Parents & Children

From time to time, we notice patterns or common threads in the feedback we're getting from our audiences.  Recently, we've been incredibly touched by the responses from parents and children with whom Wink and Hushpuppy's relationship resonated.  Below are some of the voices we've encountered that seemed almost in dialogue with one another. If any of the stories you read below ring true (or don't!) we encourage you to share your story and join the conversation, we're all ears. Jason from Boston, MA

We went to "Beasts" Sunday and really loved it. Still think about it every day. My 10-yr old was especially quiet after. She said she really liked it a lot, and she mentioned it was the first non-animated movie she'd ever seen in a theater. I hadn't realized that. I asked why she was so quiet and she said ".... I think I want to cry, but I don't think I'm sad?" I totally knew what she meant. 

Later that night she was trying to unscrew a cap from a bottle of water and for millionth time asked me to do it for her, I said "Come on, just give it a little effort, then if you can't I'll do it for you." For the first time in the 10 year ongoing battle of trying to get her some confidence, she actually gave it her all. Little fingers clenched on the cap, her face turned red, a vein in her forehead became visible and finally it opened. She slammed it down on the counter and yelled "I'm the man!" 

 Best laugh I had in a long time.

Kathy from Brattleboro, VT

My father was both hugely flawed an hugely caring, strong, protective. Even though, I’m not six years old, well, your dad is your dad. So I sat in the theater and watched this beautiful, spiritual, horrible story and I cried. You know, one of those good cries.

So on behalf of all daughters being chased by monsters, thank you.

Katie Calautti & Mark and Joe Pezzula, Twitter

Screen shot 2012-07-27 at 12.05.51 PM

Todd from  Los Angeles, CA

I'm a single dad so there was much resonance in the film for my daughter and me. She loved the character of Hushpuppy and remembers a few of the lines from the film. 

Rebecca from Seattle, WA

After many months of anticipation, I finally saw this outstanding film last night. I will surely see it again before it leaves the theater here. I was utterly captivated not only by the remarkable performance of Quvenzhane Wallis but by the depiction of the utter devastation that a child perceives when a parent disappears or dies. The deep connection that Hushpuppy has to the “universe”, both in literal and metaphorical terms, and the sense that even in the face of destruction one can be a survivor, a beast, and even have a little immortality, touches something deeply human. Adults know it cognitively, but children do in their own way. Bringing those two together as they were in the film was a true tour de force. To find a girl who can embody that was an incredible stroke of luck and turning her into that little, wonderful beast was directing at its finest.

Ellen Sweets, Blog Commenter

This film is so effin’ brilliant, so effin’ moving that i can’t believe the whole world won’t weep when hushpuppy faces down the aurochs…anyone unmoved by this film has a hole in his/her soul. my daughter and i have never — repeat — NEVER agree on a movie since “E.T,” "Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and, “Oh Brother Where Art Thou.” We can’t stop talking about “Beasts.” There will be a second viewing. Maybe a third. we’ll look for hushpuppy at the Oscars….and don’t mess with her hair too much.

BOTSW Director Benh Zeitlin's UStream Q&A

On Saturday, August 4th, we hosted a live Q&A with BOTSW Director Benh Zeitlin. Benh fielded questions submitted by Facebook and Twitter fans of the film, giving an intimate look at the film's language, character, history and his living room.

Meet Our Outreachers

I BEAST IT because I love watching and talking about great movies and I believe that awesome grassroots filmmaking deserves just as dedicated a grassroots outreach effort. The more we can put our collective energy behind supporting films that can make a difference outside of the Hollywood machine, the more we're going to see fresh and innovative films like Beasts out in the world! -- Drew, Beasts of the Southern Wild Outreacher We've got a superstar team of outreachers manning the airwaves and fielding your questions & comments.  Meet the bathtubbers!

You may remember Gus and Laura, our National Outreach Coordinators for East and West respectively.

Regionally, we've got Marianna (left) representing the South and Carly (right) in the Midwest.

Jessie (L) & Jess (R) holding down the north east!

& finally, Dema (L) and Drew (R), our NY Outreach coordinators!

