chicago
The Eyes Of Me Event in Chicago Overcomes Its Own Struggles With Accessibility
Carrie Kaufman moderates a panel discussion trapped inside a wheelchair lift
Carrie Kaufman is a board member of The Chicago Freedom School and was in the ITVS documentary Terra Incognita: Mapping Stem Cell Research, a Community Cinema and Independent Lens selection. She writes about our recent Community Cinema Chicago event for The Eyes Of Me.
Chicago’s February 20 screening of The Eyes of Me was held in the beautiful Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago cultural Center. The event was appropriately cosponsored by the Chicago Freedom School, a youth focused social justice organization, and Access Living, a disability rights organization.
The Eyes Of Me follows blind youth along their journey at a school for the blind in Austin, Texas. The film details their struggles in and out of that and other schools. The youth in the film have varying levels of visual impairments, and are all at different levels of acceptance and independence. The film doesn’t focus on their visual impairments beyond how it affects the living of their day-to-day life. It shows us about all of the other interests and outlets that each of the youth devote themselves to. The youth are inspirational not because they are living with a disability, but because they are intelligent, talented, and independent people.
The show must go on (while ITVS' Naomi Walker and event panel moderator, Carrie Kaufman, are stuck in the wheelchair lift - left)
Most of the close to 200 attendees stayed for a great discussion following the film. The discussion, however, got off to an ironic start, when I, the moderator, got trapped in the wheelchair lift on the way up to the stage with Naomi Walker, National Community Cinema Coordinator. I remarked on how if the film showed us anything, it’s that it wasn’t necessary for me to see my panelists in order to carry on the discussion with them, so I moderated the first 20 minutes of the discussion about disability philosophy, politics, and accessibility in general from in the wheelchair lift. What a display of obstacles to access!
Find out if Naomi and Carrie ever get out of the lift! › Continue reading
Special Community Screening of P-Star Rising
A special community screening of the Independent Lens film P-Star Rising was recently held in Chicago. The film, which airs Tuesday night at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS, looks at nine-year-old Pricilla who wants to be the youngest female rap star ever and her single father who is determined to help her make it big. Find out what happened from Chicago-based National Outreach Coordinator Naomi Walker.
P-Star (aka Priscilla Diaz) and her father Jesse Diaz visited Chicago to participate in the 2nd Annual Winter Block Party for Chicago Hip-Hop Arts, presented by Chicago Public Radio and hosted by hip-hop poet Kevin Coval.
The morning began with a screening of P-Star Rising followed by a Q&A with Priscilla and Jesse. The audience at the Victory Gardens Theatre was full of families eager to hear about the struggles of navigating the often cut-throat music industry. After the Q&A, Jesse and Priscilla were treated to a performance by the Half Pint Poetics team, made up of 5th to 8th graders from Kuumba Lynx. Priscilla was deeply moved by the young talent and asked for some beat-box assistance from one of the young performers and showed her own skills with the mike.
The director of P-Star Rising –– Gabriel Noble –– joined Jesse and Priscilla during their week in Chicago for two screenings of the film for Chicago public high school and middle school students, courtesy of Cinema/Chicago’s Education Program. Schools participating included Curie High School, Dumas Technical Academy, Lincoln Park High School, Chicago Vocational Career Academy, Austin Career Academy, and King College Prep.
After the film, host Kevin Coval introduced the guests while the students greeted them with an enthusiastic reception. Several students in the audience spoke about their own ambitions for careers in the entertainment industry. Priscilla and Jesse gave sage advice on learning the business, honing your craft and not giving up despite the many setbacks that aspiring performers always encounter. And Jesse added that you should ALWAYS have a demo on you because you never know what opportunities might come along. For instance, Jesse is starting a label and looking for talent and said that if anyone had a CD they wanted to pass along, he’d be happy to check it out.
Check out these clips from the Chicago screening:
Day of Jazz at the Chicago Cultural Center
WTTW Reception for Young Musicians and Their Families
This past Saturday, Community Cinema hosted a truly one-of-a-kind event for the film YOUNG@HEART in Chicago at the Chicago Cultural Center. ITVS National Community Cinema Coordinator, Naomi Walker, shares her experience at the event.
Thanks to our wonderful partners the Jazz Institute of Chicago who teamed up with Community Cinema, WTTW Channel 11 and The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs to present YOUNG@HEART and a day of jazz greats young and old at the Chicago Cultural Center.
