ITVS Joins Filmmakers and Partners to Take Indie Lens’s LIONESS to Congress

Staff Sgt. Ranie Ruthig of the film LIONESS is interviewed by local DC Fox affiliate for the evening news.

Director of Communications Dennis Palmieri joined ITVS president and CEO Sally Fifer, Senior VP for Content Management Jim Sommers and VP of International Distribution Tamara Gould for a special ITVS-sponsored presentation to Congress of the Independent Lens film LIONESS, which looks at war through the eyes of women and the U.S. military policy that bans them from combat, by Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers. Read Dennis’s report below from today’s Capitol Hill screening.

Filmmakers Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers at the Capitol Hill screening of their film LIONESS.

It was a packed room in the House Veterans Affairs Committee Hearing Room for the LIONESS screening.

The women soldiers profiled in LIONESS make their remarks during the panel discussion.

Over the years, ITVS has had the opportunity to bring a number of films to Capitol Hill to help Congress better understand the roles of public broadcasting and independent producers in educating and engaging the American public. Today’s presentation of LIONESS was a dramatic and highly impactful event that set the stage for a groundbreaking conversation about the role of women in the military—specifically women in combat situations, and the support and services (and recognition!) needed when they come home.

The event was made possible through a unique partnership between ITVS and two leading veterans’ service organizations––Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)––and of course the LIONESS filmmakers Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers who’ve spent years building partnerships in the veterans’ community.

Held in the House Veterans Affairs Committee Hearing Room, the event drew more than 150 people (standing room only, tightly packed in a room that seats only 88), including members of Congress, dozens of Congressional staff, veterans’ service organizations, numerous veterans and active duty soldiers, along with representatives from PBS, Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and ITVS.

The event opened with brief remarks from four members of Congress, led by Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA), followed by Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), Susan Davis (D-CA) and Judith Biggert (R-IL). Each praised the service of the four “Lionesses” who were present and thanked the filmmakers for bringing the story to light.

Members opening remarks were followed by short presentations from CPB President Patricia Harrison, who spoke eloquently about the metaphor of the “Lioness” and the unique role of public broadcasting in telling this story. Pat was followed by Dr. Betty Mosely Brown, associate director of the Center for Women Veterans at Department of Veterans Affairs, and Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Filmmakers McLagan and Sommers created a special 20-minute version of their film, which included key scenes and background information, providing a thorough synopsis of the issues—a remarkable feat of editing and storytelling. The selection also included candid, personal footage of the women, which allowed the audience to form a bond with the characters.

The event concluded with a panel discussion that featured the four “Lioness” soldiers: Maj. Anastasia Breslow (currently stationed in Korea), Staff Sgt. Ranie Ruthig, Spc. Becky Nava and Spc. Shannon Morgan. Their straight talk and fearless honestly about their experiences––both in Iraq and back at home––was riveting.

The “Lionesses” and both filmmakers were presented with American flags that had been flown over the U.S. Capitol—a gift of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose representative was on-hand to make the presentation.

There are many days when I am very proud to work in public broadcasting, when I feel like we make a real difference, and when I see clearly the important role of independent media makers in bringing these untold stories to life. But today has definitely been the best day yet.

-Dennis

Check out a clip below of today’s event on Fox 5 News (Washington, DC):

Tags: Capitol Hill, Military, women

Watch RECYCLE Tonight on Independent Lens

Ride shotgun with ex-Mujahideen fighter Abu Amar and his son through the chaotic streets of Zarqa, Jordan –– a hotbed of political extremism and birthplace of the infamous al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Follow Amar’s daily life as he scours the streets to earn a meager living collecting cardboard to recycle and struggles with his faith and the social realities of life in the Middle East.

“Its deceptively ordinary premise hardly prepares you for the absorbing experience that follows, one that takes you into Abu Ammar’s world so deeply that it almost becomes claustrophobic and offers some insight into how the unthinkable becomes plausible,” Kansas City Star

Check out the clip below:

RECYCLE premieres tonight at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).

Tags: Jordan, Mujahideen, online video

Native American Film and Video Festival and Filmmakers Summit

International Programming Manager Cynthia Kane and Programming Manager Kathryn Washington recently attended the Native American Film and Video Festival and Filmmakers Summit, which was held at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City through the weekend. In this report, Cynthia discusses her and Kathryn’s work in the field and indigenous film projects.

Francine Blythe of National Geographic All Roads and filmmaker Bennie Klain, director of ITVS's WEAVING WORLDS.

ITVS Programming Manager Kathryn Washington (bottom right) in action at the Native American Film and Video Festival and Filmmakers Summit.

