FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Sue Perlgut, info@ConnieCookfilm.com
Two Screenings for New Documentary about Constance Cook
Ithaca NY: Visionary, reformer, and legislator Constance Cook was a Republican Assemblywoman who decriminalized abortion in New York State in 1970; Roe V Wade was based on her work. Two years in the making, Connie Cook: A Documentary tells the story of Connie’s life and will have a sneak preview on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at Cinemapolis 120 E. Green St Ithaca, NY. This screening of the film by Sue Perlgut and Nils Hoover of CloseToHome Productions, is a benefit for Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes and for the documentary. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door or online at www.cinemapolis.org. The documentary is a project of Social Ventures and PEGASYS Studios. Carol Bushberg Real Estate and Diane’s Downtown Automotive are sponsoring the sneak preview.
For more information: www.closetohomeproductions.com/pages/constance-cook-documentary/ or info@ConnieCookfilm.com. This project is funded in part by a grant from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.
On April 12, 7 PM at Cinemapolis, The Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF) will be screening the documentary as part of it’s festival. For more information, http://www.ithaca.edu/fleff/Films2015/?item=8219
More about Connie Cook
Constance Eberhardt Cook was a woman ahead of her time. She was a pilot, a graduate of law school in 1943, one of only a few female corporate lawyers in NYC in the 1940’s and an important historical pioneer in the fight for women’s rights. She represented Tompkins County as a Republican in the New York State Assembly when there were only two other women there in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. Through the political process, she implemented legislation concerning broad-based public control of education and the decriminalizing of abortion. Her efforts regarding abortion became the critical model for the rest of the country. Mrs. Cook spent more than 10 years in the NY State assembly, always aware of her constituents’ needs. In 1974, she was the first woman vice-president of Cornell University. That same year she sued the Episcopal Church so that women could be priests and she won. Cook was an innovator and many changes that have taken place in American life came about because of her drive, determination, and humanitarianism.
About the documentary
This interview-driven documentary has a diverse cast of family, friends, politicians, and colleagues of Cook’s who were interviewed in their homes and offices, along with archival footage of Cooks’ life and work. The documentary will be officially released in 2015. http://vimeo.com/76979716
About CloseToHome Productions
Sue Perlgut formed CloseToHome Productions in 2007. She produced, directed and co-wrote her first documentary 101 Ways to Retire—or Not!, seen on PBS, also an official selection of the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, in 2008 and is a recipient of the 2008 Mature Media Awards. Her second documentary “Beets and Beans: Living and Dying with Hospice” is a half-hour documentary released in 2010 about the hospice movement in the U.S., and was an official selection of the 2010 Detroit Windsor International Film Festival, the 2010 Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, and the 2010 Emerging Filmmakers Film Festival in Rochester, N.Y.
About Planned Parenthood of The Southern Finger Lakes
Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes (PPSFL) was created in 2004 by the merger of Planned Parenthood of the Southern Tier and Planned Parenthood of Tompkins County, both founded in 1968. They are committed to providing quality reproductive health care and sexuality education for all people in our community regardless of age, race, ethnicity, physical ability or attributes, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or ability to pay. Since 1996, they have been the designated provider of sexual violence response and education services in Chemung, Steuben, and Schuyler counties. See more at: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-southern-finger-lakes/
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