Michon Boston, Community Cinema’s Regional Outreach Coordinator in Washington D.C., updates BTB on a new partnership between ITVS and the All Roads Film Project at National Geographic.

My first community partnership experience with the All Roads Film Project at National Geographic was in 2007 when ITVS and All Roads co-hosted a special screening of Miss Navajo for the All Roads Film Festival.  We brought in filmmaker Billy Luther, and the film’s star Crystal Frazier (and her mom) to join the Q&A moderated by Francene Blythe, the festival’s director.  The National Geographic special events team hired a vendor to make fry bread on the spot during the after-party on the patio.  It was a night to remember; especially the fry bread. Additionally, ITVS International content has appeared on the National Geographic Channel in the past. The two organizations also partnered up this past summer for the premiere screening of Bhutto in Washington, DC and back in 2007 around the film Please Vote for Me.

This season, ITVS and the All Roads Film Festival are co-hosting the festival’s presentation of Reel Injun and Up Heartbreak Hill (supported by ITVS) at National Geographic Live! Neil Diamond’s Reel Injun opens the festival September 28. Reel Injun chronicles American Indians and the depiction of American Indians in Hollywood films. Up Heartbreak Hill, a film by Erica Scharf, is also part of the festival which ends October 3. The film chronicles the lives of Thomas, Tamara and Gabby — three Native American teenagers in Navajo, New Mexico — as they navigate their senior year at a reservation high school. As graduation nears, they must decide whether to stay in their community — a place inextricably woven into the fiber of their being — or leave in pursuit of opportunities elsewhere. Both films also received support from the All Roads Film Project.

All Roads supports projects by filmmakers who are and feature indigenous and under-represented cultures through first-person storytelling. Director Francene Blythe grew the program which includes a photography component, traveling festival, and grant program. Francene is now putting together an All Roads On Tour, which will bring more of their films to community spaces.  I became familiar with the All Roads Project via Francene’s dad Frank Blythe, a co-founder and [now retired] executive director of the Native American Public Telecommunications consortium.

Community Cinema [DC] will host two screenings of Reel Injun Sunday, October 10 at the Washington DC Jewish Community Center; and Monday, October 11 (Columbus Day) at Busboys and Poets. All Roads Film Project is a community partner for the DC Community Cinema presentations of Reel Injun.

It’s great to be back together again.

This past month, the Women’s Empowerment Film Series in Los Angeles partnered with the City of Los Angeles’ Gang Reduction Youth Development Office (GRYD). National Community Cinema Coordinator, Desiree Gutierrez reports on how the films were chosen and relays a message from one special member, involved in the curating process.

As a group, we decided that beyond showing female youth empowering films we could also create an empowerment opportunity by including the youth in our planning. We invited a few girls from the area’s GRYD zones to participate in our planning and to serve as film festival programmers.

The girls started with a list of 20 unique female-focused films and they worked there way down to our final three: Going on 13, Troop 1500, and Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story.  The films selected resonated with the girl’s own experiences about growing up in the inner-city and the reality of making poor life choices or worse having a parent making poor choices.

Independent Lens Series Producer Lois Vossen stands between, Carmen Rios (L) and Ce'Airah Jenkins (R)

One of the young women to help us program the festival was Ce’Airah Jenkins. She is a bright and serious girl that has aspirations of being an actress. Ce’Airah had the opportunity to travel to Sacramento to meet with legislators and was unable to attend the festival she programmed. However, it was very important to her that the audience knew why Troop 1500 was a personal and important selection to her. Here is a note she asked that I share with the audience.

By Ce’Airah Jenkins
Troop 1500 is related to my life in so many ways because my mother was in prison for five years. When my mother went to prison, my sister and I moved back with my father. My mother wrote us and called us everyday. My father was a single parent and didn’t get help from anyone.

While my mother was in prison we didn’t get to visit her because my father didn’t have the time or money to fly us to where she was. My sister and I were too young to think of any programs to help us see our mother! So basically, we were stuck with phone calls, letters, and pictures.