Kathryn and I are here in the Big Apple at the Native American Film and Video Festival’s Filmmaker Summit. Rainy yesterday but glorious spring-like weather today as New York heads into its most lovely season. The location is the tip of Manhattan at Bowling Green at the National Museum of the American Indian. It’s an impressive building to begin with, massive in structure, and once you enter it’s no less so.

This festival and summit includes not only indigenous filmmakers from the United States, but all of North and South America. Kathryn is here to represent the domestic side of ITVS, including the Diversity Development Fund, which she manages as well as Open Call and LINCS for production funding for Native U.S. filmmakers. I am able to speak to those international indigenous filmmakers attending of which there are many.

The summit is organized by Elizabeth Weatherford, head of film and video at NMAI and festival director, and Michelle Svenson, programmer of the festival. It started off with a “Word from the Selectors,” a guest selection committee of Native producers and filmmakers, including Chris Eyre, whose We Shall Remain: Trail of Tears was the Opening Night Film.

Next up were Kathryn and I along with Shirley Sneve of National American Public Television (NAPT), Yance Ford of P.O.V., Francine Blythe of National Geographic’s All Roads Project and Tamir Muhammad from Tribeca All-Access. Together, we spoke about opportunities and funding sources for Native filmmakers and producers. It was a robust and lively panel with an equally hearty Q&A session.

Perhaps it’s a sign of the times when getting your films financed and made is more difficult than ever or perhaps there’s a growing number of Native filmmakers and projects. Let’s hope the latter. We all agreed we want more projects from this community––these stories and voices need more presence on both public and commercial television.

Lunch and one-on-one meetings was followed by a panel on new forms of distribution and new media. It was here that we heard from J. Carlos Peinado, filmmaker and head of the new media department at the Institue of American Indian Arts, Kelly DeVine of Renew Media and the Tribeca Film Institute, Maia Ermita of Arts Engine and Media that Matters Film Festival, Kelly Matheson of Witness and Australian Indigenous filmmaker and producer David Vadiveloo who recently created a wonderful online project called usMob with national Australian broadcaster ABC. Again much food-for-thought in this new arena for all of us in attendance.

Saturday morning Kathryn and I held a round table discussion with funders, festivals, broadcasters and distribution outlets to talk about how we can better serve Native American filmmakers. Several promising ideas surfaced and we’ll meet again soon to start putting plans into action. Stay tuned.

-Cynthia

Tags: indigenous, We Shall Remain

In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

Blogger Scott Kirsner discusses his new book Fans, Friends & Followers: Building an Audience and a Creative Career in the Digital Age and his work with ITVS that helped inspire it.
Read more >>

“In her remarkable documentary, LAKSHMI AND ME, airing as part of PBS’ Independent Lens this month, Jain proposes to ‘cross a line,’ to film her employee.”
Read full review >>

“MILKING THE RHINO deals with Africans’ inceptive efforts to bring sustainable conservation to parts of the continent in ways that, in pointed contrast to the continent’s history of exploitation by colonial powers…”
Read full review >>

Tags: Africa, India, Scott Kirsner

ITVS Commissioned Author Pens on the Changing Media Marketplace

One year ago, ITVS commissioned author Scott Kirsner to find out what independent filmmakers are doing in the field. ITVS has since published his eight case studies on the ITVS website––which highlight how independents are experimenting with new technologies and hopefully serves as inspiration to other filmmakers.

Kirsner has since published Fans, Friends & Followers, a comprehensive book that addresses how creative people can build audiences online and also create sustainable business models. In an email interview, Kirsner explained how the ITVS case studies sparked the idea for his book. “It started to occur to me that [the filmmakers] were living in a noisier marketplace than ever before, with more competition from other films on the festival circuit, online, in theatrical release and on DVD and television,” he said. “Some of the key challenges that seemed everyone was still grappling with was how do you cultivate an audience for the film you’ve made, how do you get that audience to support you in some way and how to you sort of carry that audience from one film to the next?”

As Kirsner thought more about how to address the challenge of cultivating an audience for a film, he branched out into other industries. “The more I started to think about that issue, the more I also wanted to talk to musicians and artists and writers–other people who were approaching the challenge of building up an audience in different clever ways. So I wound up talking not just to documentary filmmakers like Sandi DuBowski of Trembling Before G-d and Curt Ellis of KING CORN, but also musicians like Damian Kulash from OK Go and Jonathan Coulton, and visual artists like Natasha Wescoat and Matt W. Moore and even comedians like Eugene Mirman and Mark Day.”

