Cynthia Wade to Make Selfie Film for Dove: #BeautyIs

To mark the tenth anniversary of the ‘Campaign for Real Beauty,’ Dove has partnered with Sundance Institute and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Cynthia Wade on a documentary short film Selfie.

Dove is inviting all women to redefine beauty and share their own beauty stories using #BeautyIs.

When it comes to societal factors that influence the beauty conversation, Dove says media and pop culture continue to play a pivotal role.

But social media (user generated content) is emerging as one of the most powerful influencing factors. Social media offers women the opportunity to create their own media, personalize beauty and influence the conversation, believes Dove.

[ Also Read: Top 17 Social Media Campaigns of 2013 ]

Dove premiered Selfie, a documentary short film, Monday at Sundance Institute’s Women at Sundance brunch in Park City, UT.

Selfie is directed by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Cynthia Wade and produced by Sharon Liese.

The film captures the journey of multiple generations of girls and their mothers in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts as they create a new type of selfie that celebrates their unique beauty.

“The way women are defining beauty today is changing dramatically, and social media has much to do with the change,” says Cynthia Wade.

“Now we have the ability to photograph the beauty we see in our friends and ourselves. When we share these diverse images on our social networks, we are taking personal ownership and truly redefining beauty.”

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Selfie focuses on a social media challenge, #BeautyIs, in which the film’s participants explore their vulnerable self-images and take selfies which prominently feature what they perceive as their personal physical flaws.

With the help of a professional photographer, the girls build the courage to create art by embracing their least desirable feature thus expanding their definition of what beauty is.

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Exhibiting these images in a #BeautyIs selfie photo gallery, the young women share their newly discovered beauty with women of all ages in their community.

Dove is supporting the 2013-2014 Mentorship Program of the Sundance Institute – Women In Film Los Angeles Women Filmmakers Initiative.

[ Also Read: Top 12 Documentary Films Announced in 2013 ]

The 2014 class of mentees includes six female filmmakers involved in both documentary and narrative projects who have been paired with mentors working in the industry today.

You can go to www.DoveBeautyIs.com and upload a photo or 15 second video with #BeautyIs illustrating how you define beauty.

Dove, manufactured by Unilever, is a personal wash brand.