"Bully" Director Lee Hirsch to be Featured Guest at Pelham's Picture House Friday

• The following announcement was released by state Sen. Jeff Klein's office on June 5.

Pelham, NY— Emmy and Sundance Film Festival award-winning director Lee Hirsch will be on hand for the Pelham ’s premiere of his widely acclaimed documentary, "Bully," on Friday, June 8, at 7:30 pm. Hirsch is attending the premiere as a guest of state Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx/Westchester, who has made anti-bullying initiatives one of his signature policy issues for 2012. Following the film, Klein and The Picture House will host a panel to address the crisis of bullying both inside and outside of the classroom. Hirsch will be the panel’s featured speaker.

 Said Klein: “I am thrilled that director Lee Hirsch will be visiting Pelham to discuss bullying in our community. For the past several months, I have done my best to bring bullying and cyber bullying into the spot light by introducing legislation that will finally address the toll that cyber bullying takes on our young people each and every day. By way of the first-of-its-kind NY Cyber Bully Census, thousands of students have shared their stories and allowed my office to get a better idea of how bullying is affecting our young people. I hope that parents, students, teachers and administrators will make the time to attend this special evening so that we can continue to identify and resolve these important issues. I look forward to seeing everyone there.”

Klein has also invited several dozen students from Pelham High School to attend the screening as his guests.

Members of the Pelham education community who will participate in the panel discussion include: Sharon Charles (Margaret’s Place Coordinator, Pelham Middle School, WJCS/ Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation), Colonial Elementary School Principal Tonya Wilson, Siwanoy School Principal Susan Gilbert and Roseanne Martinez of the Pelham Guidance Council.

 In February, Klein Pelham middle and high schools to talk about bullying and what students can do to prevent cyber bullying in their schools. Students also participated in a survey that will be used to further stakeholder’s understanding of bullying in schools throughout New York State.

“I am excited that Sen. Jeff Klein was able to secure Director Lee Hirsch’s attendance for our premiere—the entire event promises to be a thrilling and thought provoking evening," said Ilya Tovbis, Director of Film Programming at The Picture House. "In addition to being a terrific film in its own terms, "Bully" is also a great catalyst for meaningful and impactful conversation. Having Lee Hirsch on hand presents a unique and special opportunity for movie goers to hear straight from the source. I couldn’t be more pleased about the wonderful group that will be joining us on June 8.” 

The conversation will continue throughout the weeklong run, as The Picture House has scheduled a closing night, wrap-up community discussion to be led by Cheryl Bobe of the Pelham Guidance Council, which will be free for anyone who purchased tickets throughout the week.