Geena Davis at Sarasota Film Festival: Gender equality activism makes Academy Award winner spot-on selection selection for SFF's first Impact Award

Geena Davis at the 2009 Tribeca Film Fest

Here's my column on the importance of Geena Davis attending the Sarasota Film Festival to receive its first Impact Award:

Sure, she has portrayed strong characters in films such as “Thelma & Louise” and the television show “Commander in Chief.”

But she also founded The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.

Since 2004, Davis’ organization has campaigned to expand roles for women and girls in film and television. It has also sought to eliminate gender stereotypes in media directed at children younger than 11.

Davis’ activism got her appointed to the California Commission on the Status of Women, and she is a partner with UN women, which aims to change the way media represent women and girls globally.

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