The events began at 12:15 with a concert by Chicago Public School’s All-City Youth Jazz Ensemble. The young people showed their dedication, passion and talent and showed us the wide range of jazz forms. Shaunese Teamer, Manager of Community Outreach and National Publicity at WTTW invited the young musicians and their families and friends to a reception after the concert. The Ensemble and their fans mingled with WTTW members in the beautiful rotunda at the Cultural Center. Our guest speakers all met at the reception to the delight of the jazz aficionados in the crowd. Jazz legends Fred Anderson, Mwata Bowden, and Willie Pickens have all known each other for years. Mwata and Willie have made regular appearances and Fred’s famous club, The Velvet Lounge.
L to R: Fred Anderson, WTTW's Shaunese Teamer, Mwata Bowden, ITVS' Naomi Walker, and Willie Pickens
Over 150 people braved the shopping hordes and the snow to come downtown for the free screening of YOUNG@HEART.
Shaunese Teamer welcomed the crowd and gave a hearty kudos to Independent Lens for its 10+ years of groundbreaking programming.
Audience members commented that the film inspired them to want to go into show business and take to the stage. Here are some of their other comments from after the event.
“I’m going to look for a local choir for my husband!”
“Made me want to join a chorus even if I can’t sing.”
“Their singing keeps them going. That gives them something to live for.”
“IT WAS SUPERB! Made our holiday great.”
L to R: Mwata Bowden, Fred Anderson, and Willie Pickens
After the film, the jazz legends came onstage and shared their stories of persistence, passion and their secrets of longevity. Jazz was in its infancy when they were starting out, so there was no one to really show them the way. Now each of them make it a point to mentor the young musicians. Willie and Mwata each spoke of the great contribution that the Velvet Lounge has made in giving jazz musicians young and old a place to experiment with the form and continually push the envelope. Earlier this year, both Mwata and Willie participated in a star-studded tribute to Fred Anderson on his 80th birthday, where Fred’s compositions were performed by a large orchestra in Millenium Park.
Multi-instrumentalist Mwata Bowden spoke about passion.
Pianist Willie Pickens explained that constantly exploring such a vast art form keeps one young at heart.
Tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson shared his formula for survival.
All photos by photographer Fred Hickler. Thanks, Fred! Thank you too to our partners and to the folks who joined us for this day of exploring youth and maturity in jazz.
Last Chance To Catch YOUNG@HEART For Free at Community Cinema
Members of the Young@Heart Chorus enjoying a rehearsal
There are five free screenings of the hit documentary YOUNG@HEART left in 2009, and four of them are this weekend. Our event in Chicago features legendary jazz musicians speaking about their lives, careers, and how they stay hep at heart. The event is at 2:00PM at the beautiful and historic Chicago Cultural Center at 78 East Washington Street.
Sunday, December 20 you have your choice of three free events to choose from. If you live in Tucson, Jamaica Plain, or DC check out the events in your neck of the woods. Events feature the film YOUNG@HEART accompanied by a variety of performances, speakers, and super seniors who can explore the deeper meaning and current relevance of the film in each local community.
One screening event left in December on the 29th if you’re lucky enough to live in or near Denver, Colorado. Join us at the Starz FilmCenter located at 9th Street and Auraria Parkway at 7:00 PM.
Stay tuned to the Community Cinema blog for updates and information. We’ll be showing the fascinating documentary GARBAGE DREAMS throughout January.
CHAOS in Chicago
This past Saturday – over the Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend – Community Cinema Chicago competed with shopping-mania, blockbuster movie openings, and a nationwide travel stampede to present BETWEEN THE FOLDS, a documentary about the quiet, peaceful beauty of paperfolding and origami …to a surprisingly packed house. Our National Community Cinema Coordinator Naomi Walker tells us all about it. Included are short videos of the free folding workshop at the event.
I had my doubts but was reassured that the Chicago Cultural Center is always popular on Thanksgiving weekend for people stuck in town and looking for things to do. My doubts quickly evaporated! I think this was probably the most popular event I have had yet. I have never had so many people come up to me afterward to give a personal “thank you.” The theater was packed to capacity.
I had seen a wonderful short film about the Chicago Area Origami Society (CHAOS) online, made by a city organization called Chicago Works for public access, and I knew that they would be a wonderful match for this preview community event.
The Cultural Center set up workshopping space in a large open room on the first floor. We thought we might lose some of the audience in the move from the theatre to the 1st floor space. But, it appeared as if the entire audience couldn’t wait to start folding!
The workshop was led by Jean Mishima from the Chicago Japanese American Historical Society. She brought two assistants and we had prepared seating for 25 people. We added more chairs and tables while the film was playing and increased our workshop to accommodate 50 people. We ended up with over 100 eager attendees streaming into to the workshop.
Despite the overcrowding (think of it as cozy), the event was an amazing success. I had anticipated the possibility of running out of paper by designing a square event program and having the program paper cut to size. By the end of the workshop, there were several BETWEEN THE FOLDS programs folded into art!
