Independent Lens
Independent Lens Submission Deadline: 9/24/2010
Independent Lens is currently accepting submissions for the October 2011-June 2012 season. Jointly curated by ITVS and PBS, we welcome a spectrum of independent documentary, including social issue, point of view, history, and animation. A number of short films are also accepted and broadcast each season.
The deadline to submit is Friday, September 24, 2010. For more information read the Independent Lens submissions FAQ. And to get a feel for some of our award-winning programs, check out trailers from this past season…
Happy Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month from ITVS
A village called Versailles rises from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina
With the tragic oil spill encroaching on the coast of Louisiana, the upcoming premiere of A Village Called Versailles, by S. Leo Chiang on Independent Lens on May 25 promises to be especially cogent and poignant as a story of a Vietnamese American community in New Orleans facing down a massive ecological and socioeconomic disaster in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Versailles is the most recent production in a long collaboration between ITVS and the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), with whom we have co-produced a remarkable range of penetrating films in recent years.
Other ITVS and CAAM co-productions broadcasting this month include the Emmy-winning Sentenced Home (May 16 on Global Voices), Project Kashmir (May 18 on Independent Lens), and Independent Lens Audience Award-winner China Blue (May 23 on Global Voices).
Be sure to tune in for two other shows airing this month, too — Vietnam: The Next Generation and Teacher (which is already streaming in its entirety on the PBS.org video player).
Not sure which to watch? Take a peek inside: Clips and trailers for all of the titles airing this month are available now on the new ITVS.org video player.
Watch a preview of Project Kashmir airing next Tuesday, May 18 on Independent Lens (check local listings) >>
Two Independent Lens Programs Win Peabody Awards
The George Foster Peabody Awards, administered by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, is the oldest, and one of the most prestigious honors in electronic media. Among this year’s winners are two Independent Lens programs:
Between the Folds, by Vanessa Gould, chronicles the stories of 10 fine artists and intrepid theoretical scientists who have abandoned careers and hard-earned graduate degrees — all to forge unconventional lives as modern-day paper-folders. Thousands previewed Between The Folds at free Community Cinema screening events nationwide. Many events included paperfolders and workshops to teach paperfolding.
The Order of Myths, by Margaret Brown , a complex story about race relations and the ever-present racial divide in America told through the pageantry at America’s oldest Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama.
Congratulations to the filmmakers on this incredible achievement! This brings the total number of Peabody awards for ITVS films to 16.
The Peabody awards will be presented May 17 at a luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City with ABC’s Diane Sawyer as host.
Visit the Peabody Award website for a complete list of winners >>
Independent Lens Kicks-off Winter/Spring Season with Four Acclaimed Music Documentaries
This winter, Independent Lens, hosted by Maggie Gyllenhaal, launches the second half of the 2009/2010 season with four weeks of compelling documentaries that explore both the art and business of modern music. If you’ve been attending Community Cinema this past Fall then you’ve previewed a few of these films for free. Be sure to tell your friends to watch when your favorites air on PBS.
The slate includes the television premieres of Stephen Walker’s critical and box office smash YOUNG@HEART, an inspiring portrait of the indomitable members of a New England senior citizens chorus who cover musicians from The Clash to Prince; Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod’s COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS, which examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law and money; and Gabriel Noble’s P-STAR RISING, a gritty, personal look at Priscilla Diaz, a.k.a P-Star, a determined young Harlem rapper trying to fulfill her family’s dreams of success. Also airing is an encore presentation of Byron Hurt’s HIP HOP: Beyond Beats And Rhymes, one of Independent Lens’s biggest hits, a film that goes beyond the bling to explore gender roles in hip-hop and rap music.
Community Cinema Screening of YOUNG@HEART Features Chorus Members and Its Director
Producing Partners are local community organizations that co-present Community Cinema screenings across the country. Last night, the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center (BMAC) in Brattleboro, VT, screened the Independent Lens film YOUNG@HEART. The film documents the true story of the Young@Heart senior citizens chorus, whose average age is 81. Their inspiring story celebrates the unbreakable bonds of friendship and the life-affirming power of music. Special thanks to YOUNG@HEART chorus director Bob Cilman and chorus members Steve Martin and Jeanne Hatch who made special appearances at the screening. Danny Lichtenfeld, director of the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, gives his take on the event below:
From left to right: Steve Martin (Young@Heart chorus member), Bob Cilman (Young@Heart chorus director), Danny Lichtenfeld (BMAC director), Jeanne Hatch (Young@Heart chorus member), Joe LoMonaco (BMAC trustee)
This weekend we had the great pleasure of welcoming Bob Cilman, director of the Young@Heart chorus, and two members of the chorus, Steve Martin and Jeanne Hatch, to our screening of the uplifting film about their ensemble.
Despite the worst weather forecast of the winter so far, about 35-40 audience members showed up for the event, which included a pre-screening meet-and-greet and a post-screening Q&A session. Bob and the chorus members were, in fact, the first to arrive — the trip up to Brattleboro from Northampton, Mass. being much shorter than they had anticipated (not so for their return trip in the snow, however). I greeted them at the door and had to remind myself that, while they seemed so familiar and lovable to me (I had already watched the film), they had no idea who I was. That was all resolved soon enough, owing mainly to the fact that Steve Martin has the gift of friendly gab like few people I’ve ever met. And Jeanne and Bob, too, were warm and gracious — throughout the meet-and-greet and also during the spirited Q&A.
Independent Lens on PBS Announces Maggie Gyllenhaal as New Host
The secret is out! A brand new season of Independent Lens begins on Tuesday, October 13, and we’re thrilled to have acclaimed actress Maggie Gyllenhaal as this season’s host.
No stranger to the indie film world, Gyllenhaal has starred in a wide-range of films including Secretary (2002), for which she received a Golden Goble nomination playing opposite James Spader, Donnie Darko (2001) and Sherrybaby (2006), where she received her second Golden Globe nomination.
Most recently Gyllenhaal played Rachel Dawes in the Warner Bros. box office hit The Dark Knight (2008) directed by Chris Nolan and in 2009 she appeared in Sam Mendes’s Away We Go. Upcoming, she’ll star in the dramatic film Crazy Heart, alongside Jeff Bridges and Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang with Emma Thompson.
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.
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.
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.
Tension Creates Successful CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made in America Event in Nashville
L to R: Rodney Britton from Galaxy Star Drug Awareness; Moderator Jonathan Martin from WSMV-TV; and Clemmie Greenlee from Galaxy Star Drug Awareness
Nashville’s to-capacity screening of CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made in America, was our most rewarding and interesting event. The film examines conditions that have led to the devastating gang violence among young African Americans growing up in South Los Angeles.
Police pressured us to cancel the event out of fear of violence. That’s not the response we envisioned for an event about peace, change and solutions. Of the nationwide events––where the local police were involved––Nashville’s police had the most serious reservations about holding the event.
Nashville has been making the “10 most violent” cities list [external link Forbes Magazine] and gang violence is a serious problem in the metro area, so I know police were just being cautious. The screening made people nervous and added a bit of tension to the night. Middle schoolers from Nashville’s All the Kings Men leadership program [external link] attended the event.
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