Archive for November, 2009
BETWEEN THE FOLDS Gets America Folding Paper
In cooperation with OrigamiUSA and The Mathematical Association of America Community Cinema presented 42 free screening events for BETWEEN THE FOLDS a documentary by Vanessa Gould that delves deeply into the magical intersection of mathematics, science, and art that is paperfolding which is also known as origami. The film drew huge crowds across the country.
Rodger Despres, a local Michigan paper folder, displays a 45-foot long paper model train that took him 1,500 hours to construct.
Our first free event for BETWEEN THE FOLDS took place at the fabulous Urban Institute for Contemporary Art in Grand Rapids, Michigan where Community Cinema is in its 3rd smash season. Emily Maurin, Community Cinema Producing Partner with WGVU, told us, “We were extremely lucky to have two amazing paper folders with us––Richard Alexander, one of the film’s participants, and Rodger Despres, a local paper folder who has constructed a 45-foot long paper model train. They each offered a different perspective on paper folding. Richard spoke about his artwork as well as his experiences making his own paper. Rodger discussed how he has used paper to engineer working train cars and tracks. He was very excited since Richard was the first paper folder he had met! They talked about how paper folding is almost a secret society that is just now emerging as a mainstream art.”
In the video below, director Vanessa Gould gives a behind-the-scenes look at what it was like making the film, how she worked with artists and a discusses a variety of issues related to independent filmmaking.
“Crease Is the Word!” Jim Ridley writes in Nashville Scene about the upcoming free event for BETWEEN THE FOLDS at the Nashville Public Library THIS Sunday. “Vanessa Gould’s documentary has received rapturous notices for concentrating on the intersection of art and science that the ancient paper-folding art represents.”
Mary Delach Leonard writes in the St. Louis Beacon about our event at the Missouri History Museum. “Watching a former sculptor in France fold a flat sheet of paper into a three-dimensional human caricature … is worth far more than 1,000 words — which makes “Between the Folds” one of those unexpected documentaries you have to see to appreciate.” Read more>>
In St. Louis, approximately 340 people showed up for the viewing of the film at the Missouri History Museum. Sydney Meyer of Community Cinema Producing Partner KETC said, “I was amazed watching the diversity of people fill the auditorium and overflow onto the steps and the sides of the theater. People of all ages laughed and clapped at various parts of the film, signaling they understood what the artists were trying to communicate to them. After the film, the fun continued as more than 120 folks stayed to try their hand at paper-folding with artist Sugi Taylor. There was a lot of laughter and concentration as people attempted to make a paper box and bird.” As I walked around the tables, I heard comments like “I thought the simple figures would be easier. Now I admire the film artists even more!” or “I loved the film and I am amazed I can make this figure out of almost nothing… one simple square of paper.”
Director Vanessa Gould spent 3 days at 3 Community Cinema events in The Los Angeles area, and we were so lucky that she took time to write about it. › Continue reading
Fold a Turkey for Thanksgiving
Just in time for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, here is a helpful external video link to learn how to fold paper turkeys. After Thanksgiving you still have a few chances to catch a free Community Cinema screening of BETWEEN THE FOLDS about the art and science of paperfolding.
Watch the video trailer for BETWEEN THE FOLDS by Vanessa Gould and find your free screening event!
Tonight on Independent Lens: OBJECTIFIED by Gary Hustwit
“OBJECTIFIED, Gary Hustwit’s documentary about industrial design, is as sleek and handsome as any of the new and improved household items it exhibits.” – The New York Times
How does the design of your cell phone, toothbrush or couch impact your life? Did you ever stop to think about it? Director Gary Hustwit (director of Community Cinema hit selection HELVETICA) looks at our complex relationship with manufactured objects, the people who design them and the creative process behind their work. Step inside the offices of the world’s most influential product designers to see how these objects influence us––oftentimes without us even knowing it.
OBJECTIFIED premieres tonight, November 24, at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).