Two different attendees told me that the film was a life-changer. A journey of a thousand miles can start with just one fold.
Emotionally Powerful Screening Event for D TOUR in Chicago
This past weekend, Community Cinema screened the Independent Lens film D TOUR. The film chronicles musician Pat Spurgeon’s search for a living kidney donor and the challenges associated with finding a viable match. Find out what happened at the screening from Regional Outreach Coordinator Naomi Walker.
I met Evan Farrell, former Rogue Wave bassist, several years ago when I was visiting an old friend in Bloomington, IN. My friend played in a bluegrass combo with him (they also worked construction together to pay the bills). Evan is not someone you can forget. He was an in-your-face kind of guy with an infectious lust for life. You got the feeling that if things ever got dull, Evan would shake it up in a hurry and not allow complacency to set in anywhere he was at. That was in my previous life, back when I worked at a record label.
Having been involved in the underground arts and music scene, I am well aware of the health issues faced by struggling artists. Each month there is a benefit at some venue in town for a musician dealing with health care costs. So it was especially important to me that our post-screening discussion included not only the crucial story of organ donation, but also to pass along resources for uninsured or under-insured artists.
I found out about the work of Dr. David Hinkamp and his Health in the Arts program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. With a background in occupational health, Dr. Hinkamp cares very deeply about the health of artists, including touring musicians. He LOVED the film––and watched it three times.
Special Community Cinema Screening in Chicago: ESTILO HIP HOP
This past weekend, Community Cinema hosted a special screening in Chicago of the Global Voices documentary ESTILO HIP HOP, which chronicles the lives of three hip hop enthusiasts from Brazil, Chile and Cuba who firmly believe that hip hop can change the world. This screening was presented by WTTW, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Southwest Community Coalition. Get the full report below from Regional Outreach Coordinator Naomi Walker:
DJ Man-O-Wax mixes music while B-Boy Brave Monk shows off some moves.
Panelists B-Boy Brave Monk, MC D Nick the Microphone Misfit and Graf Artist Lavie Raven take questions from the audience.
In the audience of ESTILO HIP HOP were the young leaders from the K.I. Eco Center, a youth development program that runs the Community Cinema program in Indianapolis, IN. I had the privilege to attend their screening of TULIA, TEXAS last January and was very impressed and inspired by the event. To see young people, ranging in age from ten to 18 years old, leading adults in a post-screening discussion showed how documentary film can be used as a tool for cross-generational engagement. It was so cool that they were able to take the time to come up to Chicago for this event.
The host for the afternoon was Super InLight, movement/teaching artists, and the choreographer and director of the Stick & Move Dance crew. Super InLight (literally) kicked off the proceedings with a birthday tribute to the dance innovations of Michael Jackson, acknowledging the influence that hip hop dance moves like pop lock had on Jackson and vice versa.
Presenters DJ Man-O-Wax, MC D Nick the Microphone Misfit, B-Boy Brave Monk and Graf Artist Lavie Raven, co-founder of the University of Hip Hop, represented the five elements of hip hop. The fifth element of hip hop––knowledge––was represented by all the presenters, who shared their stories and insights on what inspires them and what they tell the young people they teach (yes, they are ALL teachers by day!).
Community Cinema Screening of LAKSHMI & ME in Chicago
Community Cinema hosted a screening of the Independent Lens film LAKSHMI & ME this past weekend at the Chicago Cultural Center. The film gives an intimate look at the relationship between an employer and servant in India and the ingrained social and cultural attitudes that govern their lives. Regional Outreach Coordinator Naomi Walker gives an overview of the event.
A large crowd gathers at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Speakers Anuja Mehta and Dr. Tarini Bedi discuss the Community Cinema screening of LAKSHMI & ME with Regional Outreach Coordinator Naomi Walker.
A huge crowd packed the Chicago Cultural Center to sit in a dark theater on a beautiful sunny day to watch the Community Cinema screening of LAKSHMI & ME and participate in a lively discussion. In one word: Miraculous!
Guest speakers included: Dr. Tarini Bedi, associate director of the South Asia language and area center and the committee on Southern Asian Studies at the University of Chicago; and Anuja Mehta, coordinator of transitional housing and case manager for Apna Ghar, Inc., a domestic violence shelter for Asian women.
Dr. Bedi and Ms. Mehta gave their initial impressions and thoughts about the film. Mehta went deeper by giving background information on abuse of domestic workers and gave an overview of the types of difficulties South Asian immigrants face in the United States. Many of these women have a hard time dealing with domestic violence and family members often do not come forward to get help she explained.
Dr. Bedi got many questions from audience members looking for a better understanding of the caste system, its history and the different sub-castes and class differences in India. While the issue is very complicated, Dr. Bedi cleared up some common misunderstandings about caste.
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