CITIZEN PENN Documentary

Dean of the AFI Conservatory Susan Ruskin leads a conversation between filmmaker Don Hardy and subjects Sean Penn and Ann Lee.

“Humanitarian” is not necessarily the word that comes to mind in relation to the iconoclastic actor/director Sean Penn. Don Hardy’s eye-opening documentary CITIZEN PENN, however, shows that Penn, through his nonprofit Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), is making a significant impact in disaster relief efforts throughout the world. In the weeks following Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, Penn organizes a relief flight to Haiti. What follows is a sustained effort that, year-by-year, earns the respect of other relief organizations, and more important, gains the trust of the Haitians themselves. CORE’s mantra — and the source material for the many dramatic scenes in the film — is to cut through needless red tape as much as possible to meet the most urgent needs on the ground, while at the same time addressing the root causes of disasters. –Ken Jacobson