Thanks to All for Another Record Breaking Season of Community Cinema

In over 50 cities nationwide, thousands of free documentary film screenings were followed by lively panel discussions, performances, filmmakers, and the brightest minds who choose to give of their time as community volunteers.

As you know, Community Cinema events bring together citizens, organizations, and public television stations to encourage dialogue and action around important and timely social issues.

The numbers aren’t quite in yet on this most recent season, but in past seasons over tens of thousands have attended thousands of events nationwide.

Community Cinema is the largest civic engagement program in broadcast television. We serve communities large and small, and we attract diverse audiences including singing activist senior citizens and young filmmakers using the latest technology to tell their stories.

I’m working on a wrap up of this entire dazzling season which started off rocking, rolling, and spinning vinyl and ended with shamanic journeys to Mongolia and the inspiring and innovative New Orleans’ Vietnamese community.

Thank YOU our fans and audiences. Thanks too to our thousands of partners nationwide who help present Community Cinema in their town, city, or metropolis. We’ve been honored to work with the New York City Parks Department, The John Michael Kohler Arts Center, the San Francisco Public Library, and the Dinosaur Discovery Museum. Thank you to the truly delightful Maggie Gyllenhaal for hosting this past season of Independent Lens (oh! and she was nominated for an Oscar too)! Good year.

Public television stations deserve a standing ovation (for a number of reasons) including their support of Community Cinema and Independent Lens. Still “America’s Network,” PBS provides top quality programming for all ages. Children will continue to grow up with Sesame Street and eventually end up eagerly anticipating the PBS News Hour.

Community Cinema will be back in October of 2010 with an exciting season of  nine fresh new documentaries to make you think, inspire you, and hopefully lead to positive change in your community. Have a great summer, but be sure to check back here regularly for sneak peeks, updates on film selections, and information about our special Women’s Empowerment Film festivals coming in August in select markets. You do not want to miss that!

Don’t forget your sunscreen!

Tags: community cinema, films, free events, partnerships

It’s A Video Festival In Your Blog

Community Cinema has amassed quite a collection of videos from our free documentary screening events. We’ve talked to community leaders, performers, a few DJs, and audience members just like you. Here are a few of the short video clips we’ve collected from this exciting season of Community Cinema. We’ll have videos from our current film selection A Village Called Versailles coming very soon.

We asked audience members at last month’s events for The Horse Boy about what brought them to the event, how the film affected their feelings about the topic of autism and alternative healing, and finally what was their experience at Community Cinema.

In March, we presented Dirt! The Movie in dozens of communities nationwide. One of our most successful events was at the San Francisco Public Library. This video is an edited wrap-up of the event including speakers, the audience, and what people were talking about after watching the powerful film.

We presented the award winning documentary Garbage Dreams in January. This edited video captures the activities surrounding our event in Oakland, California.

December’s gift to Community Cinema goers was the delightful and touching Young@Heart about the Young@Heart chorus which is made up of older folk who sing punk, rock, and a lot of roll. We were so fortunate to be joined by many talented seniors at our events. Including Legendary jazz musician Willie Pickens at Community Cinema Chicago.

In Seattle, Young@Heart audiences were treated to a few numbers by Seattle’s Raging Grannies.

And in West Hollywood we were inspired by a number fo talented seniors at the Community Cinema Senior Talent Show.

In November, the runaway smash hit of the Fall was Between The Folds a compelling documentary about paperfolding and origami. Many of our events included interactive paperfolding workshops with local experts sharing their talents. Here’s a glimpse of the paperfolding activities.

Copyright Criminals asked, “Is sampling stealing?” at dozens of events throughout October. We had some stellar DJs and other artists speak and perform at events around the country. We talked to Seattle’s DJ Hypen who was the host of our event.

The audience also weighed in on the question of music as an artform and/or a business.

We want to hear from you.

Tags: audience feedback, community cinema, free events, video, youtube

The Horse Boy at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts

Producing Partners are local community organizations that co-present free Community Cinema screenings across the country. Here are a few snippets from a recent event for The Horse Boy by Michel Orion Scott. Our producing partner in Grand Rapids, Michigan shares highlights from the event.

We had an amazing screening! One of our biggest crowds of the year, and a truly great speaker. Liane Holliday Willey, our speaker, is a local author who has Asperger’s Syndrome – as do her father and daughter. She discussed her own experiences at length, especially the difficulties she had with her daughter, who had terrible tantrums, much like in the film. She shared experiences about when her daughter and father had been bullied and beat up as children. Her daughter was bullied even in the first year of college, because of her differences. Liane herself suffered several attacks.

