The Cinema Society with Alice & Olivia hosted a screening of Roadside Attractions’ “Gimme Shelter,” which hits theaters today. 

From the film:  Vanessa Hudgens, Rosario Dawson, Brendan Fraser, Ann Dowd, Stephanie Szostak, Dascha Polanco (Orange is the New Black), Emily Meade, Tashiana Washington, Laneya Wiles, Gena Bardwell, Eddie Schweighardt, Elyse Kratchman, writer/director Ronald Krauss and Kathy DiFiore (the inspiration for the film; founder of Several Sources Shelters) were all in attendance at MoMA.

Other attendees included: Tyra Banks, Taryn Manning (Orange is the New Black), Alysia Reiner (Orange is the New Black), Jamie Chung, Stacey Bendet Eisner (Alice & Olivia), La La Anthony, Valerie Simpson (Ashford & Simpson), Kweku Mandela (Nelson Mandela’s grandson), Tracie Thoms, Diane Guerrero (Orange is the New Black), Eric West, Monique Coleman (High School Musical), Condola Rashad, Jaime Cepero, Keenyah Hill and Cinema Society Founder Andrew Saffir.

“Gimme Shelter” highlights the hardships faced by youth and women in America struggling to find homes, medical care, and support for themselves and their children. The film was inspired by the true story of Kathy DiFiore’s Several Sources Shelters, a non-profit organization providing support, education, care, and housing for women and families in need.

In our exclusive video check out what the film’s star Vanessa Hudgens had to say about why this project was so important to her and Rosario Dawson recounts playing a crack addict.

We also spoke with Vanessa’s co-star Laneya Wiles:

Can you speak about the casting process?

During the call back, it didn’t take place at a regular casting studio. It took place at the actual shelter and we also were there at the callback with girls who lived there already, so we were like wait a minute, are they going to choose actors or are they going to be real girls or both? So he mixed them both.

Tell me about collaborating with Ron Krauss?

It was an excellent experience because of course it was crazy having people like Brendan Fraser,James Earl Jones, Rosario and Vanessa, but ultimately no matter how crazy things got…he was able to be real with us. I liked that most.

 What were the challenges of tackling your character?

The fact that she had naturally a completely different background than me. We are both black and Puerto Rican, but I have a supportive family. I didn’t get pregnant young so you know trying to tap into that frame of thought.

What was it like working with Vanessa Hudgens?

Working with Vanessa was great. She was like a sister to all of us. We talked about boys. We talked about regular stuff . She would still read fan mail in between breaks and sometimes we didn’t know how people found out, but there would be fans that showed up at the shelter and we’re like whoa who told them! But other than that we had fun in the dressing rooms talking about production and how we felt it was going.

How did you get your start in entertainment?

I started when I was four years old professionally acting and honestly I always loved to perform in front of my family and we would throw our own little Broadway shows, I made playbills, I did modeling and all that stuff then a teacher when I was in pre-k recommended me to a manager and here I am today! Perseverance!

“Gimme Shelter” is now playing.