No Apologies Winner: Joslyn Barnes
April 6, 2009
Click here to download the AWNY Awards PDF.
Joslyn Barnes
Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer
Louverture Films
Joslyn Barnes believes that film can be a powerful tool for social change. She is the author or co-author of numerous commissioned screenplays for feature films, including the upcoming epic Toussaint, the Indian feature The Cosmic Forest and the award-winning African film Battu, which she associate produced with British Screen. Since co-founding Louverture Films with actor/activist Danny Glover, Barnes has executive produced such award-winning features as Bamako, Salt of the Sea and Trouble the Water – her compelling documentary of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation on New Orleans, which won a 2008 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and was an Academy Award finalist.
“I have always loved the cinema,” says Barnes, who cites her mother and great-aunt as women with inspiring her passion for improving lives. “To me, the purpose of art is to cultivate awareness and empathy, reminding us of how we’re all connected to one another. I believe that social change follows from that emotional experience.”
Barnes says public interest in non-fiction content tends to increase in times of uncertainty, although she believes print and TV media cover less actual news than they did a decade ago. “It’s cheaper to cover Paris Hilton and her Chihuahua,” she says, “than to send a team of journalists into the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a result, many people have turned to other sources to find the truth.”
Barnes served as a consultant and program officer at the United Nations and traveled widely in Africa and Asia. She has written screenplays and created eye-opening socially oriented films, while employing and training minority cast and crew members. “We have found a way to develop, finance and produce very compelling fiction and non-fiction feature films,” she says, “reaching wider audiences through partnerships and other outreach strategies.”
Her latest projects include producing the music documentaries Africa Unite and the forthcoming Soundtrack for a Revolution. She recently directed the short film Prana for Cinétévé France as part of an internationally distributed series of 30 short films for the environment.
What drives Barnes’ passion for change? “When you consider that 50 percent of humanity lives on less than $2 a day, the building of walls around entire populations – either actual or perceived – and the damage being done to the environment, I feel driven to find a way to address these issues and support other artists who seek to do the same.”
For more Changing the Game Awards Winners:
No Apologies Winner: Dr. Jane McGonigal
No Apologies Winner: Katherine Jane Bryant
No Apologies Winner: Jacqueline Novogratz
Quantum Leap Winner: Nancy Smith
Paradigm Shift Winner: Esther "E.T" Franklin
Brainwave Winner: Sue Bostrom