Community Cinema DC: The Great Connector

You may remember our Washington, DC area Regional Outreach Coordinator, Michon Boston, from her recent appearance on WUSA9′s morning news. If you’ve been to one of our DC area events, you’ll recognize her as the person who keeps the movie rolling and the conversation going. In celebration of 4 years of Community Cinema, Michon shares one of her favorite aspects of working with Community Cinema.

If you miss Community Cinema DC you miss an opportunity to meet and mingle with some great people in the DC area who bring their knowledge, stories, and even listening ears when they take the mic for the Q&A. Community Cinema seeks out these experts, educators, and anyone digging deeper for more information about a sensitive topic. Sometimes we connect, they connect, and we all reconnect at future events.

At one of the DC area YOUNG@HEART events (l to r) Pauline Jakobsberg, Douglas Yeuell, Adrienne Price, and Michon Boston

For our first YOUNG@HEART screening at Busboys and Poets just a few weeks ago, we welcomed Douglas Yeuell, executive/artistic director of Joy of Motion Dance Center, which has 4 dance studios in our city. Douglas was joined by Adrienne Price, a member of his dance ensemble, Jazzemotion. Adrienne studied dance before life took another course (marriage, children, career), now she’s back. Joy of Motion’s motto is “dance is for everyone.” That’s no joke, especially this past Halloween when Joy of Motion hosted a ‘Thriller” line dance event from their H Street studios.

Pauline Jakobsberg is a founder of Washington Printmakers Gallery which has been around since 1985. Pauline is a printmaker herself and a teacher. She’s worked with seniors with dementia. Art has a way of triggering memories; and that was no exception in Pauline’s experiences. One member of our audience said all the people on the panel were “inspirational.”

It’s always a treat when filmmakers come to Community Cinema events like Kembrew McLeod for COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS. But this season I was glad to have a chance to work with Mazi Mutafa founder and executive director of Words Beats & Life, Inc. His organization publishes a dynamic academic journal on hip hop. Mazi and I have bumped into each other at arts events, but this is the first time we’ve actually worked on something together. Hopefully, there will be more to come. More people should get to know Mazi and the work of WBL, Inc.

We also had some dynamic lawyers on our COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS events like Peter Jaszi of the Washington College of Law at American University. Jaszi is brilliant when it comes to fair use and documentary film and video. He’s about to take it to the music level. Jaszi advised the filmmakers of COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS on fair use issues; and Ken Kaufman currently with the law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. Ken has a lot of music copyright and intellectual property stories in his book including getting the first calls from soul brother number one James Brown with complaints about hearing his music in the hip hop mixes. At the time Ken was Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and General Counsel of PolyGram Records, Inc.

An intricate paper box folded by DC area folder Gloria Kim

Sometimes, friends or relatives of friends save the day for Community Cinema like Gloria Kim, who has been making origami boxes for 3 years. I know Gloria through her sister Eugenia who just published her first novel, The Calligrapher’s Daughter (picked one of the Best Books of 2009 by the Washington Post). Gloria gave a hands-on, challenging, lesson on making one of her octagon boxes at both the Busboys and Poets and Mathematical Association screenings of BETWEEN THE FOLDS.

But the real reward for me is to see collaborations in the making after each screening. DC is a networking maze. How the business cards can pile up on your table. But Community Cinema provides a relaxed, informal way to connect firstly through the film, then across the room.

Malcolm Gladwell author of The Tipping Point and other best sellers called “connectors” – “the kinds of people who know everyone and possess special gifts for bringing the world together.” After all, isn’t that what Community Cinema is all about?

Tags: Between The Folds, Copyright Criminals, dc, free events, young@heart

Community Cinema Featured on WUSA9 in Washington, D.C.

DC area Community Cinema Regional Outreach Coordinator Michon Boston recently appeared on D.C.’s WUSA channel 9 to explain how Community Cinema works and to promote a few of her upcoming events.

Be sure to check out the following free Washington, D.C. area events presented by Community Cinema.

YOUNG@HEART
Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 5:00 PM
Washington DC Jewish Community Center
1529 16th Street, NW (at Q)

GARBAGE DREAMS
Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 3:00 PM
Washington DC Jewish Community Center
1529 16th Street, NW (at Q)

GARBAGE DREAMS
Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 5:00 PM
Busboys and Poets
2021 14th Street, NW at V

Tags: dc, free, garbage dreams, Washington DC, young@heart