Filmmaker Robert Greenwald, who is working on a very activist-oriented series of YouTube videos on the war in Afghanistan, told Kirsner, “The audience votes with their ‘forward’ button. If they see a video that they think has something to say, they forward it. All the money in the world and all the king’s horses can’t get them to do that. In that sense, it’s truly the free market.” In that sense, Kirsner said, engaging the online audience and turning them into collaborators who can spread a filmmaker’s message is one of the keys to succeeding in this new era. “It’s no longer about a multi-million dollar marketing campaign — it’s about that little seed of content you put out there that sparks debate and discussion and participation, and really connects with people,” Kirsner said.

Fans, Friends & Followers will be available on March 31.

Find out more information and how to purchase a paperback or digital copy >>

Tags: digital, Scott Kirsner

Registration Open for the 2009 Robert Flaherty Film Seminar

The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar is regarded as one of the premier experiences for international documentary exploration. Film aficionados and filmmakers are immersed in days of screenings and in-depth discussions.

This year’s seminar will take place at Colgate University from June 20–26 and is open to all artists, practitioners, students and enthusiasts of film and video. The registration fee includes lodging, all meals, seminar screenings and discussions, receptions and other special events during the week.

Independent filmmaker Christian Bruno attended his first Flaherty Seminar a few years ago. Find out how he spent seven bleary-eyed days and nights immersed in documentary viewing and dissecting at “Cinematic Summer Camp,” a.k.a. the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar.

Read The Illuminated Darkness on Inside Indies >>

Find out how to register for this year’s Robert Flaherty Film Seminar >>

Tags: film resources, film seminar, Robert Flaherty

Filmmakers Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly at SXSW

PBS Engage hosted a “Social Media & Online Video Studio” at the recent South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive & Film conference in Austin, Texas.

Filmmakers Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly discussed their film THE WAY WE GET BY, which was recently funded by ITVS through the LINCS funding initiative and will air this year on P.O.V. on PBS.

Since March 2003, almost 700,000 soldiers and marines from across the country have been greeted at the Bangor International Airport. THE WAY WE GET BY follows a group of senior citizens who are making history by using handshakes and hugs to play a critical role in the Iraq war.

Check out the video and learn more about their film:

Visit the P.O.V. Web site to find out more information >>

Tags: Iraq, Maine, SXSW

Watch LAKSHMI AND ME Tonight on Independent Lens

Have you ever dreamed of being waited on hand and foot? For the past six years, Lakshmi has been doing just that for her employers––virtually unnoticed. That is, until one of Lakshmi’s employers begins to film her daily life on the job in Mumbai, India. In a deeply personal portrait, the film takes a hard look at the Indian caste system, gender and class relations.

“… A rich, twisty, quietly shocking portrait of a life lived in veritable slavery–where Lakshmi’s gender doesn’t trap her, her place in the caste system does–and the rare sort of soul that somehow manages to flourish under such restrictions,” The Seattle Stranger.

Check out the clip below:

LAKSHMI AND ME premieres tonight at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).

Tags: caste system, India, online video

Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Presents TAKING ROOT

A large crowd recently gathered from across the Detroit metro area to watch the Community Cinema screening of TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

The evening started with a dance performance by students of Heritage Works, a local performing arts studio. Ranging in age from 7 to 17 years old, the group played drums, danced and sang African rhythms.

After viewing the film, Rebecca Salminen Witt, president of The Greening of Detroit, a conservation group, took the stage to answered questions about what can be done and is being done in the city of Detroit to combat urban decay. She talked about performing free soil tests, the struggle to save Belle Isle and the opportunity to volunteer at tree plantings.

David Gakure, education specialist at the Detroit Zoo, also spoke and shared stories about growing up in Kenya, where he watched as his mother plant trees because of what she had learned from Dr. Maathai. His impassioned story inspired others to share, including a attendee originally from Nairobi, about the exploitation of natural resources.

Want to find upcoming screenings in your area? Community Cinema selections are screened in more than 50 locations throughout the United States. Check out the schedule and find Community Cinema in your neighborhood >>

Tags: Africa, Detroit, Wangari Maathai

Filmmaker Karen Skloss at SXSW

ITVS and PBS celebrated independent film and new media at the recent South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive & Film conference in Austin, Texas.

PBS Engage hosted a “Social Media & Online Video Studio” on Sixth Street and interviewed ITVS funded filmmaker Karen Skloss. Her fearless and evocative film SUNSHINE made its world premiere at SXSW.

Stayed tuned for more video interviews of ITVS filmmakers at SXSW in the next few days.

Tags: online video, SXSW