Special Events
Women’s Empowerment Event Draws a Crowd in Seattle
From the lobby of Pigot Hall at Seattle University
National Community Cinema Coordinator, Patrick Baroch, reports out on another successful Women’s Empowerment Screening, this one, from Seattle.
Seattle’s first ever Women Empowerment Film Event & Meetings (WE FEM) packed in men and women along a broad spectrum of ages, genders, and ethnicities. Seattle University hosted the event at Pigott Hall, where the power of the films resonated in lively and impassioned discussion afterwards.
After the screening of A Girl’s Life the blunt question, “Why are girls so mean?” became a topic of much discussion and observation. The hit of the night was a Lieutenant from the Seattle Fire Department donning her full gear in 60 seconds. She also gave a fascinating tour of her tool belt.
After each film and workshop, the participants mingled in the atrium. At the end of the night, people continued to talk about what they had seen.
Women’s Empowerment Screenings Trigger Plans in Nashville
Chiquita Fields of Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee talks with audience members after a screening of Troop 1500
Our Women’s Empowerment Screening was a spirited collaboration of organizations and individuals. Series partner Nashville Public Library hosted us in its elegant auditorium and conference center. Nashville Public Television and the Nashville Film Festival – under the leadership of President and CEO Beth Curley and Director Sallie Mayne — who were both in attendance — helped fill the audience with PBS enthusiasts and independent film lovers. And the organization, Hands On Nashville, supplied us with more than a dozen enthusiastic volunteers.
Miss Navajo Screens for Colorado Springs
Chris Loud, film series coordinator for the Independent Film Society of Colorado, reflects on a successful WEI screening.
At the beginning of this summer, a film I was not very familiar with kept coming up in conversations and several people encouraged me to see it. Months later, I was excited that I was not only able to see the film, but was able to screen it before the Colorado Springs community through Community Cinema’s Women’s Empowerment Series. That film was Miss Navajo.
We had two screenings of Miss Navajo and I started each screening off by reading the letter from the filmmaker, Billy Luther. This offered an emotional connection between the audience and the creator. After the screenings I led the audience discussion by reading the Navajo creation story that was touched on several times during the film. The audience’s response was overwhelmingly positive.
Audiences that regularly enjoy films from Independent Lens always seem to to be made up of interesting people from the community that have some connection to either the film or the subject matter. These screenings were no exception. In the audience we had people who had once lived on the Navajo reservation, a couple which taught at schools on the Navajo reservation, and three young Navajo women that grew up on the reservation. This helped me facilitate a great discussion after each screening and these people were wonderful resources for the audience to ask questions.
One topic that came up during both discussions was about the loss of culture due to the harshness of the boarding schools in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Other films that related to the subject came up such as The Only Good Indian, Rabbit-Proof Fence (Australian Aborigines), and Our Spirits Don’t Speak English. These were just a few of the films suggested for future screenings.
Women’s Empowerment Series Heads to Philly
Maori Karmael Holmes serves as the Communications Director for the Leeway Foundation (in Philadelphia, PA) which is partnering with ITVS on the upcoming Women’s Empowerment Initiative Screening this Saturday, August 7th. Maori reflects on how the films in this series relate to local artists in the Philadelphia area.
In 2006 I received a Leeway Transformation Award, which came at a crucial point in my development as an artist and cultural worker. One of the unique aspects of the Transformation Award is that it is given to both emerging and established artists who create art for social change. I definitely consider myself an emerging artist and the award helped to push me to deepen my practice. Over the years I’ve worked to help provide a platform for women artists’ voices to be amplified. One of the ways I’ve done this is through my own filmmaking—Scene Not Heard: Women in Philadelphia Hip Hop documents the legacy of women in this crucial underground scene. I’ve also worked as a curator and festival producer for a variety of venues including co-founding the Black Lily Film & Music Festival and later coming full circle by serving most recently as the Communications Director at Leeway Foundation.
The Leeway Foundation is committed to art making as an integral part of social change, to movement building, and anti-oppression work. We support women and trans artists in the Philadelphia area through grants, workshops, and exhibition opportunities.
Partnering with ITVS to host the Women’s Empowerment Initiative—which highlights the contributions of women in their communities—was a natural fit for us. The kinds of issues that are highlighted in these films share similarities with the art-for-social change work we’ve funded locally over the years.
Taking Root tells the story of Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai and how she helped spark a movement to safeguard the environment, defend human rights, and fight government injustice. Echoes of her work can be seen in that of Blanche Epps, a 2006 Art and Change Grantee, who shares her ancestral horticultural traditions with youth in her West Philadelphia neighborhood, as a means of reconnecting people to the natural cycles and functions of the earth.
