Film Previews
New Films Available on the PBS Video Player
ITVS programs regularly explore the rich and vibrant history and cultural contributions of African Americans. In fact, three ITVS films –– Brother to Brother, Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, and Life and Debt –– were recently recognized by The Grio’s “Ten Most Important Black Films of the Decade.”
In celebration of Black History Month, ITVS and PBS are offering a special slate of new and encore programs throughout February. Select programs are also available on the PBS video player. Be sure to check out the Independent Lens documentary February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four, which looks at the pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement when four college students staged a sit-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960. Also, be sure to check out last year’s Independent Lens Audience Award winner Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene, which tells the unlikely story of America’s original shock-jock, Petey Greene, who battled the system and his own demons during a time of civil unrest in the nation’s capital.
Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes and P-Star Rising, both Independent Lens documentaries, will be available online February 10.
Oscar Noms for The Most Dangerous Man in America; Indie Lens Host Maggie Gyllenhaal
This morning, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officially announced that The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. This marks the 11th Academy Award nomination for ITVS.
In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a leading Vietnam War strategist, concludes that America’s role in the war is based on decades of lies. He leaks 7,000 pages of top-secret documents to The New York Times, a daring act of conscience that leads directly to Watergate, President Nixon’s resignation, and the end of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg and a who’s-who of Vietnam-era movers and shakers give a riveting account of those world-changing events. The film is by award-winning filmmakers Judith Ehrlich (The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It) and Rick Goldsmith (Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press). The film will air later this year on P.O.V. on PBS.
Nominees for Best Documentary Feature of the year include:
- Burma VJ
- The Cove
- Food, Inc.
- The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
- Which Way Home
Also, Independent Lens series host Maggie Gyllenhaal received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her compelling role as a journalist and single mom in the film Crazy Heart. When shooting the Independent Lens host introductions in New York City last August, Maggie talked about this flim and how proud she was of the work. She praised her co-star Jeff Bridges and predicted that his performance would receive wide acclaim. We want to congratulate Maggie on her Academy Award nomination and are honored to be working with her on Independent Lens.
Nominees for Best Actress in a Supporting Role include:
- Penélope Cruz in Nine
- Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
- Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
- Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
- Mo’Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Check out the entire list of this year’s nominees >>
The 2010 Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 7. Stay tuned to the ITVS blog Beyond the Box for further coverage. Congratulations and good luck to all the filmmakers!
Watch a clip of The Most Dangerous Man in America:
How Do You See Yourself When You Can’t See at All?
For blind teenagers crossing an intersection, cooking a meal, or navigating unfamiliar areas can be a challenge that sighted viewers never consider.
Our Community Cinema selection for February is the documentary The Eyes Of Me by Keith Maitland.
How do you see yourself, when you can’t see at all? At the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI), in Austin, Texas students juggle all the usual pressures of high school along with the added struggles of growing up blind. Spend a dynamic year with four blind teens learning how to fit in and live independently. Forced to confront the world without sight, they share their inner-visions of the outer world. Ultimately, you cannot understand their perceptions without challenging your own.
Denise sings a duet in the school play
Filmmaker Keith Maitland explains, “I’ve always been intrigued by questions of perception and identitybuilding, specifically how teens and young adults define themselves within their communities. After a chance meeting with a staff member from the Texas School for the Blind, I realized that I could delve into these questions of perception and identity through the experiences of the students at the school. Meeting Chas (the first blind person I’d ever met) convinced me that I had to make a film that would explore these questions, simply by spending time with him and experiencing his life as it unfolded that year. Additionally, I chose to follow Denise, Isaac, and Meagan, all unique characters with unique perspectives.”
Preview The Eyes Of Me here.
Copyright Criminals Premiering Tonight on Independent Lens on PBS
“What’s the difference between creative ‘borrowing’ and outright theft? The Independent Lens documentary Copyright Criminals offers a thought-provoking discussion of the subject filtered through a history of hip-hop ’sampling’ culture.”
- United Features Syndicate
Can you own a sound? As hip-hop rose from the streets of New York to become a multibillion-dollar industry, artists such as Public Enemy and De La Soul began reusing parts of previously recorded music for their songs. But when record company lawyers got involved everything changed. Years before people started downloading and remixing music, hip-hop sampling sparked a debate about copyright, creativity and technological change that still rages today.
Copyright Criminals premieres tonight, January 19, at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).
