Hello Teachers and Faculty,
The Palm Springs International Film Society is offering a Filmmaker In The Classroom session in collaboration with the Palm Springs Unified School Distrcit and Riverside County Office of Education. At this event, students are given viewing permissions to a selected short film accompanied by a study guide. A short time later, teachers and students are invited to a Zoom meeting with the filmmaker for a "Question and Answer" session. On Tuesday, March 15 we are holding two sessions with Director Gabriel Guarano to present his film, Team Meryland.
TEAM MERYLAND SYNOPSIS
With incredible access, TEAM MERYLAND is a beautiful & riveting, fly-on-the-wall portrait of a young girl from Watts, South Central LA with a second chance to achieve greatness through boxing. In the projects of Watts, Meryland Gonzales, a twelve-year-old female boxer trains to be crowned the 2019 Junior Olympics champion after losing at the 2018 competition all while reliving a past medical trauma that forces her to fight for her life. Meanwhile, her parents, immigrants from Michoacán, Mexico work tirelessly to give their miracle child a shot at achieving her dreams.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY - GABRIEL GAURANO
Growing up in San Diego as the youngest of seven, Gabriel started by making childhood movies on his mom’s Sony-Camcorder. Later, these epics were replaced by the real adversities of everyday people. From a Transgender-Navy-Corpsman to an Environmental-Sustainability story funded by IMAX and UN, Gabe is passionate about documentary filmmaking. He's had projects debut at AFI, NFFTY, and LA Film Festival. With the same childlike excitement, I make films that remind us what we’re fighting for.
If you are participating in the Palm Springs International Film Society Filmmaker In The Classroom screening of Team Meryland on Tuesday, March 15, please fill out the form below and details will be communicated directly to all teachers who submit this form.