Made in LA is a fantastic documentation of three garment workers organizing a campaign to win basic labor protections from a trendy clothing retailer. Locally we’ve funded a number of women and trans artists doing similar documentation work as the film’s director Almudena Carracedo in both radio and video formats. 2008 Art and Change Grantee Charing A. Ball keeps up with the pulse of local organizing campaigns on her podcast and radio show “People, Places and Things.” Milena Velis, recipient of a 2010 Art and Change Grant, is capturing the stories of emerging grassroots organizers on Labor Justice Radio. 2008 Art & Change Grantee Beth Pulcinella challenges the community to explore and express their creative potential. She sees screen-printing workshops as a powerful resource for generating political propaganda, developing sustainable business, and supporting cultural production.
Finally, Off and Running offers a poignant look into the issue of trans-racial queer adoption by following Avery Klein-Cloud, an African American girl with white lesbian mothers. Two of our grantees have explored similar intersecting issues of identity, race, and parents, as in the film, in their Art and Change Grant projects including Kimberly E. Rollins who began developing a series of African hair care workshops to assist foster, adoptive, biological and trans-race families in 2008. Additionally, Karl Surkan used his 2007 grant to create a documentary chronicling his “alternative family.” By telling his story as a transgender person facing infertility and a genetic predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer, he hopes to challenge and create awareness about gender expectation.
We’re delighted to be hosting these films in our community room and bridging these national and international discussions with local artists and activists.
On Their Own Terms in Lexington, Kentucky
Kentucky Education Television (KET) is the PBS affiliate in Lexington, Kentucky and has been involved with Community Cinema for over a year. KET’s Sara O’Keefe previews a host of upcoming screenings from the Women’s Empowerment Series, the first of which begins this Thursday, August 5th.
This summer we at KET were asked if we would like to host a special Women’s Empowerment Film series in August, to help jump start the next season of Community Cinema starting in October. I thought this would be a wonderful way to reach out to groups in our community and bring them into the KET family, making people aware of our programming and Community Cinema.
From the many film choices from ITVS we chose four for our series: Shadya, Made in L.A., Sunset Story, and Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai. We’re putting these films under series title “On Their Own Terms,” since the women in the films were all standing up for what they believed, no matter what others told them, and overcoming difficulties to succeed on their own terms. We also wanted a diverse group of films and looked for those that could help start a dialogue within our own community about issues that we are facing here. Film can be a great gateway to conversations on topics that might not be easy to talk about.
By watching Shadya and having people from Islamic groups speak, I hope that everyone will leave with a better understanding of Islam and the Muslim culture.
We have a large and rapidly growing Hispanic population in Kentucky, and Made in L.A. seemed like a perfect fit. Hopefully, people will see the struggle many have to face on a daily basis just to make ends meet.
Often the senior population doesn’t have its voice heard. By showing Sunset Story, we hope to continue KET’s effort to educate the public about issues of aging. We are also excited to show Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai. Conserving the environment is close to many Kentuckians’ hearts, and watching Wangari is truly inspiring.
We are showing our films each Thursday in August at 6:30 p.m. in the KET Visitors Center. Some of the groups that we are working with on the film series are the Kentucky Islamic Resource Group, Kentucky Department of Labor, The Richmond Human Rights Commission, La Voz, Bluegrass Area Agency on Aging and Independent Living, Lexington Senior Center, Bluegrass Sierra Club, and the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative…just to name a few.
Now that most of that planning is complete and the e-vites and flyers have been sent and posted, we are waiting in anticipation of Thursday evening’s screening of Shadya.
Thanks ITVS, for all you do and for giving KET the opportunity to show these inspiring documentaries!
WEI Screenings Take Philly
Coalition of Labor Union Women
Ellen Slack is a member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, which is partnering on the Philadelphia Women’s Empowerment Initiative Screening. She offered this report about an upcoming screening of Made in L.A..
Here in Philadelphia, the views in many neighborhoods are still dominated by old factory buildings that once housed our city’s garment and textile industries. The forces that emptied those buildings of the activities they were constructed for are essentially the same forces that in recent years have brought millions of Latinos—and others—to this country.
Manufacturers in search of cheap labor moved to other parts of the U.S. and then many send the work overseas. At the same time, globalization devastated local industries and destabilized economies in huge regions of the world, leaving their working people with little choice but to migrate to the U.S. and western Europe.
COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS Demystified Sampling from its Roots in Early Hip-Hop to Modern Day Video Mash-ups
Kembrew McLeod, co-producer of COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS, answers questions from the audience with Tony Berman of Berman Entertainment and Technology Law, who is featured in the film.
