Back by popular demand, Suzi Yoonessi's Dear Lemon Lima is having an impromptu third screening in Los Angeles at Landmark 8 this Saturday at 4:15 PM after to two sold-out screenings on the 20th and 23rd.

Dear Lemon Lima, an All-Roads Seed Grant recipient, tells the story of 13-year-old Vanessa Lemor, a Yu'pik girl with a vivid imagination. After getting dumped by her true love, she rallies with her fellow misfits, including a bi-racial girl named Nothing and a pathological liar who claims that Puff Daddy is her father, to compete in the Snowstorm Survivor Competition, her prep school's bastardized version of the World Eskimo Indian Olympics.

The film was originally inspired by director Suzi Yoonessi's childhood diary, which is a "rainbow-studded, tragic and funny compilation of letters to [her] imaginary friend Lemon Lima." As Yoonessi flipped through the pages, she was struck by genuine amount of passion, sincerity and heartbreak that was communicated in each passage. With Dear Lemon Lima, the director intends to prove that "every human connection deserves the love and compassion that a 13-year-old girl embraces the world with."

Yoonessi's award-winning short version of "Dear Lemon Lima" (2007) played internationally in over 60 festivals including the Tribeca Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival. Suzi Yoonessi has also directed Vern (2004) and No Shoulder (2005), and her producing credits include 3 Weeks After Paradise (2002), Vern (2004), Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005), and Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody? (2005).

"Suzi Yoonessi's delicious debut makes the life of her Alaskan teenage heroine as colorful and sweet as a snow cone." - Jonathan Wysocki of the Los Angeles Film Festival

"...one of the most affecting and poised performances by a 13-year-old we've seen in quite some time." - Bilge Ebiri of New York Magazine

"...as refreshing as an Astro-Pop on a summer's day." - The Los Angeles Times

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Article by Claire Ensslin

With five consecutive sold out screenings, Global Glimpses 2009 was a fabulous event where anticipation for the 81st Oscars® was all the buzz. Check out Marc Silver's take from NGM's Pop Omnivore Blog.

Tonight, National Geographic Fellow Reza, a distinguished photographer and renowned humanitarian, will unveil his latest work: "REZA War + Peace: A Photographers Journey," with a launch event at NG Headquarters in Washington D.C. The book is a 30 year retrospective that chronicles his remarkable journey to places of conflict through exquisite images that uniquely capture turmoil, hope, joy and despair. This evening's special event will feature an engaging discussion with Reza and best-selling author Sebastian Junger, who wrote the book's introduction. Check out NG Live for tickets and more information.

Soneros.tifFollowing on the heels of a Hollywood launch, the 2008 All Roads Film Festival lands in Washington D.C. with a special, pre-festival event TONIGHT at The Mexican Cultural Institute@7pm. Join the celebration of "Images & Stories: A New Generation," with the Washington D.C. premiere of Soneros Del Tesechoacan followed by a reception and live music by Semilla Collective.

The Mexican Cultural Institute is located at 2829 16th Street N.W. Washington D.C.

After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in 2000, The Return of Navajo Boy has gone on to air on TV stations internationally, igniting a series of events resulting in the launch of a federal investigation of uranium houses and the U.S. Dept. of Justice paying out a $100,000 compensation check to a former uranium miner. Filmgoers in the Washington D.C. area will have the opportunity to see the the film with a new epilogue following one determined grandmother's ongoing struggle for environmental justice in the Navajo Nation. Join the conversation on September 25@6pm at Georgetown University, 600 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington D.C./Gewirz 12 floor.

For more information call: 773-771-7697

Throughout the month of August, All Roads seed grant films will highlight National Geographic Live's Tuesday's at Noon film series. Every Tuesday at 12pm, attendees can enjoy free films in National Geographic's Grosvenor Auditorium. Tomorrow on August 19, All Roads is set to present a program of three short films including Dear Lemon Lima, A Return Home and Benito's Gift. Check out NG Live! for more information about these films and upcoming events in this series.

For a town that has seen it all as the entertainment capital of the world, Hollywood is still feeling the aftershocks of the 2007 All Roads Film Festival. Now in its 4th year, the festival has set a new standard for delivery of the trilateral palette of the arts in Hollywood. Through amazing films, captivating photography and live, ribald Mediterranean dancehall music, there was fervor and intrigue over the works of the All Roads global indigenous artists. Several of the festival attendees commented that they had never witnessed such an event in their experiences on the Los Angeles scene.

As a result of outreach to a local high school, young students also had the opportunity to share in the appreciation of these powerful and unique stories. The film "Super Amigos" was especially engaging for youth, and they were surprisingly in tune with the social touch points raised in the film. The film was also a hit for Friday night's festival attendees. Indeed "super" can be appropriately applied to the reception the film received on this night. Amid two standing ovations and chants of social pride from the well-attended audience, Super Barrio made a triumphant appearance for an engaging question and answer session that delved into some of the hot button issues afflicting this continent's megalopolises.

The festival has had an equally strong impact on the artists as well; many are visiting the U.S. for the first time. During the question and answer session that followed the screening of "Dol," the film's producer Mehmet Aktas noted that All Roads is the only festival in the U.S. that has been willing and daring enough to screen his films, thus both were U.S. premieres. According to All Roads Photography Program awardee A Yin (China, Inner Mongolia), his peers were apathetic towards his honor because of the perception among them that National Geographic is too business-oriented. After five days with the festival, he said he cannot wait to tell his colleagues how wrong they were. He said he is moved by the opportunity granted by NGS to meet these other artists from around the world while providing a platform for each to express their stories.