Community Cinema April Selection The Horse Boy Airs Tonight on Independent Lens

Community Cinema’s April selection, The Horse Boy airs nationally tonight on Independent Lens on PBS. (check local listings). The film was such a success at Community Cinema, I wanted to share a few more stories from the events. Tune in tonight.

Regional Outreach Coordinator Cindy Burstein and Co-Coordinator Sara Zia Ibrahimi in Philadelphia, produced a unique event with PBS station WHYY for The Horse Boy.

“On April 21, Station Partner WHYY hosted a screening in Philadelphia. More than 200 people packed the venue, including many parents who are raising children who have Autism. To create engagement opportunities around the screening, ITVS awarded WHYY a Station Outreach grant to support an innovative video project that captures the stories of families with Autism called The Horse Boy Family Media Project. Designed in collaboration with local families affected by autism; WHYY’s Community Relations Department, Learning Lab, and Health and Science Desk; and several local autism organizations, the Family Media Project creates a supportive space for families with Autism to find their own voice. Watch the videos here.”

Producing Partner Emily Tobin in Grand Rapids, Michigan produced an event featuring an author with experience dealing with Asperger’s Syndrome.

“We had an amazing screening! One of our biggest crowds of the year, and a truly great speaker. Liane is a local speaker and 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 talked about experiences that her daughter and father had being bullied and beat up as children and for her daughter, even in the first year of college, because of their differences. 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 discusses the affect of animals on children with autism, and several people in the audience shared their experiences with family members who are autistic, including siblings and children. It was a very emotional and touching discussion overall, with lots of tears and smiles.

Sydney Meyer our Producing Partner at St. Louis’ KETC TV always packs the house at the beautiful Missouri History Museum.

There was a full house for The Horse Boy event in St. Louis. We had a smaller room than usual at the Missouri History Museum and so we had to keep adding more and more chairs as 160 people flowed in to watch and discuss this wonderfully, touching film. One of the panelists, a professor of film studies, pointed out, ‘This film humbles us because it points us toward what we don’t know. It is an example of a film that is great because it shows us the heart of the filmmaker. It is love in action’. Several panelists who advocated more traditional treatment methods acknowledged that we don’t know all the answers to autism and that what works with some does not work with others. But the best voice of the night was a young autistic man who said, ‘I do not have a disorder. I am uniquely wired and parents should keep trying new ways to open up our world. Mine opened up by typing. But the most important thing to remember from this night is that the world should except all people, however different they are and not separate us from everybody else’. The night ended with applause but the talking and discussing went on as groups filed out of the museum. I’d say that was a successful night!

Julie Coan at Producing Partner Houston PBS produced an amazing event at Rice CInema.

“Our screening of The Horse Boy, during Autism Awareness Month, was wonderful. I heard many of the audience members express their surprise that the film was so insightful and poignant, yet real. One audience member said to me that she was surprised by how “non-typical” the film was in that it offered viewers another perspective on Autism. Topics for discussion were varied and had the entire audience raising thier hands and asking questions. On the medical aspect of Autism, Dr. Soares explained the research his institution conducts on Autism and the medical breakthroughs his UT Medical branch is currently making in the field. We also discussed the issue of ‘faith healing’, or alternatives to Western Medicine in the treatment of Autism. What we learned from this discussion was that, while there has been a lot of research done, Autism is still a medical mystery and treatment options have varying success rates, depending on the child. We also discussed the need for adult programs for those with Autism and other Neuro-psychiatric conditions. On the whole, the audience was extremely engaged in the discussion and everyone, including the panelists, thanked us for bringing this topic up for community discussion.”

Tags: autism, Grand Rapids, Houston, philadelphia, the horse boy, WHYY

Community Cinema Screens The Eyes of Me in Houston

This past week, Community Cinema hosted a screening of the Independent Lens film The Eyes of Me at HoustonPBS. The film follows four visually impaired teenagers in Texas as they face the usual challenges of adolescence while simultaneously learning to navigate a world designed for the sighted. Filmmaker Keith Maitland attended the screening and gives an overview of what happened and the impact the event below.

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.” › Continue reading

Tags: blind, disability, Houston, texas, the eyes of me

Garbage Dreams Events Make People Look At Garbage Differently: Houston

Producing Partners are local community organizations that co-present Community Cinema screenings across the country. Last night, HoustonPBS screened the Independent Lens film Garbage Dreams. Filmed over four years, the film follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world’s largest garbage village, a ghetto located on the outskirts of Cairo. Manar Hindi, Community Cinema assistant coordinator, talks about the event and how she’ll never look at trash the same way again.

I’ve always wondered what happens with my trash. It seems to magically disappear each week and I don’t really have any idea what happens to it or what impact it has on my community. Well that all changed last night. What I learned at the HoustonPBS Community Cinema screening of Garbage Dreams was fascinating.

Houston recycles about 22 percent of its solid waste. While the number shows an improvement, we still lag behind cities like Portland (63 percent) and San Francisco (72 percent). Harry Hayes, director of the city’s Solid Waste Management Department, said that one of the things needed to increase the number of people recycling in Houston is legislation. He talked about how people in San Francisco are fined if they don’t recycle properly. He said if people are really concerned about recycling they need to contact their elected officials.

One audience member asked what he could do to implement a recycling plan in his apartment building, since there was no real precedent for him to follow. Mr. Hayes’ answer was that there was no “curbside” pick up currently for apartment building, so his suggestion was to speak with the owner’s of the apartment building about possibly hiring a private company to collect and haul the recyclables away.

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Tags: egypt, garbage, Houston, HoustonPBS, recycling

Houston: Bring The Noise!

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!

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Tags: Between The Folds, Copyright Criminals, D Tour, Houston, Rice University Theatre