The Film
About The Film
ON BEAUTY is a call to action: a documentary film and social engagement campaign calling on each of us to change the way we perceive, judge and treat individuals with inescapable physical differences.
Shattering our prejudices, the stories of individuals with genetic conditions challenge us to unearth the self-judgement and disapproval that blinds us from seeing the beauty in others.
Transforming the “unacceptable” into the celebrated grounds us in a universal experience of belonging, providing us with tools to fight prejudice, stigma, social isolation, and the bullying of individuals with physically altering genetic conditions.
The journey to accept others living in the shadows, forces us to accept the shadows within ourselves.
Dramatic, revealing, daring, and at times funny, this dynamic, multi-media campaign gives voice to a community of men, women and children who are excluded and ignored by today’s narrow beauty standard.
The Team
Joanna Rudnick, Producer/Director
Award-winning Director/Producer Joanna Rudnick is a documentary filmmaking associate with Kartemquin Films. Her Emmy-nominated directorial debut In The Family premiered at SILVERDOCS in 2008, was broadcast nationally on PBS’ P.O.V. the same year and internationally in 7 countries. The film was screened at thousands of grassroots events and conferences around the world, serving as a cornerstone in the ACLU challenge against the patenting of the BRCA genes, and was featured at two congressional briefings—advocating passage of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act and The Early Act. In The Family was a finalist for the NIHCM Foundations Health Care Radio and Television Journalism Award.
Gordon Quinn, Executive Producer
President and founding member of Kartemquin Films, Gordon Quinn has been making documentaries for over 38 years. At Kartemquin, Gordon created a legacy that is an inspiration for young filmmakers and a home where they can make films that investigate and critique society. Kartemquin’s best-known film, Hoop Dreams (1994) was executive produced by Gordon. Recent films include Stevie (2002), for which Gordon, who was the film’s executive producer, producer and cinematographer, won the Cinematography Award at the Sundance Film Festival, 5 Girls (2001), Refrigerator Mothers (2002), and Vietnam Long Time Coming (1999).
Justine Nagan, Executive Producer
Justine is Kartemquin Films’ Executive Director and is currently Executive Producing several films with the company. Also with Kartemquin, she recently directed Typeface, and was Associate Producer on the Peabody award-winning Terra Incognita. Prior, she helped the organization develop an education series while earning her Humanities Master’s Degree from the University of Chicago. Other experience includes teaching at the Hyde Park Art Center, and working as a Theatre Manager for the Chicago International Film Festival and as a Fellow for The HistoryMakers. Before moving to Chicago, she produced promotional spots for Public Television and worked for various companies ranging from M&C Saatchi, Australia to Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know? on National Public Radio. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Melissa Sage Fadim, Executive Producer
Melissa Sage Fadim is the creator and executive producer of the documentary series Islands Lost in Time. This unique series offers viewers the opportunity to experience islands around the world that operate outside of the frantic pace of modern urban life and provides the opportunity to travel back in time. The series was written and produced by 3-time Chicago Emmy winner Terry Spencer Hesser. Melissa is also the executive producer of the acclaimed documentary Raising the Barre: The Homer Bryant Story.
Liz Kaar, Editor
Liz Kaar is the Director of Post-Production at Kartemquin Films. She recently edited Kartemquin’s Typeface, as well as acted as the assistant editor on Kartemquin’s No Crossover, Milking the Rhino, and In The Family. She has worked as one of the producers for Kartemquin’s recent DVD releases, including Home for Life and The New Americans.
Liz is currently editing Kartemquin’s On Beauty, as well as acting as documentary editor for Andrew Bird: Fever Year. She is also directing a documentary short about the opening of the first vegan takeout restaurant in Chicago.
Cassie Wierenga, Outreach Coordinator
Cassie Wierenga is the outreach coordinator for On Beauty. She designed and built the website and is putting together a web campaign for On Beauty.
Cassie graduated from the University of Chicago in 2008 and received her Master’s degree from Medill at Northwestern University in 2010. Her goal is to create documentaries and interactive tools that provide us insight into our behaviors, emotions and spirituality. Cassie believes the better we can understand each other, the easier it will be to prosper as a society.
Featured Stories
Connect
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Meet Nadia
In Qatar, people question whether 3’6” medical student Nadia Merchant is really a doctor, despite her white coat and stethoscope.
Click her photo to learn more.Meet Jayne
Born with Albinism to a mother who abandoned her at birth out of fear and stigma, Jayne Waithera worked to establish a resource center for her peers in Kenya.
Click on her photo to learn more.Meet Sarah
Sarah Kanney loves to compete in motor-cross competitions; she also works in the local spa in her small, upstate New York town.
Click her photo to learn more.
