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On Beauty

Year2014

Runtime31 Minutes

Fashion photographer Rick Guidotti refocuses his lens on people in the shadows to change the way society sees and experiences beauties.

From Emmy-nominated filmmaker Joanna Rudnick (In the Family) and Chicago’s Kartemquin Films comes a story about challenging norms and redefining beauty. On Beauty follows fashion photographer Rick Guidotti, who left the fashion world when he grew frustrated with having to work within the restrictive parameters of the industry’s standard of beauty. After a chance encounter with a young woman who had the genetic condition albinism, Rick re-focused his lens on those too often relegated to the shadows to change the way we see and experience beauty. At the center of On Beauty are two of Rick’s photo subjects: Sarah, who left public school for homeschool after being bullied so harshly for the Sturge-Weber birthmark on her face and brain; and Jayne, who lives in Eastern Africa where witch doctors hunt people with albinism to sell their body parts and the society is blind to their unique health and safety needs. Rick’s photos challenge both mainstream media’s narrow scope of beauty and the dehumanizing black-bar convention of medical textbooks.

The film is funded in part by the Sage Foundation and Illinois Humanities Council.

Filmmakers

Main Titles and Animations

Yankee Peddler

Original Music

Erin O’Hara

Associate Producers

Liz Kaar
Tristan Hanson
Rachel Pikelny

Camera

Dana Kupper
Jerry Risius

Sound Recordists

Judy Karp
John Mathie

Sound Edit & Mix

Philip Perkins

Colorist

Ayumi Ashley

Assistant Editor & Post-Production Supervisor

William Thwaites

Technical Supervisor

Jim Morrissette

Additional Camera

Joel Shapiro
Kirsten Johnson
Catherine Goldschmidt
Christopher Booker
Liz Kaar

Additional Sound

Mark Mandler
Mike Snow

Additional Editing

Amy Cargill

Additional Assistant Editing

Nora Gully
Dinesh Sabu
Justine Gendron
Philipp Batta

Additional After Effects

Jenna Caravello

Kenya Production Coordinator

Furaha Levilal

Kenya Production Assistant & Driver

Toni Timoth Kimani

New York Production Assistant

Sami Blumenthal

Legal

Peter Jaszi

Translations

Ronald Buskusi

Transcription

Mary Horan
John Kostka

Outreach and Engagement

Cassie Wierenga

Director of Finance and Operations

Suzanne Niemoth

Director of Communications and Programs

Tim Horsburgh

Bookkeeper

Yvonne Afable
Maria Galent
Christine McAlonan
Alex Stein

Other Kartemquin Films Staff

Hillary Bachelder
Tamara Fouche
Ryan Gleeson
Alison Hanold
Ian Kibbe
Matt Lauterbach
Leslie Simmer
Beckie Stoccheti

Funders

Sage Foundation
Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust
National Marfan Foundation
Roy J. Zuckerberg Family Foundation
Genetic Alliance
Coastline Logistics
Illinois Humanities Council
& Private Individuals with Big Hearts

Photography

Rick Guidotti and Positive Exposure

Footage Courtesy

MTV House of Style
The Matrix Reloaded
Pearls of Dysmorphology
The Princess Bride
Powder

"Forest Whitiker" Writer & Performer

Brother Ali

"Forest Whitiker" Publisher

A. Newman for Nafsin Waheedah (ASCAP)
A. Davis for Ant Turn That Snare Down (ASCAP)

Use Courtesy

Rhymesayers Entertainment, LLC

Special Thanks

Rick Guidotti
The Kanney Family
The Peters Family
The Waithera Family
The Howe Family
Wil Ashley
Brother Ali
Kathleen Cail
Jordan Gimbel
Liz Grossman
Nadia Merchant
Fouad Otaki
Ralph Rucci
Cookie Rudnick
Brent ‘Siddiq’ Seyers
Sharon Terry
Herb The Losen