Which iconic object best captures your personality? Take this entertaining quiz and find out >>
Are you on Facebook? Take the quiz and share the results with friends >>
Community Cinema New Orleans Presents Special Challenges and Rewards
Allison Inman, our Nashville-based National Community Cinema Coordinator recently spoke to Jerald White, Director of the Charitable Film Network, our Community Cinema Producing Partner in New Orleans. Since 2006, Community Cinema – led by courageous volunteers – has presented free events in a variety of unique community venues.
Community Cinema New Orleans Presented BETWEEN THE FOLDS This Past Saturday
Allison writes, Of all the cities that host Community Cinema screenings, I’m most grateful for the New Orleans program. That post-Katrina transition — a mixture of financial setbacks and relentless creative spirit — makes it fertile ground for discussions around the social issues in the films.
AI: What are the challenges and triumphs of organizing events in New Orleans these days?
JW: Juggling the demands of our ongoing recovery effort, with the hardships brought on by the current recession can make it difficult to organize Community Cinema events. People sometimes get stuck in survival mode, and they don’t always feel like they can afford to take a break or connect with others in the community.
It’s always a challenge to secure program venues and funding, but we’ve moved the program forward despite these challenges. We’ve been very fortunate this year to attract new partners like the New Orleans Office of Film & Video, the Louisiana Office of Film & Television, Antenna Gallery, and the Dillard University Theater Department.
Antenna Gallery New Orleans, Louisiana
At the end of the day it seems that “organizing” in New Orleans is really about improvisation – learning to take advantage of the moment at hand, and understanding the importance of cultivating long-term community relationships.
AI: Which films resonate most with your audience? What kind of subject matter — social justice films like Tulia, Texas, or more light-hearted art films like Helvetica and Copyright Criminals?
JW: Films about the environment and hardcore social justice issues tend to draw larger crowds here. There is also a strong audience for films like HELVETICA and BETWEEN THE FOLDS. However, films with New Orleans themes like A VILLAGE CALLED VERSAILLES traditionally resonate the most with our audience.
AI: You like to move the events around to various venues around town. Why do you think that’s important?
Community Cinema Seattle Partners With PAPER
Members of the Puget Area Paperfolding Enthusiasts Roundtable (PAPER) assisted audience members in folding a range of origami pieces following the free screening of the paper folding documentary BETWEEN THE FOLDS shown Saturday, November 21 in Seattle at the SIFF Cinema. There are dozens of free screenings of BETWEEN THE FOLDS remaining around the country in November.
BETWEEN THE FOLDS Director Vanessa Gould in Los Angeles
Director of the Community Cinema documentary selection BETWEEN THE FOLDS Vanessa Gould spent the past few days at a series of screening events for the film in the greater Los Angeles area. In addition to the two unique screening and folding events at the historic Aero Theatre in Santa Monica and at the Frida Kahlo Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, Ms. Gould attended a very special screening of the film at the LA County Sheriff’s Pitches Detention Center for close to 200 inmates. She shares her deeply moving visit with us. [No photographs were allowed in or near the detention center for security reasons.]
Vanessa Gould (producer/director) of BETWEEN THE FOLDS
As we walked into LA’s Pitches Detention Center, the sky was deep blue and a long flock of birds flew calmly with the wind above. The series of heavy gates and barbed wire fences ahead gave me a pit in my stomach. Behind the barriers, I soon saw men of all ages – hundreds in royal blue jumpsuits – working, standing, exercising outside.
I was there with Desiree Gutierrez, the ITVS National Community Cinema Coordinator for the Southern California region, to answer questions about BETWEEN THE FOLDS, which a group was watching as we arrived. I had strong doubts as to whether they’d connect to a film about paperfolding, worrying it was trivial in light of the gravity of their own personal situations. How would the film be relevant to them? What could I possibly say or do that could be genuinely useful?