Learn more about Copyright Criminals and other special Music Month programs >>
From our first free preview screening event at the Saratoga Springs Public Library in Saratoga Springs, New York on October 3, 2009 to our last two events on October 29, 2009 in Charleston, South Carolina and Indiana, Pennsylvania Community Cinema thrilled audiences with live DJs, hip-hop dancers, and fascinating panelists from musicians to lawyers. Co-producer of COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS Kembrew McLeod told us “I feel honored to be part of the Community Cinema program which has allowed the film to be seen far and wide by a diverse range of audiences. Plus, it’s free. Who doesn’t like free?”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – At the Heart of American Civil Rights
“Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a sword that heals. [It] cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
At the heart of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s was the use of nonviolent direct-action protest. Inspired by the example of Jesus, and the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi during India’s struggle for independence, black church and community leaders in the United States began advocating the use of non-violence in their own struggle. Beyond spontaneous and planned student sit-ins, several organizations were formed to fight for civil rights using Gandhi’s model of nonviolent dissent and action. Three of the most influential groups—the Congress of Racial Equality, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee—were pivotal in bringing about social change in America.
Read more about the life of King, Jr. on the Independent Lens website >>
Check out the PBS Indies page on iTunes where you’ll find these powerful films about the African American civil rights movement
Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Green
The unlikely story of America’s original shock-jock — Petey Greene — who battled the system and his own demons during a time of civil unrest in the nation’s capital.
Banished
From the 1860s to the 1920s, towns across the U.S. violently expelled African American residents. Today, these communities remain virtually all white. As black descendants return to demand justice, Banished exposes the hidden history of racial cleansing in America.
Each film is now available for rent for $2.99 or for purchase at $9.99.
Video Interview with Bob Cilman and Steve Martin of Young@Heart
Bob Cilman, the director of the Young@Heart Chorus, and Steve Martin, a chorus member, stopped by the ITVS offices yesterday — on the day of the television premiere of Young@Heart on Independent Lens on PBS.
In the video below, they talk about what it was like to participate in screenings across the country as part Community Cinema and what they hope people will take away from the television broadcast.
This month, Community Cinema is presenting Garbage Dreams, which follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world’s largest garbage village, a ghetto located on the outskirts of Cairo.
Learn more and find screenings near you >>
Even if you’re not a senior citizen yourself, chances are you’ve crossed paths with an older person who shattered all of your assumptions about what it is to be “old.” Share your inspirational stories of aging. Upload video, photographs, and text. Share your story >>
Young@Heart Premiering Tonight on Independent Lens on PBS
“[Young@Heart] offers an encouraging vision of old age in which the depression commonly associated with decrepitude is held at bay by music making, camaraderie and a sense of humor.”
We’re kicking off a month dedicated to music on Independent Lens –– four films in four weeks about the power of music to shape and enhance our lives. Tune in tonight to rock with the most entertaining golden oldies you will ever meet in the senior citizen’s chorus Young@Heart. With a show only weeks away, they must learn a slate of new songs ranging from James Brown to Coldplay. The chorus’s director leads them through tough rehearsals, proving that rock and roll can be hard work — especially if you’re hard of hearing! Climaxing in a triumphant performance, their inspiring story celebrates the unbreakable bonds of friendship and the life-affirming power of music.
Young@Heart premieres tonight, January 12, at 9:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).
Community Cinema presented Young@Heart at over 42 free preview screening events in December 2009. Find out what we’re previewing now.
In January Community Cinema Asks You To Consider Recycling… Everything
In January 2010, Community Cinema starts the new year by asking you to consider recycling, well… everything you use. Don’t worry! Our documentary selection – an award winning festival hit – GARBAGE DREAMS will help you learn recycling secrets from some of the best recyclers on the planet. Meet Cairo’s Zaballeen.
Find your free event, and join us for the film and so much more. Welcome to the world’s largest garbage village located on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. The Zaballeen (Arabic for garbage people) recycle 80 percent of the trash they collect—far more than other recycling initiatives around the globe. But now a multi-national corporation threatens their livelihood. Follow three teenage boys born into the recycling business who are forced to make choices that will impact the survival of their community and could also help the rest of the world figure out what to do with its waste. Local Community Cinema events will look into recycling options on the municipal level as well as connect with independent organizations seeking creative and innovative solutions to our trash troubles. GARBAGE DREAMS is director Mai Iskander’s first feature film, and is on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 15-film shortlist for feature docs at this year’s Oscars (source: Hollywood Reporter).
