dropped in Hiroshima transformed the origami crane into a symbol of world peace. The Rainbow World Fund’s World Tree of Hope is the largest annual origami decorated holiday tree in the world.

“The Rainbow World Fund World Tree of Hope taps into two of our most powerful resources – the human mind and heart,” Cotter sums up. “It gives individuals a way to join together to express our hopes and intentions for the future of our global community. It is a celebration of the power of hope — how essential it is to our survival, our healing and humanity”

This will be the third year that Grace Cathedral has hosted the tree. In addition to being a beautiful venue that is open to the public, Grace Cathedral has a tradition of welcoming people of all faiths and spiritualities and being a strong supported of the LGBTQ community. Tree is created by Rainbow World Fund, an LGBTQ based nonprofit.  The Tree’s purpose is purely humanitarian with a message one of universal love. It is for everyone regardless of belief or non-belief. The tree was previous displayed at San Francisco City Hall for eleven years. 

The RWF World Tree of Hope is made possible through the support of the many volunteers and donors including: members of San Francisco’s LGBTQ and Japanese American communities, Friends of Hibakusha (local survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb), Kid CAT (life-sentence prisoners from San Quentin), Sterne School, University High School, Lowell High School key Club, Japanese Community Youth Council, the Junior League of San Francisco, The Bridgemen, One Brick, National Civilian Community Corps,  Galileo Academy, Anyon Design, and Salesforce.

The official tree lighting celebration is Tuesday, December 10 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. The dedication ceremony will featuring attendance by Consul General of Japan Tomochika Uyama and performances by the Grammy winning San Francisco Boys Chorus, Juanita MORE, Lambert Moss, Connie Champagne and Breanna Sinclairé with a blessing by The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with emcee Honey Mahogany.

Founded by Cotter in 2000, the 501(c)3 nonprofit Rainbow World Fund is the world’s first and only all-volunteer, LGBTQ-based humanitarian aid organization. The Fund works to help people affected by natural disasters, hunger, poverty, disease, oppression and war by raising awareness in, and funds from, the LGBTQ community to support LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ people locally and around the world.

 Recent projects in Cuba, Guatemala, Iraq, Mexico, Syria, Uganda and the United States focused on a variety of humanitarian areas including: HIV/AIDS, water development, landmine eradication, hunger, education, orphans, and disaster relief.  Rainbow World Fund also works to raise awareness of the charitable contributions of the LGBTQ community, and to establish connections with non-LGBTQ communities around the world based on its philosophy is that we are all “One Human Family” and that we are living in a time that tells us that our survival on this planet depends on us all giving more to each other. Rainbow World Fund’s work changes hearts and minds.

LINKS: 

World Tree of Hope: https://www.worldtreeofhope.org 

Assets and high-resolution images Tree are at: http://www.rainbowfund.org/images-and-assests 

Rainbow World Fund: http://www.rainbowfund.org 

Media contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. (415) 767-1067 / news@davidperry.com 

November 2 OFF THE REEF Fall Benefit for International Ocean Film Festival Raises over $ 150,000 for Nonprofit Festival

17^th Annual Event Honored Dr. Sylvia Earle Swedish Eco Activist Greta Thunberg 

www.intloceanfilmfest.org 

11 November 2019 – San Francisco, CA: It was an evening of generational inspiration at San Francisco’s Bently Reserve on Saturday, November 2 as San Francisco’s International Ocean Film Festival (www.intloceanfilmfest.org) honored two “Ocean Champions”: Dr. Sylvia Earle and Swedish Climate Change activist Greta Thunberg. In addition, the 17^th annual “Off the Reef” Fall Benefit previewed upcoming films for the Festival, taking place in and around San Francisco March 12 – 15, 2020 and also raised over $ 150,000 to further its nonprofit mission: Saving Our Oceans, One Film at a Time.

“We were thrilled with all the positive energy in the room,” said Ana Blanco, Executive Director of the International Ocean Film Festival of the sold-out event. “Honoring the legacies of these two ocean champions, Sylvia Earle and Greta Thunberg, was an inspiration to everyone there.”

“Our highest priority must be to keep the world safe,” Earle said in remarks to the crowd. “How do we do that?  Protect the air, protect the water, protect the fabric of life that makes our existence possible. The ocean is what makes Earth: no ocean, no life, no blue. no green, no us.”

“It is a great privilege for me to stand in front of you here representing one of the most powerful — and brave — young people on this planet,” said Swedish Consul General Barbro Osher, accepting Thuberg’s Award. Osher will deliver the award to Thunberg in Sweden.  “Thank you so much for acknowledging the power of a very young, and very, very thoughtful and very clever young woman with a lot of climate courage in her.  She’s been demonstrating outside of the Swedish Parliament every Friday — rain or shine or snow. That message has left Sweden and now gone around the world. Greta Thunberg stands up in all of her 150 centimeters and says ‘wake up world, wake up!’”

Later, in a nod to her fellow honoree Earle remarked: “I think about Greta and her insight as a child who has taken the distillation of what now is known and she sort of cuts through it all and asks the question ‘Why aren’t we taking seriously the knowledge that is there?’That the planet that existed 100 years ago is not the same planet that we have now in ways that are alarming in terms of our capacity to go forward with the air, the water, the fabric of life that keeps us alive.’”

Osher quoted from Greta Thunberg’s book No-one Is Too Small To Make A Difference:  “Adults keep saying we owe it to the young people to have hope.  But I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful, I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day and then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis.  And then, I want you to act as if our house is on fire, because it is.”

As is its eco-friendly tradition, the “Off The Reef” Benefit featured sustainable, vegan food and drink, lively entertainment and a series of sought-after auction items including a luxury 10-day expedition to the Galapagos aboard the 96-guest National Geographic Endeavour II. Valued at more than $ 17,000 the adventure cruise was graciously donated by Lindblad Expeditions. 

Commonly referred to as “The Sundance of ocean film festivals”, since its launch in 2004, the San Francisco-based International Ocean Film Festival has attracted thousands of spectators of all ages from around the world, including film enthusiasts, sea athletes, educators, and environmental supporters. Since then, the Festival has presented over 50 films from 15 different countries and featured post-film Q&A sessions with visiting filmmakers, special panel discussions with content experts, and the Annual Free Student Education Program. It was the first event of its kind in North America, inspired by the well-established ocean festival in Toulon, France, which has continued to draw large audiences for more than 40 years.

Current sponsors for the 17^th Annual International Ocean Film Festival include National Marine Sanctuary, BigBus of San Francisco, Gray Line Tours, SSA, Alcatraz Cruises, the Port of San Francisco and Pacific Gas & Electric. 

The 17th Annual International Ocean Film Festival takes place March 12 – 15, 2020 at San Francisco’s Cowell Theatre at Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture. The International Ocean Film Festival is a registered 501(c) 3 non-profit. www.intloceanfilmfest.org and social at: 

• https://www.facebook.com/intloceanfilmfest
• Twitter @oceanfilmfest
• Instagram @intloceanfilmfest