Uptown Film Festival to Host Premiere of 'Bully' Documentary

The upcoming  in Birmingham will host the Michigan premiere of Bully, a documentary spotlighting the impact of bullying in American schools and communities.

Ironically, the film's R rating would exclude much of its intended school-aged audience if the Motion Picture Association of America refuses to change it to PG-13, Katy Butler, a Michigan bullying victim who hopes to change the board's mind, said in an ABC News report. Butler posted a petition at Change.org to get signatures in support of a PG-13 rating for Bully.

The MPAA ratings board defended the R rating, saying the film includes epithets that are hurled at a 13-year-old bullying victim. 

The March 8-10 film festival will screen the documentary at 2 p.m. March 10, prior to the film's official release March 30. The screening will take place at the the .

After the screening, the national anti-bullying nonprofit Defeat the Label — one of the festival's nonprofit partners — will host a panel discussion on bullying featuring local students, parents and school officials. The panel members will discuss the dangers of bullying and effective ways to identify and respond to bullying when it occurs.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Safe and Drug-Free Schools, more than 13 million American kids will be bullied this year, making it the most common form of violence experienced by young people in the country.

"Bullying is devastating to its victims, and in a number of cases, has resulted in teen or adolescent suicide," said Jeffrey Spilman, co-executive director of the Uptown Film Festival.

"As members of Michigan film industry, we understand and respect the power of film to effect meaningful change," he said. "We believe that Bully is the kind of prolific film that will inspire audiences to act, and working in partnership with Defeat the Label, we hope to enlist our community to take a stand against bullying."

Bully is directed by Sundance- and Emmy-award winning filmmaker Lee Hirsch and gives viewers a look into the lives of five bullied children and their families. Filmed during the 2009-10 school year, each story represents a different facet of bullying while drawing attention to the fact that the practice transcends geographic, racial, ethnic and economic boundaries.

While the film discusses how bullying is dismissed by some, Hirsch also strives to highlight the growing movement among parents and youth to change how bullying is addressed.

"We encourage metro area students and their parents to join us at the Uptown Film Festival for this important panel discussion and film screening," said Jeff Sakwa, executive director of Defeat the Label-Michigan. "Strength in numbers, reinforced by your 'Defeat the Label' T-shirts, sends a powerful message that bullying is not acceptable in our schools."

If you go

Tickets for Bully are available at www.uptownfilmfestival.com. The $10 ticket includes admission to both the film and the panel discussion. You can also text keyword "bully" to 41242 for festival and Bully updates.

For a full lineup of films showing at the 2012 Uptown Film Festival, check out .