The Recycling School from GARBAGE DREAMS
Our national partners create unique ways for audiences to learn more about recycling, sustainability and environmental education. Global Alliance For Incinerator Alternatives is a worldwide alliance of more than 500 grassroots groups, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in over 80 countries whose ultimate vision is a just, toxic-free world without incineration. The Cloud Institute works to ensure that innovative curricula is available to educators in the K-12 school systems to prepare young people for the shift toward a sustainable future. Working Films leverages the power of storytelling through documentary film to advance struggles for social, economic, and environmental justice, human and civil rights.
Austria is the leading recycler in the European Union with about 60 percent of waste products being recycled. The United States recycles about 32 percent of its waste. At the Beijing dump, scavengers earn three times the monthly salary of college professors. Scavengers in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico earn three times the minimum wage, putting them in the top 5 percent of income earners in that city.
Learn more interesting facts and consider some of the challenging questions or activities in our Discussion Guide (PDF, 2.5M). [Consider not printing the discussion guide. You can view PDF documents on your computer, laptop, Palm, Blackberry, iPhone, or other smart device.] Then join us at one of our free preview events for GARBAGE DREAMS and bring your questions for our panel of experts. Our first event is tomorrow January 2, 2010 at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, 49 Henry Street at 3PM. There are over 30 events scheduled so far with more being added every day.
Our Twitter feed tweets up-to-date event info daily in 140 characters or less. Follow our feed for all the latest. Join the discussion on our Facebook Fan Page for a more in depth preview of events and a place to discuss the issues raised by our challenging films.
Independent Lens Kicks-off Winter/Spring Season with Four Acclaimed Music Documentaries
This winter, Independent Lens, hosted by Maggie Gyllenhaal, launches the second half of the 2009/2010 season with four weeks of compelling documentaries that explore both the art and business of modern music. If you’ve been attending Community Cinema this past Fall then you’ve previewed a few of these films for free. Be sure to tell your friends to watch when your favorites air on PBS.
The slate includes the television premieres of Stephen Walker’s critical and box office smash YOUNG@HEART, an inspiring portrait of the indomitable members of a New England senior citizens chorus who cover musicians from The Clash to Prince; Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod’s COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS, which examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law and money; and Gabriel Noble’s P-STAR RISING, a gritty, personal look at Priscilla Diaz, a.k.a P-Star, a determined young Harlem rapper trying to fulfill her family’s dreams of success. Also airing is an encore presentation of Byron Hurt’s HIP HOP: Beyond Beats And Rhymes, one of Independent Lens’s biggest hits, a film that goes beyond the bling to explore gender roles in hip-hop and rap music.
8 Free Events in Two Days Will Keep You YOUNG@HEART
Members of the Young @ Heart Chorus Featured in The Documentary
In collaboration with the National Center for Creative Aging, Community Cinema presents free screening events of the uplifting and enlightening smash hit documentary YOUNG@HEART throughout the month of December. Get ready to rock with the most entertaining golden oldies you will ever meet in the senior citizen’s choir Young@Heart. Five free film events (many with local talented seniors speaking and/or performing) are happening in your community on Wednesday (today!) if you live in:
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
John Michael Kohler Arts Center at 12:30 PM and 7:00 PM
608 New York Ave.
Sheboygan, WI
St. Louis, Missouri
Missouri History Museum at 1:30 PM
5700 Lindell Blvd. St. Louis, MO
Miami, Florida
Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus at 5:00 PM
300 N.E. 2nd Avenue, Room 3410-5 (Building 3, 4th floor)
Miami, FL 33132
Tucson, Arizona
Joel D. Valdez Main Library at 6:00 PM
101 N. Stone Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85701
Practice. Practice. Practice. The Young @ Heart Chorus Rehearses in a Scene From The Documentary.
And three free film events are happening in your community on Thursday, December 10 if you live in:
Tucson, Arizona
Quincie Douglas Branch Library at 9:00 AM
1585 E. 36th St.
Tucson, AZ 85713
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
The Open Eye Cafe at 4:00 PM
101 South Greensboro St.
Carrboro, NC
Tacoma, Washington
Pacific Lutheran University at 6:00 PM
Morken Center for Learning and Technology, Rm 103
12215 10th AVE S
Tacoma, WA 98444
Have you seen a preview video of the film? Here’s your chance!
Want more? Sneak a peak at a scene from the film on YouTube.
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