Film showing part of CLU malaria effort

Students have raised awareness and nearly $13,000

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“Mary and Martha” is a 2013 British-American television film starring Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank as Mary, an American interior designer, and acclaimed British actress Brenda Blethyn as Martha, a British housewife.

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Jan. 24, 2014) California Lutheran University will screen a film created to raise awareness of malaria at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, in Lundring Events Center.

“Mary and Martha” will be shown in hopes of raising money and awareness as part of CLU’s Malaria Campaign. Contributions will be collected at the free screening.

The student-run CLU Malaria Committee is trying to raise $15,000 by June to support the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America initiative to collect $15 million by end of the year. So far, the committee has raised almost $13,000 by collecting donations and holding a professor variety show in December. The students will commemorate World Malaria Day with an event featuring food, performers and information on April 24.

“Mary and Martha” is a 2013 British-American television film starring Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank as Mary, an American interior designer, and acclaimed British actress Brenda Blethyn as Martha, a British housewife. The two women, each struggling with the loss of a son to malaria, meet in Africa. They forge a deep friendship and embark on an epic journey dedicating themselves to the cause of malaria prevention. Beginning to rebuild their lives, they show how ordinary people can make a difference and inspire positive change in the process.

“Mary and Martha” was written by Richard Curtis, winner of an Emmy and a Humanitas Award for the HBO/BBC production “The Girl in the Café.” He wrote and directed “Love Actually” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” Other credits include “Notting Hill,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “War Horse.” Devoted to public service, he co-founded and is the vice chairman of an organization that oversees outreach campaigns in the United Kingdom and has raised more than $1 billion for charity projects in Africa and the U.K. He is a founding member of the Make Poverty History coalition and he produced “Idol Gives Back,” which raised more than $75 million.

The film was directed by Phillip Noyce, whose numerous film and television credits include “Patriot Games,” “Clear and Present Danger” and “The Bone Collector.” He won the National Board of Review Best Film Award, Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film and numerous film festival audience awards for his independent film “Rabbit-Proof Fence.”

Lundring Events Center is located in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center at 130 Overton Court on the Thousand Oaks campus. The event is part of the Reel Justice Film Series and is sponsored by the Center for Equality and Justice, the Office of Campus Ministry, Pearson Library and the CLU Malaria Campaign. For more information, contact the Office of Campus Ministry at campusministry@callutheran.edu or 805-493-3228.

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