community
Use Films to Organize and Engage Your Community
Can a film change the world if everyone just sits on their sofas and watches it, and then goes to bed? OK, sure, films can change minds and inform, but at ITVS, our goal is to leverage great films to engage and activate communities. The whole idea is to create a conversation — from the local town hall to the halls of justice around the world.
If you work for a community organization, a non-profit, or dedicate your free energy to volunteer for a cause you feel passionately about, ITVS.org is an amazing and easy-to-use resource to help you to foster dialog and move the conversation forward.
There are many ways you can use our new website to access films that address the issues you’re interested in:
- Attend a Community Cinema or theatrical screening: Type in your zip code and find out when you can attend a screening in your area, often with spirited panel discussions and additional resources to delve into the subject presented.
- Search by topic: Right from our new front page, you can search our nearly 800 films to find the ones that speak directly to your cause.
- Drill down into our catalog: Narrow your search by region, genre, or television series to find the film that most accurately suits your needs.
And check out our new engagement section, where you can learn more about Community Cinema as well as our engagement campaigns that include discussion guides, printable posters and postcards, and more.
Dive in and let us help you get your community talking about the issues that matter where you live. And share your success stories with us!
Community Cinema Brings Together Citizens, Organizations, and Public TV Stations
Just a quick reminder for those of you who are just discovering Community Cinema. Our free monthly documentary screenings are followed by lively panel discussions that bring together citizens, organizations and public television stations to encourage dialogue and action around important and timely social issues. Last season, over 40,000 people attended 500 events nationwide.
Are you a community organizer, educator or facilitator? We’ve got opportunities for you to get involved by using Independent Lens programs and resources in your community.
Interested in planning an event in your community? Visit our web site for step by step directions and free downloadable PDFs. Find a free event near you here.
Click here to watch a QuickTime video about Community Cinema presented by ITVS
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.
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?
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.
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 Los Angeles: Lots to Talk About
Aero Theatre in Santa Monica
While you are out enjoying the last of the summer sun I am diligently working on the final touches for the next season of Community Cinema in Los Angeles and West Hollywood. As always, we have an amazing and diverse group of films for you (more on that in a second).
I am really thrilled to share some news about Community Cinema in the Los Angeles area with you.
Thanks to our friends at the City of West Hollywood we have had Community Cinema in the West Hollywood area for the last five years. The City remains a strong supporter of Community Cinema and they will once again help us produce a screening series split between the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood and the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.
I am also pleased to announce that through a new partnership with the City of Los Angeles, Community Cinema will see an exciting expansion this year. The City is planning to have a traveling series making a presence in each area of Metro Los Angeles over the course of the season. A full schedule will be out in the next couple of weeks.
ITVS Community is also working on a partnership with the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department in hopes of screening select Community Cinema films for inmates. ITVS Community works to bring communities together and connect them with information, resources and opportunities for education, engagement and positive change, and thus we hope to develop a model that may be replicated at other correctional and rehabilitation facilities across the country.
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.
New Venue Joins Community Cinema Philadelphia
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia joins Community Cinema this season as a venue partner to host our kick-off event on Wednesday, Sept 23rd for D TOUR!
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, founded in 1787
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, founded in 1787, is the oldest professional medical organization in the country. Twenty-four physicians of eighteenth-century Philadelphia gathered “to advance the science of medicine and to thereby lessen human misery.” Today, over 1,500 Fellows continue to convene at the College and work towards better serving the public.
The College is home to the Mütter Museum and the Historical Medical Library. Outreach programs include Philly Health Info.org, [external link] an online health information, resource and educational program serving the Delaware Valley, and the C. Everett Koop Community Education Center. The public is invited to attend the many lectures, workshops, and conferences the College offers in support of their mission to advance the cause of health.
In addition to the College, the Gift of Life Donor Program [external link] will be joining us as a community partner. Gift of Life is the non-profit agency serving the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, and responsible for recovering and distributing organs and tissues used in life-saving and life-enhancing transplants.
Founded in 1974 by the Greater Delaware Valley Society of Transplant Surgeons, Gift of Life is one of the oldest and largest of 58 non-profit, organ and tissue procurement organizations in the United States. Gift of Life is part of the nationwide organ and tissue sharing network run by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
Upcoming Community Cinema Screenings
D TOUR kicks off Community Cinema in September
Earlier this month, we announced the exciting line-up of Independent Lens films coming to Community Cinema.
Be sure to check out this year’s schedule of upcoming screenings. Join us in September for free screenings of D TOUR, which chronicles musician Pat Spurgeon’s search for a living kidney donor and the challenges with finding a viable match. Watch the trailer and then find a free screening near you.
Visit the Community Cinema events page to find free preview screenings near you.
Stay Connected
Program Tools
Community Cinema on Twitter
-
communitycinema: #Compost THIS! Cow/horse manure (outdoors only), cardboard rolls, chopped leaves, coffee grounds (worms love these) MORE: http://dld.bz/kSXD
-
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
-
Simon Kilmurry: RT @communitycinema: Women's Engagement Film Series NEXT MONTH! Partners incl @unfpa @CARE @unifem @povdocs http://dld.bz/nQbH #FF Thanks!