Kaileigh Tod will also be selling her self-created 'I have embraced' bracelets for $5 at the Embrace screening Saturday, March 10
Body image can weigh heavy
FKRM student shells out licensing fee money to screen documentary in Winnipeg to continue positive body image conversation
University of Manitoba student Kaileigh Tod wants you to love your body—so much so she’s footing the bill to bring a body image documentary to the big screen to kickstart a conversation about the importance of loving the skin you’re in.
Tod, 20, is coordinating a screening of Embrace, a 2016 Australian documentary film that, according to its Netflix description, “is a crusade to shed negative body images and body shaming to create a new way of perceiving our bodies.”
She’s paying the $300 licensing fee out of her own pocket to have the documentary play at Park Theatre (698 Osborne St.) Saturday, March 10 at 2 p.m.
Kaileigh Tod
The third-year Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management student has a passion for spreading positive body image messaging, often sharing her thoughts on the topic via her social media feeds.
She says she’s received plenty of positive feedback from others—often from people she doesn’t know—about the body image messages she’s sharing.
“I get DMs from girls telling me how much my messages and thoughts help them. That’s very encouraging for me,” says Tod.
She’s taking things a step further by hosting the Embrace screening, a film she finds “inspiring and empowering.” Tod hopes the documentary will help continue the conversation around body image, and spark connections amongst people identifying with the topic.
“Every one of us, men and women, live with a body image issue of some sort, including myself,” she adds.
The event is free and doors open at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Tod will also be accepting donations for Willow Place, a Winnipeg women and children’s emergency shelter.
There will be 30 minutes after the show where people can chat and discuss the film, topic, and connect with like-minded people.