A stock photo of a typical inmate gathering provided courtesy of the LA County Sheriff's Department
Desiree and I entered the room with Deputy Bates and a few other staff members just as they had finished the film. It was a crowded room with about 200 men seated closely, gathered around a single television.
As soon as the lights went on and I looked up – despite my insecurity – it was quite possibly the most enthusiastic reception the film has ever seen: a room brimming with almost-rowdy excitement and big smiles, a few thumbs up and hands on hearts. Even some paper hats and paper stars made out of the local county newspaper were floating around. Deputy Bates introduced us, and I filled with warmth, relieved that the film had perhaps given them an escape from their daily routine.
Community Cinema Welcomes New Producing Partners: Louisville Film Society and KET
Producing Partners are local community organizations that co-present Community Cinema screenings across the country. Ken Wilson of Louisville, Kentucky with the Louisville Film Society shares some of his thoughts about becoming a Community Cinema and Community Classroom partner. BETWEEN THE FOLDS shows Thursday, Nov 19 at 3:30 PM at Fern Creek Traditional HS 9115 Fern Creek Rd. The film will be followed by a community discussion.
The Louisville Film Society in Louisville Kentucky
The Louisville Film Society has wanted for a long time to have a presence in local high schools – to foster both filmmaking and film appreciation. We found an ideal connection at Fern Creek. Fern Creek High School is a Louisville public school in a lower-middle class area where there is very little cultural activity.
With the encouragement of FC’s principal, Dr. Houston Barber, we have formed a film club and have begun turning their little-used auditorium into the site for our Community Cinema showings. Students have been given duties in publicity, set-up of equipment, and announcements and panel participation. One project we are planning to give the students is the shooting of an opening “Welcome, turn off your phones, here are our sponsors…” video. Eventually, students in the film club will be making films for a student film festival that will be part of the Louisville Film Society’s Flyover Film Festival, held in June. We are hoping their exposure to the subjects and techniques of the Independent Lens films will broaden and deepen their work.
Kentucky Educational Television
The alumni association at Fern Creek is very active. We are hoping that our monthly Community Cinema screenings will bring them back to school to engage with current students. We hope to raise students’ awareness of artistic, political, cultural questions and connect them to the wider community – and to raise the community’s awareness of those kids’ potential as creative, aware, productive citizens. We want to make enlarge the scope of Louisville’s artistic and intellectual life, and put film at the center of that life. We want people talking about, creating, and enjoying film and film’s subjects.
We want Fern Creek to become a cultural center for the area, and for it to become a destination for people from other parts of the city. The nature of Community Cinema – the range of its subjects and approaches – makes it a perfect catalyst for that kind of change. Ultimately the high school community will connect with the adult world around it – not in a hierarchical way, but as intellectual equals wrestling with interesting and important questions and issues. And as more and more people from outside the neighborhood hear of these screenings and discussions, Fern Creek will begin to matter more to the whole city.
We are partnering with the University of Louisville, with Kentucky Educational Television, and hope to have connections with film groups in Lexington and Paducah, Kentucky. As we begin to bring in panelists and organizations from around Louisville and Southern Indiana, we know formal and informal connections – with students, between organizations, and with the LFS – will begin to happen. We also want kids to make connections with students from schools around the city.
Read more about Community Cinema in Louisville>>>
› Continue reading
13 Events in Two Days
ABSTRACT "CRUMPLED" ORIGAMI BY FRENCH ARTIST VINCENT FLODERER
Chances are if you live in the lower 48, there’s a free Community Cinema documentary screening event near you on Tuesday or Wednesday. Our free events take place in a variety of venues and locations: universities, public libraries, historic movie palaces in L.A., public television stations, the Frida Kahlo Theater, and the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. Two Community Cinema films are screening, and as always our events are free and open to the public. Everyone is welcome at Community Cinema.
