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Summer Film Series to Address Women Creating Change
Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, by Lisa Merton and Alan Dater, is part of the summer film series in select cities.
When women and girls are provided with opportunities for education and jobs, access to health care services, and are a vital voice in governance, we can make great strides in addressing serious social issues such as poverty, violence, and political corruption. There has never been a better time than now to use film as a tool to shine a light on women and girls who are affecting change around the world.
This summer in more than 10 cities across the country, ITVS will be partnering with local public television stations and community organizations to present a special series of screenings that will highlight issues affecting women across the globe and in communities here in the U.S. Previous Community Cinema audience favorites such as Taking Root, Iron Ladies of Liberia , and Shadya will be featured among the 15-plus films selected for this exciting series of events.
Partner organizations include the Chicago Foundation for Women, Seattle University Women Studies Program, Priority Africa Network ,and the City of Los Angeles. Among the cities in which the screenings will be held: Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Louisville, Rochester, New York, St.Louis, and Denver.
Stay tuned here for event listings. Follow us on Twitter or become a fan to be the first to receive updates on these and other upcoming events!
In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs Including Dirt! The Movie
“ITVS is best known for its financing of documentaries, many of which appear on PBS’s Independent Lens series. The organization will present [FUTURESTATES -- ] a series of brief, fictional films that cast social issues into the future, in the hopes of drawing a younger audience not necessarily interested in public television.”
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“Toss the tea leaves; we can read our future in [Dirt! The Movie] — and the outlook is grimy.”
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“Filmmaker Laura Poitras traveled to Yemen searching for a person who was returning from the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba… Her film, The Oath, tells Bahri’s story [Osama bin Laden’s former bodyguard] and how he now favors a pen instead of a gun. It often delves into his confused emotions — he pledged the al-Qaida oath but no longer fights.”
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Vice President and Independent Lens series producer Lois Vossen discusses the upcoming broadcasts Lost Souls (Animas Perdidas), and Whatever It Takes.
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.
Annual Remembrance: Filmmakers Reflect on 9/11
In remembrance of the events that occurred on September 11, ITVS invited independent media producers from across the United States to explore responses to the question,”How has your life changed after 9/11?”
Promoting understanding and compassion in our communities, these 9/11 moments—34 one-minute spots—capture heartfelt reactions to the tragedy that shook the world.
San Francisco: 11th Annual Power to the Peaceful Concert and Global Action Forum & Celebration
Looking for something to do this weekend in San Francisco?
Join ITVS and CARE at the 11th Annual Power to the Peaceful Concert and Global Action Forum & Celebration. For the past 10 years Michael Franti, singer/activist and ambassador for the global humanitarian organization CARE, has hosted the free event. This year, more than 70,000 attendees are expected to turn out for a day of music and inspiration to serve the people and the planet.
On Saturday, September 12, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM, come out to the free concert and visit the ITVS booth at Golden Gate Park, Speedway Meadow, to learn more about the free documentary screenings from the upcoming season of Community Cinema. Free resources will also be available to educators.
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.
Special Community Cinema Screening in Chicago: ESTILO HIP HOP
This past weekend, Community Cinema hosted a special screening in Chicago of the Global Voices documentary ESTILO HIP HOP, which chronicles the lives of three hip hop enthusiasts from Brazil, Chile and Cuba who firmly believe that hip hop can change the world. This screening was presented by WTTW, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Southwest Community Coalition. Get the full report below from Regional Outreach Coordinator Naomi Walker:
DJ Man-O-Wax mixes music while B-Boy Brave Monk shows off some moves.
Panelists B-Boy Brave Monk, MC D Nick the Microphone Misfit and Graf Artist Lavie Raven take questions from the audience.
In the audience of ESTILO HIP HOP were the young leaders from the K.I. Eco Center, a youth development program that runs the Community Cinema program in Indianapolis, IN. I had the privilege to attend their screening of TULIA, TEXAS last January and was very impressed and inspired by the event. To see young people, ranging in age from ten to 18 years old, leading adults in a post-screening discussion showed how documentary film can be used as a tool for cross-generational engagement. It was so cool that they were able to take the time to come up to Chicago for this event.
The host for the afternoon was Super InLight, movement/teaching artists, and the choreographer and director of the Stick & Move Dance crew. Super InLight (literally) kicked off the proceedings with a birthday tribute to the dance innovations of Michael Jackson, acknowledging the influence that hip hop dance moves like pop lock had on Jackson and vice versa.
Presenters DJ Man-O-Wax, MC D Nick the Microphone Misfit, B-Boy Brave Monk and Graf Artist Lavie Raven, co-founder of the University of Hip Hop, represented the five elements of hip hop. The fifth element of hip hop––knowledge––was represented by all the presenters, who shared their stories and insights on what inspires them and what they tell the young people they teach (yes, they are ALL teachers by day!).
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.
One Size Fits All: Community Cinema Flexes Its Flexibility
Volunteers at the Harriet Tubman Leadership Academy for Young Women
One aspect of having worked with the Community Cinema program for the past four years is that I have had the pleasure of working with people from so many communities including Washington, D.C. and Grand Junction, Colorado as well as Sheboygan, Wisconsin and Miami. Recently a few of my colleagues asked me to share some of their impressions about the Community Cinema program. We welcome your comments especially if you are a Producing Partner, Cinema/Outreach Coordinator, or an audience member.
Meet Sara Brissenden-Smith who represents Community Cinema in the Bay Area. She is always asked, “So, what’s the topic this month?”
Meet Tiffany L. Verkler who is Promotions Supervisor for Arkansas Educational Television Network. This is her first season with Community Cinema. We are all excited to bring Independent Lens documentaries to Arkansas audiences.
Meet Lynn Allen who has represented Community Cinema statewide in Idaho since our very first season.
New Venue Joins Community Cinema Philadelphia
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia joins Community Cinema this season as a venue partner to host our kick-off event on Wednesday, Sept 23rd for D TOUR!
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, founded in 1787
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, founded in 1787, is the oldest professional medical organization in the country. Twenty-four physicians of eighteenth-century Philadelphia gathered “to advance the science of medicine and to thereby lessen human misery.” Today, over 1,500 Fellows continue to convene at the College and work towards better serving the public.
The College is home to the Mütter Museum and the Historical Medical Library. Outreach programs include Philly Health Info.org, [external link] an online health information, resource and educational program serving the Delaware Valley, and the C. Everett Koop Community Education Center. The public is invited to attend the many lectures, workshops, and conferences the College offers in support of their mission to advance the cause of health.
In addition to the College, the Gift of Life Donor Program [external link] will be joining us as a community partner. Gift of Life is the non-profit agency serving the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware, and responsible for recovering and distributing organs and tissues used in life-saving and life-enhancing transplants.
Founded in 1974 by the Greater Delaware Valley Society of Transplant Surgeons, Gift of Life is one of the oldest and largest of 58 non-profit, organ and tissue procurement organizations in the United States. Gift of Life is part of the nationwide organ and tissue sharing network run by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
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communitycinema: #Compost THIS! Cow/horse manure (outdoors only), cardboard rolls, chopped leaves, coffee grounds (worms love these) MORE: http://dld.bz/kSXD
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Jenn Wilcox: RT @GlobalFundWomen: In #SF nxt wk? Come to the Womens #Empowerment #FilmFestival to watch inspiring films abt #women @communitycinema @IMOW http://bit.ly/bjZuPz
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Simon Kilmurry: RT @communitycinema: Women's Engagement Film Series NEXT MONTH! Partners incl @unfpa @CARE @unifem @povdocs http://dld.bz/nQbH #FF Thanks!