Long story short: I was looking at the films that were nominated for Sundance back in January, and stumbled upon the synopsis of Beasts and the vision behind Court 13. Both of them instantly hit home for me -- and I was very excited that a film and production company with such a humanistic and community based values existed. Beasts felt like an oasis of humanism in the film industry and part of a movement I wanted to be a part of. I knew instinctually I had to work for Beasts this summer, so I immediately got in touch with Josh. Now I'm here. -- Jessie Chen, Northeast Outreach Coordinator

We're looking to keep growing our outreach team at our Cinereach HQ in New York and across the globe.

If you're interested in joining our team as an Outreach Coordinator, email us at beasts@beastsofthesouthernwild.com to tell us why you want to get involved and what your schedule is like.

Reactions to Beasts of the Southern Wild

There are some common threads emerging in how audiences are responding to and interpreting Beasts of the Southern Wild, but it also seems to hit everyone a little bit differently.

We've begun compiling reactions and analysis from thinkers, bloggers, academics, and regular folks and some of what we've come across is featured below. We invite you to read, reflect, and join in the discussion! Please let us know by adding a comment if there's a reference or  a thought you'd like to throw into the ring. We'll keep adding to this post as our collection grows.

Hushpuppy is small, but she has agency and power. Beasts of the Southern Wild presents a new hero of the monomyth, one that we’re not used to seeing in Southern literature — a girl of color who grows into a mighty (and mighty small) creature, despite the challenges of natural disasters, familial tragedy and mythical beasts. The scale of her story is epic, and epicly Southern, an attempt to keep the rest of the world from advancing on a place she loves and destroying it.

-- Brooke Hatfield's Small Mythologies in Canonball, a blog about feminist reading and writing.

"For the poor student or the minority student living in a police state, we ignore the signs of PTSD that are obvious and present, for that would require us speaking out against a system that has sustained our employ. These kids are our “beasts” of the educational wild. But it is not our job to tame them, because they do not need to be tamed. They require love and understanding. They don’t need us to explain their existence in ways that are palatable, when their personal daily experiences are unpalatable. They need to be heard in way they speak- without translation for our comfort."

-- Read Worokya Duncan's article "Beasts of the Educational Wild" here.

"In fact, that’s the message that all the stalwarts in The Bathtub—the black ones and the white ones—want to convey, that not only do all of us have an assigned place in the universe but that the way we were made is the way we’re supposed to be. In this cosmology, levees are unnatural. Flood protection leads to alienation. We may obtain some temporary safety when we wall ourselves off from nature’s ebb and flow, but it costs us our connection to the planet. And losing that connection is worse than any storm."

-- Jarvis DeBerry's piece, An Unexpected, Enduring Lesson From ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’, published in Color Lines.

The American Bible Society responded with a study guide to prompt discussion about our place in the universe and our intention in life.  It's available for download here.

 [There is a] national and international fascination with Louisiana’s disaster streak. Had 1,836 people (1,577 in Louisiana) not died during Hurricane Katrina and had the population of New Orleans not decreased by almost 30 percent (a majority African American), there would be no Beasts of the Southern Wild. Also, by coincidence, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil blowout occurred on the first day of shooting the film in April of 2010... Beasts depicts coastal Louisiana’s environmental and cultural endangerment in ways that transcend scientific studies and government policies, while at the same time reaching national and international audiences...My fear, however, is that those who watch Beasts of the Southern Wild will get lost in the wonder and magic and spirit of the Bathtub; that they will rest in the film’s beauty instead of being jolted by the reality that, as Hushpuppy says, “Sometimes you can break something so bad, that it can’t get put back together.”

--

Michael Pasquier, 

Something So Broken: What’s Frightening About 

Beasts of the Southern Wild

 for 

Religion Dispatches

Magazine.

Brewing Culture

released a Beasts of the Southern Wild Conversation Guide that poses questions about struggle, community, and friendship.  It's available for download

here

.

Beasting it in L.A., NOLA, & San Fran

Above, Beasts Outreacher Mark Goudy handed out flyers at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.

All across the country, people are coming together to rally around the Bathtub.

In Los Angeles, Beasts Outreacher Danny Derakhshan organized a loud-and-proud group trip.

Meanwhile, Tracy Greenwald and Rick Brown held a dinner-and-a-movie event in San Francisco, CA.  Yum!

If you're interested in hosting your own group trip or outreach event, email us at:

beasts@beastsofthesouthernwild.com or create an event here.

We'll even send you a special poster package to say thanks for beasting it!