Boise, Idaho
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 5:30 PM
BSU Student Union Building, Hatch Ballroom B
University Dr. at Lincoln
Hayward, California
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 5:30 PM
Hayward Public Library, Main Library
835 C Street,
Hayward, CA 94541
Oakland, California
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
388 Ninth Street, Suite 290 (between Franklin and Webster)
Oakland, CA 94607
Find more events for BETWEEN THE FOLDS and also for COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS!
› Continue reading
Join the Community Cinema Facebook Fan Page for a Chance to Win a Free iPod
Become a Fan on Facebook. You could win an iPod!
Like watching movies for free? Want to win a free iPod?
Become a Facebook Fan in a few simple steps:
Step 1: Take a quick read of the rules below.*
Step 2: Click on this link to go to our Facebook Fan Page – http://facebook.com/communitycinema
Step 3: BECOME A FAN! There’s a link on the left hand side below the Community Cinema logo
Step 4: (optional, but nice) Invite your friends to become fans of Community Cinema. You’re done!
Community Cinema is a FREE monthly screening series that features films from the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens. In over 50 cities nationwide, screenings are followed by lively panel discussions that bring together citizens, organizations and public television stations from your community.
This month, we’re giving away two iPod shuffles exclusively to our Facebook Fans*. Connect with others from across the country and discover cutting-edge documentaries, film premieres and special screenings near you.
Do you Tweet? Follow us on Twitter for quick links to event listings and more in-depth info about upcoming screenings, filmmakers and events. Post your photos and videos. And, start your own conversation. Follow us now >>
*Contest began Monday, November 16, 2009 at 5:00 PM PST. Contest closes and two iPod Shuffle winners will be drawn at random by ITVS at 5:00 PM PST on December 15, 2009 from those people and groups who became and remained a fan of Community Cinema on Facebook through 5:00 PM PST on December 15, 2009. Winners will be notified via Facebook message. Winners have 10 days to claim their prize before another winner will be drawn. ITVS staff, partners, and contractors are not eligible to win. Contest open to residents of the U.S.
In The News: Community Cinema Between the Folds
Crease Is the Word! Jim Ridley writes in Nashville Scene about the upcoming free event for BETWEEN THE FOLDS at the Nashville Public Library THIS Sunday. “Origami may sound like a flimsy subject on which to hang an entire feature, but anyone who’s ever won a bar bet by folding a dollar bill into a replica jet fighter knows that a little material can go a surprisingly long way. Vanessa Gould’s documentary has received rapturous notices for concentrating on the intersection of art and science that the ancient paper-folding art represents.”
Mary Delach Leonard writes in the St. Louis Beacon about our event at the Missouri History Museum. “Watching a former sculptor in France fold a flat sheet of paper into a three-dimensional human caricature or a physicist create intricate creatures from single squares of paper is worth far more than 1,000 words — which makes “Between the Folds” one of those unexpected documentaries you have to see to appreciate.” Read more>>
Paul Friswold writes in the Riverfront Times about our St. Louis event at the Missouri History Museum. “…it’s origami’s combination of complexity and simplicity that draws certain people deeper into the mysteries of creating three dimensions from two.” Read more>>
The Craftzine Blog and The Makezine Blog write about origami as the intersection of art and science. The post includes video clips from the film. Read more>>
David Pescovitz also writes on the Boingboing Blog about the intersection of art and science. Read more>>
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communitycinema: #Compost THIS! Cow/horse manure (outdoors only), cardboard rolls, chopped leaves, coffee grounds (worms love these) MORE: http://dld.bz/kSXD
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Jenn Wilcox: RT @GlobalFundWomen: In #SF nxt wk? Come to the Womens #Empowerment #FilmFestival to watch inspiring films abt #women @communitycinema @IMOW http://bit.ly/bjZuPz
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Simon Kilmurry: RT @communitycinema: Women's Engagement Film Series NEXT MONTH! Partners incl @unfpa @CARE @unifem @povdocs http://dld.bz/nQbH #FF Thanks!