For more than 30 years, as hip-hop evolved from the urban streets of New York to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry, hip-hop performers and producers have been reusing portions of previously recorded music in new, otherwise original compositions. But when lawyers and record companies got involved, what was once referred to as a “borrowed melody” became a “copyright infringement.” Through interviews with many of hip-hop music’s founding figures—like Public Enemy, De La Soul and Digital Underground—along with emerging artists such as audiovisual remixers Eclectic Method, COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod illuminates both sides of the debate, from traditional musicians who view sampling as pillaging to those who argue that the practice of borrowing is by no means new nor is it unique to hip-hop or even music: Think of Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup cans.
With OVER 50 free screening events from coast to coast audiences were able to sample the flavor of hip-hip and electronic music first-hand from some of the subjects featured in the film. The Philadelphia event featured worldwide DJ sensation based in Philly, RJD2 (RJ Krohn – pictured to the right, on the left). The photo is a TwitPic uploaded live from the event. Our event in Oakland welcomed DJ legend Jeff Chang. Local hip-hop radio DJs hosted events in St. Louis and Seattle. In Seattle, KUBE 93 FM DJ Hyphen who co-hosts “Sunday Night Sound Session” introduced the film. “Sunday Night Sound Session” airs every Sunday night at 10:45 PM. “J. Moore and I offer listeners the newest, dopest hip-hop from all around the country, including local music from our own backyard,” boasts DJ Hyphen. Tune in around the Puget Sound Region or online worldwide. DJ Hypen introduced COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS and left the audience with some things to think about while watching the film.
Read on for more video clips, photos, and community connections.
Independent Lens Submission Deadline: 9/24/2010
Independent Lens is currently accepting submissions for the October 2011-June 2012 season. Jointly curated by ITVS and PBS, we welcome a spectrum of independent documentary, including social issue, point of view, history, and animation. A number of short films are also accepted and broadcast each season.
The deadline to submit is Friday, September 24, 2010. For more information read the Independent Lens submissions FAQ. And to get a feel for some of our award-winning programs, check out trailers from this past season…
Ngôi Làng Mang Tên Versailles – (A Village Called Versailles)
Panelist Uyen Le is interviewed for Saigon TV KJLA
Community Cinema’s National Coordinator Desiree Gutierrez reflects on a screening of A Village Called Versailles held earlier this month before an entirely Vietnamese audience in Southern California.
As one of the National Community Cinema Coordinators, I am use to hosting screenings with diverse crowds, but Sunday night I had the chance to be the outsider at a screening of A Village Called Versailles hosted by Nguoi Viet Daily News in Orange County’s Little Saigon.
The newspaper was the first Vietnamese publication outside of Vietnam and has a rich history. As it was told to me, the newspaper originated out of a series of letters that traveled back and forth between Vietnam and the U.S. as people tried to track down their family members and friends after the war.
Tiffany Le a reporter at Nguoi Viet reached out to me last month wanting to learn more about hosting a screening of A Village Called Versailles. She knew the residents of her community would want to see the film, but as she pointed out, they would not drive to LA or West Hollywood to attend one of our already scheduled events. We made arrangements to host the film at the newspapers auditorium in the heart of Little Saigon.
The newspaper had given us tremendous media coverage. We had a feature with images run a few days before the screening, and an interview with the filmmaker run the day of the event, not to mention a half page ad in the World Cup edition of the paper. Needless to say, the Vietnamese community knew we were having an event and they turned out. Nearly 200 people and four media crews filled the auditorium, and as I had been warned, I the only “Westerner” in the room.
Ask Not Snags Outstanding Doc at GLAAD Awards
ITVS-funded Ask Not by Johnny Symons was honored for Outstanding Documentary at the GLAAD Media Awards earlier this month in San Francisco. Ask Not originally aired in June 2009 on Independent Lens and was a Community Cinema selection in May of 2009.
Equally important is the attention such an award will draw to the national debate over Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT.) The film explores the genesis of that policy from its inception under then-President Clinton in 1993.
Ask Not sheds light on how DADT has prevented some of America’s most talented recruits from serving their country. Examples include skilled Arabic translators so desperately needed in Afghanistan and Iraq combat, ordered to be silent and celibate or else be removed from duty.
“This was a fun award to receive and a great acknowledgment of the film and the issue,” said Symons.
The hype around Ask Not could not come at a more relevant time. At his State of the Union address this past January, President Obama vowed to repeal DADT during his first term. Soon after, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm Mike Mullen also denounced the policy before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The film also recently aired on Capitol Hill to coincide with Congressional hearings on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
Congratulations to Johnny and his team!
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