Station Spotlight
Getting Dirty In St. Louis
Producing Partners are local community organizations that co-present Community Cinema screenings across the country. In St. Louis, MO we partner with KETC9 and The Missouri History Museum. KETC9′s Sydney Meyer describes a recent free event for the film Dirt! The Movie.
“Dirt! The Movie did itself proud – you brought us a jewel of a film!” was only one of the positive reactions from the crowd of over 300 who attended the screening of Dirt! The Movie in St. Louis on March 11.
The night began with a lobby full of enthusiastic “dirt” environmentalists. We had tables of information including the “worm lady”, Missouri Stream Team, Slow Food St. Louis, Missouri Coalition for the Environment, and Operation PayDirt. Resources were given and conversations were exchanged for an hour until finally everyone was ready to see the film. Here’s a taste of the action:
The whole night had a positive, upbeat feel. The panel and audience discussed how healthy eating and living are really guided by our society and we are slowly “getting it”. Evidence of this is in the sheer the number of films with powerful food messages for our communities that have been produced in the last few years.
Missouri is really ahead in “green” gardening supported by churches and neighborhood groups. Farmer’s markets abound here and are expanding all over the city and county. The best reason to buy locally is that the food really tastes better! Freshness does matter. But still it was pointed out, each consumer must do their part and open up pocketbooks and buy good local produce and beef and stop buying cheap, “fast food” meals. Read on to hear a radio clip and learn more about dirt. › Continue reading
KLRU Celebrates Local Filmmakers Featured on Independent Lens
Do you live near Austin, Texas? Love indie film?
Tonight, KLRU-Austin will commemorate Texas Independents’ Day by celebrating the work of three local filmmakers whose work appears on this season of Independent Lens on PBS.
Filmmaker and University of Texas Professor Paul Stekler will moderate a panel discussion with Michel O. Scott (The Horse Boy), Karen Skloss (Sunshine), and Keith Maitland (The Eyes of Me) starting at 8 p.m.
Following the discussion, there will be a special screening of the Independent Lens broadcast of The Eyes of Me at 9:00 p.m. Space is limited.
Can’t make the screening or live too far away to attend? Fear not – check out Beyond the Box blog next week for clips from the event and a full recap from Keith Maitland, filmmaker of The Eyes of Me. Stay tuned!
The Eyes Of Me Finishes Community Cinema Run And Airs Tomorrow
Throughout the month of February, Community Cinema welcomed thousands of guests to our 47 free screening events for Keith Maitland’s documentary The Eyes Of Me. The Eyes of me airs tomorrow Tuesday, March 2 on Independent Lens at 10:00 PM on most PBS stations (check local listings).
Filmmaker Keith Maitland attended our screening in Houston presented locally by HoustonPBS. He shares his experience at the event.
Patrick Floyd (left), the producer of The Eyes of Me, and Keith Maitland (right), the director, at the HoustonPBS Community Cinema Screening of their film.
“With more than 125 audience members in attendance –– many of them blind or visually-impaired –– HoustonPBS hosted a wonderful Community Cinema screening of The Eyes of Me. It’s always exciting for me to be able to sit in a crowded theater and share the film with a new audience but there was something very special about this particular screening. Along with producer Patrick Floyd, I was happy to travel to Houston from Austin, Texas, to experience Community Cinema firsthand. Meagan McComic (one of the main characters from the film) and Bill Daugherty, superintendent of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI), joined Patrick and I on the panel after the film, to share their reflections and perspectives with the Houston community –– many of whom had ties to TTSBVI directly. Two of the audience members were alumni of TSBVI –– Michael Garrett, class of ’69, and Bernice Klepak, class of ’55. It was exciting to hear Michael and Bernice’s response to the film, and the contrasts between their days at the school and the stories of Chas, Meagan, Denise, and Isaac represented in the film. Bernice was impressed with how honest and natural today’s students were compared to her days when she feels that they were all “pretty straight-laced.”
Meagan McComic (right), one of the subjects of The Eyes of Me, with her mom at the HoustonPBS Community Cinema screening.
At this screening, as we have done at all of our festival screenings before this, we were able to offer live audio description through the use of wireless receivers and transmitters. This system (provided by a grant from the Austin Film Society) gives blind and visually-impaired audience members the opportunity to hear an additional audio track that offers visual information, and reads onscreen text, so that users can experience the film as fully as any audience member. Use of this technology offers accessibility and also educates sighted audience members about accessibility. It’s not surprising that most people have never heard of or considered audio description, we didn’t know about it before making the film either, but I’m happy to be an advocate for accessible media and accessible websites too! (Our website, http://EyesofMe.com, is fully accessible via use of screen reading software, and we offer a fully accessible trailer that is both audio described, and open captioned for the hearing impaired.) What made Community Cinema such a great screening event was that the audience was so active and engaged. The Q&A following the film was a mixture of questions and comments about the film, the specific characters and stories, as well as how themes within the film affected the local community. It was exactly what we’ve hoped Community Cinema would be –– it was wonderful. Thanks so much HoustonPBS.”
