nashville
Nashville Garbage Dreams Event a Homecoming After 2009 NaFF Success
Community Cinema hosted a screening of the Independent Lens film Garbage Dreams this past weekend at the Nashville Public Library. 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. Regional Outreach Coordinator Allison Inman gives an overview of the event.
Al Gore presents filmmaker Mai Iskander with the REEL Current Award for extraordinary insight into global issues at the 2009 Nashville Film Festival.
Saturday, Community Cinema welcomed more than 125 people into Nashville Public Library’s downtown branch auditorium for a screening of Garbage Dreams. The event was a homecoming of sorts; Mai Iskander and her film were the talk of last year’s Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) when Al Gore presented Mai with the REEL Current Award for extraordinary insight into global issues. Because of Garbage Dreams, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $1 million to benefit the Zaballeen, the “garbage people” profiled in the film. When announcing the grant, Garbage Dreams’ producers credited Nashville Film Festival and the REEL Current Award with part of the film’s success. As NaFF Director Sallie Mayne said, “We feel like a small but important part of its journey.”
Community Cinema Screening of D TOUR in Nashville
Community Cinema hosted a screening of the Independent Lens film D TOUR this past weekend at the Nashville Public Library. The film chronicles musician Pat Spurgeon’s search for a living kidney donor and the challenges associated with finding a viable match. Regional Outreach Coordinator Allison Inman gives an overview of the event.
Regional Outreach Coordinator Allison Inman with Dave Pomeroy, Kenny Walker, Craig Krampf, Teresa Davidson, Sam Rogers.
It was a coincidence (but not a surprise) that we had two rock drummers on our D TOUR panel in Music City. One, Craig Krampf, helps musicians find affordable health care as secretary/treasurer of the Nashville Musicians Association (formerly Nashville Association of Musicians). The other, Kenny Walker, is a kidney recipient who regularly shares his story in conjunction with the National Kidney Foundation of Middle Tennessee. Kenny’s experience was much like Pat Spurgeon’s––he was a drummer in a heavy metal band and was sidelined when his kidney failed. He also received a perfect-match kidney from a 19-year-old donor.
Between those two drummers––as well as Dave Pomeroy, president of the Nashville Musicians Association and NKFMT Executive Director Teresa Davidson and Program Director Samantha Rogers––we had mostly every angle of the film covered during our post-screening discussion. Kenny, Teresa and Samantha schooled us on organ donation, helping us understand both the urgent need for donors and the simple steps we can take to sign up. We discussed the importance of talking with family about an individual’s choice to be an organ donor (even if you’re signed up, they can overrule). Craig and Dave addressed musicians, letting them know their options for health care through their organization and national groups like the Future of Music Coalition. This is extra important because many musicians have trouble getting covered.
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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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!