Thank You

Chromosome 18 Registry and Research Society
Albinism Society of Kenya
Kenya Institute of Special Education
Kenya Society for the Blind
St. Lucy’s School for the Blind (Kenya)
Kenya National Theatre Ndemi Place (Kenya)
Ridgewood High School (Ridgewood, NJ)
Weill Cornell Medical College (Qatar)
Irving Harris Foundation
Suncoast Equity Management
Brain Addison
Chantel Akerib
Tracey Birch
Jerry Blumenthal
Maggie Bowman
William Cherkasky
Dr. Prabha Choksey
Chris Davis
Dr. Jessica Davis
Rachel Dickson
Julie Englander
Apoorva Easdon
Maria Finitzo
Judy Funk
Sherry Gimbel
Allen Ginsburg
Kathleen Green
Carrie Griffith
Emily Hart
JJ Hanley
Jon Hornbacher
Ashley Karls
Wilfred Mugo Mania
Allison Margolies
Lee McLain
Bernard Mogesa
Deborah Morris
Alex Munyere
Mumbi Ngugi
Andreia Ransdell
Leslie Simmer
David Simpson
Adam Singer
Ines Sommers
Rebecca Straus
Lari Walker
Wendy Baker Photography
Dennis Wieczorek

Kartemquin Interns

Arpita Aneja
Chris Bentley
Sarah Bice
Ethan Barnowsky
Ryan Bedore
Andrea Blake
Jessy Bradish
Ryan Buckley
Ranjani Chakraborty
Melissa Coleman
Reid Compton
Alexandra Cox
Rachel Dickson
Kate Donalek
Dain Evans
Nick Fraccaro
Rachel Fecile
Latoya Flowers
Kevin Fullam
Spenser Gabin
Brian Gersten
Rachel Glass
Biliana Grozdanova
David Granskog
Elena Guobyte
Brett Hanover
Mary Horan
Morgan Johnson
Marriah Kern
Nushmia Khan
John Kostka
Tracy Ko
Naomi Kothbauer
Patrick Lile
Lauren Makholm
Haley Martin
Thomas Mathew
Aniluz Mercedes
Aaron McGrath
Stacy Moon
Gabrielle Ntsimi
Lesley Onstott
Orion Pahl
Allison Pichert
Jeff Perlman
Katie Prentiss
Joe Riina-Ferrie
Hannah Roodman
Rachel Rozycki
Rosa Gaia Saunders
Ben Schamisso
Matt Sezer
Ayesha Siddiqi
Philister Sidigu
Alexander Skalomenos
Natalie Stone
Emily Thomas
Stanzi Vaubel
Jonathan Vogel
Julian Walker
Cody Wallace
Cassie Wierenga
Felix Ofosu Yeboah
Shuling Yong
Kristen Zelenka

Media

Awards and Distinctions

Ashland Independent Film Festival

Official Selection

2016

American Documentary Film Festival

Official Selection

2015

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival

Official Selection

2015

Cleveland International Film Festival

Winner

Jury Award; Best Documentary Short

2015

Frozen River Film Festival

Official Selection

2015

Geneva Film Festival (IL)

Winner

Jury Award; Best Documentary Short

2015

Houston Cinema Arts Film Festival

Official Selection

2015

Midwest Film Festival "Best of Midwest" Awards

Nominee

Best of Midwest Award

2015

Neational Media Market

Winner

Best of Show (K-12) Award

2015

Newport Beach Film Festival

Official Selection

2015

Reeabilities NYC

Official Selection

2015

Reelabilities Chicago Film Festival

Official Selection

Opening Night FIlm

2015

Reelabilities: Houston Disabilities Film Festival

Official Selection

2015

Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival

Official Selection

2015

Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival

Winner

Audience Award, Best Short

2015

Chicago Interntaional Film Festival

Winner

Audience Award; Best Short Film

2014

DOC NYC

Official Selection

2014

Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

Official Selection

World Premiere

2014