Read on for more event highlights, exclusive video, and broadcast information. › Continue reading
The Eyes Of Me Finishes February on A Strong Note: Rochester
Our Audience at WXXI in Rochester, NY for The Eyes Of Me
Producing Partners are local community organizations that co-present Community Cinema screenings across the country. New producing partner WXXI in Rochester, NY recently screened The Eyes of Me by Keith Maitland, followed by a panel discussion about the issues of blindness demonstrated in the film. The screening was fully audio described so that all audience members could fully experience the film. Here are some highlights from the event.
We were fortunate to have a number of community partners for the event. ABVI-Goodwill has evolved into one of the most dynamic not-for-profit organizations in the Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes region that provides improved quality of life for people with disabilities and other disadvantages. The service that extends to nine counties, including Monroe, Wayne, Ontario, Livingston, Steuben, Yates, Seneca, Schulyer and Chemung. The New York State Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped has a mission to enhance employability, to maximize independence and to assist in the development of the capacities and strengths of people who are legally blind. New York School for the Blind provides integrated residential programming in a safe and nurturing environment, provides a foundation of learning to enable each student to become a contributing member in a diverse society, to achieve their highest level of independence and to afford them the ability to live in a least restrictive environment.
More of our audience featuring discussion facilitator, Ruth Phinney, WXXI-FM AND Reachout Radio Program Director
Many of our audience members were from the blind community. Resource materials were made available to participants in print and Braille. Thanks to support from the following companies: ABVI-Goodwill, American Council of the Blind, AudioFile Magazine, Freedom Scientific, Humanware, Independent Living Aids, MaxiAids, The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Touch and Explore, New York State Office of Children¹s and Family Services/CBVH, New York State School for the Blind, Optelec/ ShopLowVision, Perkins School for the Blind, Simon and Schuster Audio Books, WGBH Media Access Group/MoPix, and WXXI. That’s a lot of support! Thanks again.
Featured guest expert panelists (l to r) Erin Fairben, Superintendent of the New York State School for the Blind in Batavia, Linda Voigt from OCFS/Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped, Cynthia Baker with BOCES, and Nikki Llewellyn, Orientation & Mobility Speciality from ABVI-Goodwill
And, thanks to producer Keith Maitland, the full audio of the program and the recorded discussion is being aired on WXXI Reachout Radio (radio reading service) on Thursday, 2/25 from 8:00-10:00 p.m. and repeated on Sunday, 2/28 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. ET
Community Cinema Beats the Winter Blues in Colorado
Rocky Mountain PBS
As a celebration of four years of Community Cinema at the holiday season, we asked our event producers and producing partners to share reflections on past events. Allison Inman is our ITVS National Community Cinema Coordinator based in Nashville…. now. But, Allison has also supported Community Cinema in Colorado and Louisiana. She shares what’s going on in Colorado these days and also a little of the history of the program.
Colorado loves Cinema! If you’ll pardon the pun, ITVS Community Cinema is snowballing in Colorado, which means more free documentary screenings every month across the state. Thanks to statewide network Rocky Mountain PBS and local libraries and colleges, Colorado’s Community Cinema offerings have grown from two cities to eight – from bustling downtown Denver to mountain hideaway Steamboat Springs.
When I worked at Rocky Mountain PBS in 2006, my colleague Kurt Christopher returned from PBS Showcase excited to do Community Cinema in Denver. As we put together our first season – documentaries about Sesame Street, democracy and the press, Israeli/Palestinian relations (and girl power), living with disability, hip hop, fair trade, and religious freedom – we loved showing viewers that PBS was more than just television. Community Cinema – an outreach project in a kit – helped us bring people together to not only watch but to share their opinions and be heard.
Starz Film Center in Denver
Free Community Cinema screenings now happen monthly in Denver, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction, Montrose, Fruita, Steamboat Springs and Palisade. Screenings take place in art movie houses, on college campuses and in libraries. Some are elaborate events with receptions, panel discussions, performances and activities; others are intimate conversations over coffee. That’s the beauty of Community Cinema. It’s flexible. It’s fun. It’s a worthwhile trip out of the house when you’re snowbound. And it doesn’t cost a dime. If you live in Colorado, visit Rocky Mountain PBS online to find a screening near you. Don’t see one? Start your own. Learn how.