Liane also discussed her work with a local group who uses horses in therapy with children who have mental and physical disabilities. She spoke of the amazing changes she has seen in these children, as well as adults who have been victims of abuse and violence. We discussed the effect of animals on children with autism. Several people in the audience shared their experiences with family members who are autistic, including siblings and children. We also discussed whether genetic engineering should be used to eliminate autism, and the general consensus between both Liane and the audience was a resounding no. Liane talked about her friendship with Temple Grandin and the amazing work that Dr. Grandin has accomplished because of the focus that autism gives her. She said that her father had a similar experience, as he became a gifted engineer.

It was a very emotional and touching discussion overall, with lots of tears and smiles. Liane’s books are: Pretending to be Normal: Living with Aspergers Syndrome; Asperger Syndrome in the Family: Redefining Normal; and Adolescents and Asperger Syndrome in the Adolescent Years: Living With the Ups and Downs and Things in Between. She is working on a new book that tells her personal story now.

Tags: autism, free events, Michigan, the horse boy

Some Dirt on Recent Community Cinema Events for Dirt! The Movie

Producing Partners are local community organizations that co-present free Community Cinema screenings across the country. Here are a few snippets from recent events for Dirt! The Movie by Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow.

On March 3 at the San Diego Public Library there were quite a few more people under 30 than we usual.  The film seemed to energize the audience regardless of age.  The comments –as usual– were very positive. One older woman let us know that she’ll never see dirt the same way again. The film really changed her mind.  The event definitely made people look down at ground as they went home and consider what was down there.

On March 6, a diverse audience enjoyed part of their day at the free Community Cinema Seattle premiere screening of Dirt! The Movie at Seattle Center. On an unusually gorgeous sunny day in Seattle – especially odd for early March – the audience was eager to discuss what was being done to help Seattle’s ecosystem heal itself and ways they could help.

Our panelists and local event partners are inovators in an already crowded field of bioneers in the Seattle and Puget Sound region. We were so fortunate to be joined by Kathryn A. Gardow, Executive Director of PCC Farmland Trust and Brad Halm, a farmer and co-owner of The Seattle Urban Farm Company, which has garnered quite a bit of press for its creative and friendly approach to urban gardening and farming.

On March 10 at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library in Tucson discussion highlights included audience members talking about their experiences with composting and gardening. We has a guest from the Community Gardens of Tucson, who spoke after the discussion. Community Gardens of Tucson is an all-volunteer not-for-profit group devoted to promoting health, knowledge, joyfulness and a sense of community by helping Tucson residents establish and maintain neighborhood vegetable and flower gardens. It is made up of gardening experts, novices, homeowners and volunteer coordinators.

Wine expert Gary Vaynerchuck can taste terroir in soil. Let him tell you about it.

Tags: dirt! the movie, ecology, free events, green

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

Tags: community, free events, partnerships

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.

“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.”

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

Tags: blind, documentary, free events, pbs, the eyes of me, visually impaired

Dirt! The Movie Asks You to Watch What You Are Stepping On

Community Cinema invites you to join us for Dirt! The Movie starting today in Brooklyn, New York and then screening for free daily throughout the country in March.

It’s under our feet and under our fingernails, but what is it? And how did it get there? Inspired by William Bryant Logan’s acclaimed book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth, find out how industrial farming, mining and urban development have led us toward cataclysmic droughts, starvation, floods and climate change. Dirt is a part of everything we eat, drink and breathe. Which is why we should stop treating it like, well…dirt.

Our national partners create ways for audiences to learn more about the issues raised in the film and “get dirty” through environmental service learning projects and be part of imagining solutions for a sustainable future.

Bioneers is inspiring a shift to live on Earth in ways that honor the web of life, each other and future generations. Bioneers provides solutions-based education and social connectivity through the Bioneers national and local conferences and programs, including: The Bioneers: Revolution From the Heart of Nature radio series; anthology book series; television programs and online community.

Youth Service America improves communities by increasing the number and the diversity of young people, ages 5-25, serving in substantive roles. The impact of YSA’s work through service and service-learning is measured in student achievement, workplace readiness, and healthy communities.

Find your event! And, read on for more about dirt and Dirt! The Movie. Watch video clips and more! › Continue reading

Tags: dirt, dirt! the movie, documentary, earth, free events, soil

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.

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.

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