Troop 1500 is such a good documentary for young ladies that have parents in prison. I really wish I knew about this program back in the day. My mom did her whole sentence, which was five years, and when she got out of prison she got really sick, and after about a year she passed away, when I was 10 years old.

My mom was great. I really want to spread the word that I still hold my head high because my mom told me to keep my head high, and I plan to be a success.

Filmmakers Nicole Newnham and David Grabias

Sentenced Home aired back in 2007 on Independent Lens and put a human face on a controversial immigration policy. The film followed three young Cambodian Americans, raised in inner-city Seattle, each of whom faced deportation for mistakes they made as teenagers. Filmmakers Nicole Newnham and David Grabias provide an update on the case of Many Uch, one of the three subjects featured in Sentenced Home.

In June, 2007, Many Uch decided to apply for a pardon for his 1994 crime from Christine Gregoire, the governor of Washington State. Although we knew it was a long shot, it was something that we had been hoping he would do for quite a while. We met Many while filming Sentenced Home in 2003, and we were struck by his gentle soul and his extraordinarily thoughtful perspective on his difficult situation: in limbo, living with the constant threat of an order of deportation to Cambodia.

From our first interviews with him for the documentary, it was clear he hoped that telling his story would be a way to educate and help others in his community. But we could not have foreseen his evolution into a pivotal community activist, envisioning a better future for his people, and tirelessly working to make that happen.

When Sentenced Home was released Many and his wife, Sophany, sacrificed to make sure he could travel with the film all over the country. He has continued to give his time to speak in at schools and youth groups to support gang prevention, at various community events, and even before the United States Congress on the subject of deportation and immigration law. Inspired by the activists and community leaders he met speaking in different cities with the film, Many returned to Seattle and helped found and lead, Khmer in Action, an outfit designed to build a strong and loving community of Khmer people working together to create equality for sociopolitical justice.

Many was reluctant when his attorney began discussing with him the option of a Governor’s pardon. He didn’t want to do anything that might help him but not others in his situation. Eventually he came to hope that his pardon might pave the way for others to follow and would help the case for the law to be reformed.  Although Gov. Gregoire is known for taking pardons extremely seriously and granting them rarely, her pardon board was overwhelmingly impressed by Many’s contribution to his community and unanimously recommended that she consider pardoning his crime. Last month, we were elated to learn that the governor decided to grant him an unconditional pardon for his crime.

One might think that having served his time for his crime in 1994 with good behavior, having lived a crime-free life since, having become a pillar of his community, holding a job, and raising a beautiful daughter, Many Uch would at last be free of the specter of deportation. But in fact, the governor’s pardon is only the beginning of that quest — he must now ask to have his case reopened and for the court to expunge his crime.  Still, it’s an exceedingly meaningful expression of justice. The letter that accompanied Many’s pardon said that by her action, the governor “intends to encourage Mr. Uch and help him realize his aspirations.” We have no doubt but that it will.

Independent Lens

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…

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) >>

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 >>

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.

The Winter/Spring season of Independent Lens showcases a powerhouse selection of films covering a wide range of issues. Airing during Black History month is HERSKOVITS AT THE HEART OF BLACKNESS, directed by Llewellyn Smith, which explores the forgotten legacy of Melville Herskovits, the controversial Jewish anthropologist who challenged widely held assumptions about race and culture. Also airing during Black history month is BEHIND THE RAINBOW, directed by Jihan El Tahri, an untold account of South Africa’s political problems, struggles and realities. Among the other documentaries that make up the 2010 slate of Independent Lens are DIRT! The Movie by Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow (Sundance 2009 selection), GARBAGE DREAMS by Mai Iskander (winner of the Al Gore REEL Current Award and shortlisted for an Academy® Award nomination for Best Documentary), and the highly acclaimed drama GOODBYE SOLO by Ramin Bahrani. From education (WHATEVER IT TAKES), to a post-Katrina New Orleans (MINE, A VILLAGE CALLED VERSAILLE), and developmental disorders, as a family travels to Mongolia in search of answers to combat their son’s autism (THE HORSE BOY, 2009 Sundance Selection), Independent Lens presents unforgettable stories from around the world.

