Following its premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, the documentary feature film “Miss Representation” will be screened at the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation Queen of Heart’s lunch Feb. 15 at the Resort at Squaw Creek in Olympic Valley.

Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, “Miss Representation” exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.

“Miss Representation” includes stories from teenage girls and interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists and academics like Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, Jackson Katz, Jean Kilbourne, and Gloria Steinem.

While women have made strides in leadership over the past few decades, the U.S. is 90th in the world in terms of women in national legislatures and women hold only 3 percent of clout positions in mainstream media.

The distribution of the film “Miss Representation” will coincide with a social action campaign led by MissRepresentation.org. The campaign seeks to empower women and girls to challenge limiting labels in order to fully realize their potential, and ultimately transform our culture for the betterment of all. A portion of the film proceeds will be donated to women’s leadership initiatives led by partnership beneficiaries that include Girls for A Change, Girls Inc., The International Museum of Women, Step Up Women’s Network, The Women’s Media Center, and The White House Project.

For more information about the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation Queen of Hearts Luncheon and the screening of “Miss Representation”, contact Cathy Dangler at cathy@dangler.us or call (415) 317.7705.