RFK’s filmmaker daughter to speak at GCJFS gala

Rory Kennedy Acclaimed documentary filmmaker and producer Rory Kennedy will be the featured speaker at the Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services’ inaugural FACES gala celebration on Wednesday, Oct. 13.

The elegant business attire event will be held in the Mahffey Theater at the Progress Energy Center for the Arts, 400 First Ave. S. in St. Petersburg. Cocktails and a buffet dinner begin at 6 p.m., with the program starting at 7:30 p.m. Couvert is $200 per person.

The event will be a celebration of the clients served by Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services and the people involved in embracing and changing their lives.

Kennedy, the 11th child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, was born after her father’s assassination. Her films tackle some of the most pressing social concerns – poverty, domestic abuse, drug addiction, human rights, AIDS and mental illness. Many of her films have received awards, been featured at such renowned festivals as Sundance, and been broadcast on HBO, PBS and a variety of other networks.

Kennedy’s most recent projects include the Ghosts of Abu Ghraib (2007) which premièred at the Sundance Film Festival and won the 2007 Primetime Emmy Award for best documentary, Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House (2008) for HBO Documentary Films, and The Fence (La Barda), which premiered at the opening night of The Sundance Film Festival 2010.