Schools Trust to host screening on Feb. 9
The Bromfield School will present a special Blu-ray screening of the award-winning documentary film "Connected" in the Cronin Auditorium on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. The movie was co-written by a Bromfield graduate.
The innovative, fast-paced film asks audiences what it means to be connected in the 21st century: "Have you ever faked a restroom trip to check your email? Slept with your laptop? Or become so overwhelmed that you just unplugged from it all?"
This local screening is made possible by a grant from the Harvard Schools Trust.
The 80-minute film, which won eight film industry awards, including an Official Selection of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, is subtitled "An Autoblogography about Love, Death, and Technology." Director Tiffany Shlain considers issues ranging from the decline of the honeybee to the effects of literacy on the human brain, as well as world history since the Big Bang and deeply personal matters of birth, death, and family life.
Shlain begins "Connected" with one question and ends with another. "What have I become?" she asks herself early in the film, when she can't put aside her cell phone, text messages, and email, even during dinner with a long-lost friend.
By the end of the film, she is asking the audience whether we are all becoming something new—entering a new phase in the evolution of the human brain.
"Is this the beginning of a participatory revolution?" she asks, contemplating the world's ever-increasing interconnectedness.
 |
| Sawyer Steele (Courtesy photo) |
As befits a film that extols the power of connectedness, the documentary also has a Harvard connection. Former Harvard resident Sawyer Steele is a co-writer on the film as well as its production manager and associate editor. Steele, whose first name then was Julia, graduated from the Bromfield School in 1999.
Steele will be present at the screening, and directly following the film he will participate in a question-and-answer session to explore the "love/hate relationship with technology" and the implications it may have for our interconnected future.
"'Connected' really explores what it means to be connected in the twenty-first century—finding a balance between our most fundamental connections (family, community), and the infinite 'connections' that pull us in so many directions day in and day out," Steele said. "So returning to my hometown of Harvard for a screening and discussion is, well, exactly what this film is all about. I'm really looking forward to it."
Steele has been with The Moxie Institute, a production company based in San Francisco, since its inception in 2005. He also recently produced and co-wrote a crowd-sourced film called "A Declaration of Interdependence." He is currently working on a film called "Transboom." He graduated from Colby College in Maine.
Director Shlain credits her father, noted surgeon and author Leonard Shlain, with teaching her to look for connections across cultures and history. Much of the film is based on ideas from his writings on the role of the two hemispheres of the brain: the analytic, language-focused left side, and the empathic, image-focused right side.
According to the elder Shlain, an over-reliance on left-brain traits has led to much technological progress but has left humanity unable to solve today's complex environmental, social, and political problems. In this film, his daughter suggests that a new global connectedness—in which images are transmitted almost instantaneously—may begin to redress the balance. She weaves into this film both her father's terminal illness and her own high-risk pregnancy.
Shlain's previous accomplishments include several award-winning short films. She is also the founder of the Webby Awards for excellence on the Internet.
"We are excited about bringing 'Connected' to the Bromfield School for what we believe will be a philosophical look at how we not only use technology both individually and as a society, but how it affects our daily lives, school, work, health, and relationships overall," said Bromfield Principal Jim O'Shea. "We congratulate one of our Bromfield graduates, Sawyer Steele, for his critical part in the ongoing success of this remarkable film."
The film is rated as appropriate for high school age and adult. Middle-school children must be accompanied by an adult. Admission is free and open to the public. Those wishing to attend should register online at www.harvardschoolstrust.org/Events/Connected.aspx. For further information, contact Heidi Hynes at 978-302-1198 or email heidi_hynes@comcast.net.