ACTRESS, ICE CREAM MAKER, AND HUMANITARIAN, TO OFFER COMMENTARY
ON THE ACCLAIMED AND UPLIFTING DOCUMENTARY ABOUT RWANDA,
SWEET DREAMS

NYS Writers Institute, April 25, 2014
7:00 p.m. [Note early start time] Film Commentary | Page Hall, 135 Western Ave., UAlbany Downtown Campus

EVENT DETAILS:
Jennifer Dundas, notable film and stage actress, and socially conscious ice cream entrepreneur, will offer commentary and answer questions following the screening of the documentary, SWEET DREAMS(2012), about a women’s drumming troupe that opens Rwanda’s first ice cream parlor in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, on Friday, April 25, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. [note early start time] in Page Hall, 135 Western Avenue, on the University at Albany downtown campus. The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the New York State Writers Institute in conjunction with UAlbany’s School of Criminal Justice’s Food, Crime, and Justice Film Series.

PROFILE
A screening of the documentary film, SWEET DREAMS, about women in Rwanda who open that country’s first ice cream parlor in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide,will be followed by commentary with notable film and stage actress, and ice cream entrepreneur Jennifer Dundas. Dundas, and Alexis Miesen, co-owners of the Brooklyn-based Blue Marble Ice Cream Company, provided technical expertise and funding support to make the women’s dream of opening an ice cream parlor a reality.

NOTE:  Jennifer Dundas will be filling in for producer-director Rob Fruchtman, who will be unable to attend. Note also that Fruchtman’s seminar on documentary filmmaking that was originally scheduled for 4:15 p.m. on April 25 has been cancelled.

Jennifer Dundas, in addition to being co-founder and co-owner of the socially responsible Brooklyn-based Blue Marble Ice Cream Company, is an accomplished actress on both stage and screen. She received wide acclaim for her performance as Chris Paradis, Diane Keaton’s lesbian daughter, in The First Wives Club (1996),for which she shared the Best Ensemble Award of the National Board of Review. Her other film credits include Puccini for Beginners (2006), Changing Lanes (2002), Lorenzo’s Oil (1992), and (as a child) The Hotel New Hampshire (1984).  On Broadway, she starred in the

American premiere of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia opposite Billy Crudup. She also created the role of Edie in the world premiere of Jules Feiffer’s Grownups on Broadway, and originated Maggie in Peter Hedges’ Good As New opposite John Spencer, for which she received an OBIE Award. Other performances include The Little Foxes opposite Stockard Channing, Ah, Wilderness! with Colleen Dewhurst and Jason Robards, As You Like It for “Shakespeare In The Park,” and A Winter’s Tale with Christopher Reeve and Mandy Patinkin at the Public Theatre.

SWEET DREAMS
Directed and produced by Rob and Lisa Fruchtman (Rwanda and United States, 2012, 84 minutes, color, in Kinyarwanda with English subtitles)

This acclaimed documentary follows the remarkable story of a group of Rwandan women who, in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, form the country’s first all-female drumming troupe, and open the country’s first ice cream parlor, with the help of the Brooklyn-based Blue Marble Ice Cream Company and its socially conscious co-owners, Jennie Dundas and Alexis Miesen.

Kenneth Turan of the L. A. Times said, “Sweet Dreams serves up a remarkable tale of resilience…. Three interlocking stories unfold in the documentary, each one reinforcing the other to telling and finally joyous effect.” Ernest Hardy of the Village Voice said, “Dreams is a powerful entry in the list of documentaries charting the country’s rebirth, illustrating the unexpected ways the human spirit reinvents itself after enduring the unthinkable.”

A continuation of last year’s Justice & Multiculturalism in the 21st Century film and speakers series, the Food, Crime and Justice Film Series represents a partnership between the University at Albany’s School of Criminal Justice and the New York State Writers Institute. The series explores issues relating to food inequality in the U.S. as well as larger issues of hunger, environmental disaster, famine and genocide. Each screening is followed by a discussion. For additional information visit  

For additional information, contact the Writers Institute at 518-442-5620 or online at https://www.albany.edu/writers-inst.