Huge Turnout for BETWEEN THE FOLDS in St. Louis
Producing Partners are local community organizations that co-present Community Cinema screenings across the country. Last night, Producing Partner KETC in St. Louis, MO, screened the Independent Lens film BETWEEN THE FOLDS. The film looks at fine artists and theoretical scientists who have abandoned careers and hard-earned graduate degrees to forge unconventional lives as modern-day paper-folders. Sydney Meyer of KETC gives her take below:
Wow! That was the first word that came to my mind as people kept flowing into the St. Louis History Museum for the screening of BETWEEN THE FOLDS last evening. This was Community Cinema at its finest. Approximately 340 people showed up for the viewing of the film and 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.”
A middle school girl who came with her math teacher told me, “I am a beginner paper-folder and the film inspired me to want to continue learning and try to become like the people in the film.” I loved the little girl’s comment and it made me appreciate Community Cinema even more because inspiration and change is what the program is all about.
DJs and “Dark Suits” Talk It Out and Dance It Out in St. Louis
Speakers and audience members in St. Louis feel the music after the film an discussion.
Last Thursday, we screened COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS in St. Louis at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. Community Cinema Producing Partner and KETC Project Manager Sydney Meyer shares some stories from this unique event.
The skies were dark and rainy with severe thunderstorm warnings… the St. Louis Cardinals had a play off game… the St. Louis Blues had a home opener game… and the University of Missouri had a great football game. It was all happening on Community Cinema COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS night! But that was not enough to detour 50 die hard hip-hop fans from coming out and enjoying the music and the film. Local DJ Alejandro and DJ Needles were joined by three “men in dark suits” or more commonly known as copyright lawyers. The five guest speakers informed and entertained the audience by handling the topics and issues raised with knowledge and humor. The lawyers clearly sympathized with the audience and DJs over the frustration felt concerning creative expression versus corporate ownership, which was a recurring theme from the film.
Money was mentioned more than once during the night.
Houston: Bring The Noise!
D TOUR director Jim Granato
This will be Julie Coan’s second season producing Community Cinema events in Houston, Texas. Julie is Director of Communications & External Relations for HoustonPBS.
So when I laid my eyes on the new Community Cinema Screening schedule I have to admit my first thoughts were, “Documentaries on organ transplants? Origami? and Copyright law?” How can I get people excited about those topics?
Then I attended the Community Cinema Retreat at the ITVS office in San Francisco in August. ITVS brings the Emmy Award winning series Independent Lens to PBS. I had a chance to watch and learn more about the films from people who were running Community Cinema programs in different cities around the country…St. Louis, Boston, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, Philly, Nashville, etc….and that’s when I really started to get jazzed about this new season. And then we got to meet some film makers!
Grand Rapids Kicks Off the New Season of Community Cinema
D TOUR Panel Receives Well-Deserved Round of Applause
- left to right: Emily Coyle, Tricia Coyle, Emily Maurin WGVU, Sue Lewis and Jill Morrill
Michiganders kicked off Community Cinema’s 2009-2010 Season last night in Grand Rapids at The Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts. After the screening of D TOUR, we had a small but passionate crowd for this film, and an extremely knowledgeable panel. Just a few months ago, Jill Morrill donated her kidney to her 12-year-old daughter, who suffers from cystinosis. Sue Lewis donated her kidney two years ago to the father of one of her son’s friends. Tricia Coyle received a donated kidney a couple of months ago through a paired donor program in Toledo. Her daughter, Emily Coyle, worked hard to spread the word about her mother needing a donor – and recently found out that she suffers from the same genetic disorder that caused her mother’s kidney to fail.
One Size Fits All: Community Cinema Flexes Its Flexibility
Volunteers at the Harriet Tubman Leadership Academy for Young Women
One aspect of having worked with the Community Cinema program for the past four years is that I have had the pleasure of working with people from so many communities including Washington, D.C. and Grand Junction, Colorado as well as Sheboygan, Wisconsin and Miami. Recently a few of my colleagues asked me to share some of their impressions about the Community Cinema program. We welcome your comments especially if you are a Producing Partner, Cinema/Outreach Coordinator, or an audience member.
Meet Sara Brissenden-Smith who represents Community Cinema in the Bay Area. She is always asked, “So, what’s the topic this month?”
Meet Tiffany L. Verkler who is Promotions Supervisor for Arkansas Educational Television Network. This is her first season with Community Cinema. We are all excited to bring Independent Lens documentaries to Arkansas audiences.
Meet Lynn Allen who has represented Community Cinema statewide in Idaho since our very first season.
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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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Simon Kilmurry: RT @communitycinema: Women's Engagement Film Series NEXT MONTH! Partners incl @unfpa @CARE @unifem @povdocs http://dld.bz/nQbH #FF Thanks!