BlinkNow Foundation Announces New Film Featuring Humanitarian Work in Nepal
MORRISTOWN, NJ, Oct. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlinkNow, a charity co-founded by New Jersey native and CNN Hero Maggie Doyne, is excited to announce that an upcoming fundraiser event will showcase the new award-winning documentary, Between the Mountain and the Sky, featuring Doyne, Co-founder Tope Bahadur Malla, and the children they serve in Nepal.
The film chronicles the charity’s origins but goes far beyond that storyline, captivating audiences with the authenticity of its inspiring narrative and heartfelt exploration of love, family, resilience through tragedy, and the power of the human spirit.
Directed by Jeremy Power Regimbal and produced by Duplass Brothers Productions, the film premiered in May at Mountainfilm festival, in Telluride, Colorado, earning critical acclaim and clinching both the Audience Choice Award and Student Choice Award.
The documentary has since received the Best Documentary Award at both the Athens International Monthly and Dublin Independent film festivals. At Port Townsend Film Festival, it earned the Audience Choice Award, and the film is featured at a number of festivals and private screenings this fall.
Early reviews have praised Doyne, her Co-founder Tope Bahadur Malla, Filmmaker Jeremy Power Regimbal, and their work while also hailing the uniqueness of this humanitarian story. Telluride Inside calls the film "an intimate documentary spanning nearly two decades, traversing the landscapes of Nepal, the Netherlands, America, and Canada."
The “Hometown Premiere” private screening of Between the Mountain and the Sky will be held on Sunday, November 3 at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, New Jersey. The film will be shown at 3:30 PM including a Q&A with Doyne and Filmmaker Jeremy Power Regimbal, followed by a celebratory After Party. Advance tickets are required for both events.
Many New Jersey supporters have followed Doyne’s journey on social media since BlinkNow was founded in 2007. Doyne still lives in Nepal at the Kopila Valley Children’s Home and is thrilled to return to her hometown and share this film, saying, “I can’t imagine this journey without the love and support from so many incredible communities throughout New Jersey for seventeen years and counting now. It feels full circle to bring the film back where it all began. I can’t wait for everyone who has been such an instrumental part of BlinkNow to experience this film and feel the impact we have made together across the world!”
Tickets for the film and fundraiser, along with sponsorship opportunities, are available at www.blinknow.org/mpac.
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The film Between the Mountain and the Sky follows Doyne’s journey from a childhood in New Jersey to a high school gap year and world travels, which led her to volunteer in India alongside eventual Nepalese Co-founder Malla, and to visit Nepal. Doyne’s life was changed by meeting the children of Surkhet, Nepal, and she began to pursue a compassionate vision to ensure that every child is safe, educated, and loved. As they cultivated relationships and listened to the needs of the people in this region, Doyne and Malla collaborated with the community to establish a children’s home for those without families, a school for children who cannot afford education, a women’s empowerment center, and a host of other programs that together create a model for comprehensive and sustainable community development.
Maggie Doyne was named the CNN Hero of the Year in 2015, has been featured in Forbes and The New York Times, and, together with a team of caregivers and teachers, has helped to raise more than 80 children and educate more than 600 students.
Director Jeremy Power Regimbal holds a very close personal connection to the subjects of the documentary – he and Doyne eventually married. “I found myself on an intensely emotional journey, one that transcended the boundaries of filmmaking, and intertwined with my personal life in unexpected ways. Falling in love with Maggie and becoming part of the big, beautiful Kopila family added layers of depth and emotion to the already-profound experience of crafting this film.”
Regimbal’s feature-film directorial debut, In Their Skin, premiered at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. He has also worked with global brands like MasterCard, Nike, Chevrolet and CitiBank. Regimbal co-founded The Lab Magazine, a print and digital publication distributed in over 25 countries featuring conversations between Willem Dafoe, Brit Marling, Jeremy Renner, Sam Rockwell, David Fincher, Wes Anderson and Noam Chomsky. He now lives between Nepal and the USA, focusing on telling stories that matter via MPWR CONTENT.
Between the Mountain and the Sky is produced by Duplass Brothers Productions (DBP), award-winning filmmakers Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass and Mel Eslyn. DBP creates original projects for film, television and digital media. In January DBP premiered the pilot to their series “Penelope,” created by Mark and Eslyn, at 2024's Sundance Film Festival. Their most recent release, the docu-series “American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders,” debuted at #4 in the U.S. on Netflix. Upcoming releases include Morrisa Maltz's Jazzy, which they produced with Lily Gladstone, Nnamdi Asomugha's The Knife, and the third season of HBO's “Somebody Somewhere.”
The BlinkNow Foundation provides an education and a loving, caring home for at-risk children. The foundation also provides community outreach to reduce poverty, empower women, improve health, and encourage sustainability and social justice - it fulfills its mission by providing financial support and management oversight to the Kopila Valley Children's Home and Kopila Valley School in Surkhet, Nepal. In addition to the home and school, Kopila Valley runs a Health & Wellness program, Women's Center, Home for At-Risk Students, Futures Career Readiness Program, and integrated Sustainability Program across all initiatives.
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Katy Munden Hays BlinkNow Foundation katy@blinknow.org
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