Visit the Independent Lens Web site for more information on the Winter/Spring season >>

]]> http://communitycinema.org/independent-lens-kicks-off-winterspring-season-with-four-acclaimed-music-documentaries/feed/ 0 http://communitycinema.org/community-cinema-screening-of-youngheart-features-chorus-members/ http://communitycinema.org/community-cinema-screening-of-youngheart-features-chorus-members/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:17:56 +0000 itvscc http://communitycinema.org/?p=934 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.

When it came time to show the film, the trio headed up Main Street to grab lunch and watch the Patriots game. They returned in time to catch the last 10 minutes of the film, and I spied Jeanne tearing up at Fred Knittle’s moving rendition of Coldplay’s “Fix You” and singing along to the tongue-twisting “Yes, We Can.” For its part, our audience applauded at the end, as they had done at several instances earlier in the film.

Steve Martin (Young@Heart chorus member) with Cindy Hutcheson (BMAC trustee)

Although the snow was now coming down wet and heavy, and we had shown the full one hour and 42-minute version of the film, nearly the entire audience stuck around for the Q&A, in order to proclaim their amazement and appreciation for the work of Bob and the Young@Heart chorus. Audience members asked interesting questions, which Bob, Steve, and Jeanne fielded with grace, humor, and depth. There was a strong sentiment in the room at the end of the event that we should find a way to bring the chorus to Brattleboro for a performance, and also that Brattleboro should launch a Young@Heart-type chorus of its own. Sincere praise, indeed.

Danny Lichtenfeld
Director, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center and Community Cinema Producing Partner

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.

This season, Independent Lens will showcase a powerhouse selection of 27 independent films from a vast array of settings—including the world’s largest garbage village in the outskirts of Cairo in GARBAGE DREAMS; the hills of Mongolia where a Texas family seeks an unconventional treatment for their son’s autism in THE HORSE BOY; and BUTTE, AMERICA, where five generations intersect with key historical events.

The series kicks off with Megumi Sasaki’s acclaimed and endearing documentary HERB & DOROTHY, about a postal worker and his librarian wife whose passion led them to create one of the most priceless collections of contemporary art in the world. Be sure to tune in on October 13 at 10:00 PM (check local listings).

Learn more and get the Independent Lens fall schedule >>

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.

It was a tearful but inspirational discussion, and after each of our four panelists told their stories, they were received with a round of applause from the audience.  We heard from a gentleman in the audience who will be receiving a kidney donation from his sister next week, and he was also cheered on by the crowd.  He was there with his wife, who works as a surgical nurse, and takes part in many organ transplants at St. Mary’s Hospital, here in Grand Rapids (she said that’s always the best day of the week for her).

D TOUR in Grand Rapids, Michigan

We discussed the rewards and challenges of being a donor, and of the difficulties in searching for a living donor.  Emily had an amazing network going, including Facebook and Craig’s List, and her mother received offers from complete strangers.  The transplant center in Ann Arbor received more calls about her case than about any other patient in their history.  As Emily spoke about all of the work she had done, her mother began tearing up and gave her daughter another thank you.

Sue mentioned that the film captured her experience perfectly – should could really relate to Jill.  Tricia also related to the film in that she had several “near-matches” who were disqualified in the final testing stage.  Although she received many responses, she ended up going through the paired donor program.  Her sister is now donating her kidney to a patient in Alabama through a similar program, in Tricia’s honor.  Emily is gearing up again to try to find a donor for her uncle, who suffers from the same genetic disease.  She is hopeful that she will not require a transplant herself.

Jill and Sue both made a point to mention how healthy they were, and that being donors has not affected their health at all.  Sue competed in a triathlon last year, with the man who received her kidney!  Sue’s response when asked why she chose to donate?  “Why not?” That about sums it up!

Emily Maurin
Marketing Coordinator
WGVU TV & Radio