In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

CNN Reporter Octavia Nasr reports on Independent Lens’s ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING, a film that explores the tensions between Iran and the United States.
Watch the full report >>

Filmmaker Marjan Tehrani and her brother Alex Tehrani discuss the Independent Lens broadcast of ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING.
Listen to the interview >>

“Karen Skloss says she never meant to tell her own story when she started making her new documentary, SUNSHINE, which will have its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival. … Skloss received grants to make SUNSHINE from the Independent Television Service and KUHT-TV in Houston.”
Read more >>

Lois Vossen, vice president and Independent Lens series producer, discusses ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING. Watch the clip below:

Tags: Iran, SXSW, Wedding

One Water Project Launches on World Water Day

Did you know one in eight people worldwide lack access to clean water, and that water-related illnesses account for the deaths of 5,000 children every day?

Now is a great time to learn more about this critical issue. March 22 is World Water Day, an international celebration of fresh water, organized annually by the United Nations to call attention to water resources worldwide.

This year, ITVS marks World Water Day with the launch of a special media project. A collaboration between the University of Miami and ITVS International, with support from the Knight Foundation, the One Water Project is dedicated to coverage of water issues and solutions through international public television broadcasts and the Web.

Public television partners in Bahrain, Colombia, India and South Africa have joined the One Water effort, each creating a half-hour program about water from a local perspective. These partners will be airing their productions alongside a University of Miami-produced documentary, 1H20, which examines the global water crisis using a non-verbal and universally accessible approach to storytelling.

An accompanying 1H20 Web site showcases the work of international journalists with articles, video, blog posts and resources about the water crisis. Check out the site and enter the 1H20 video contest––One Take––which launches on March 22. One Take, invites participants to submit a two-minute video monologue in response to the question: “Is water a basic human right?” Videos will be accepted in any language and the winner will be awarded U.S. $500. There will also be a prize for the qualifying entry that gets translated into the most number of languages using translation functionality created by DotSub.com. A series of online video contests are scheduled to take place over the next year in an effort to facilitate a global discussion about the world water crisis.

For inspiration, watch the clips below from our international broadcast partners in Colombia and South Africa.

Tags: environmental, video contest, water, World Water Day

Filmmaker Keith Maitland Reflects on World Premiere at SXSW

Filmmaker Keith Maitland

Opening night of THE EYES OF ME at SXSW.

Today is just one day in the three and a half year journey that has been THE EYES OF ME. It’s a day that I haven’t given myself permission to spend too much time thinking about––just one day after its world premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW).

THE EYES OF ME is a documentary that follows the lives of four blind teens in Austin, Texas. All four teens in the film had sight, but lost it during their teenage years. The film alternates between verité footage and dreamlike segments of rotoscopic animation in an effort to show the universal high school drama of teenage life while exploring questions of perception and identity. The transformative animated segments were created in collaboration with animators Jason Archer and Paul Beck in consultation with the teens; they are their inner-visions of the outer world.

Throughout SXSW, in panels and cocktail party conversations, much of the focus has been on building audiences and thinking of new models of distribution. Audience building is something that my producing partner Patrick Floyd and I have been really excited about. With a film like THE EYES OF ME, there is a fairly obvious and large niche audience––but the challenge is in connecting with them. With all the talk of new models and hybrid distribution deals, I’ve come to believe that a national broadcast on PBS is still the number one way to connect on a large scale with an audience that should see this film.

Last night is still a little hazy (especially the end of the night, which found us celebrating on a pontoon boat in Lake Austin at 3:00 AM, but that’s for a different blog). I can’t begin to describe what it felt like to have the 250-seat theater sell out and turn away more than 150 people still waiting in line. I thought I’d be thrilled to send so many folks away––a real mark of success. But in the moment, it was really quite sad. So many people wanted to attend the world premiere and they just couldn’t. I gave up my seat so that one extra person could see it and it felt great.

Today has been an amazing day. Like I said, I never really allowed myself to think about what it would feel like to get to this moment. There were times when I thought it would never come. I’m sure the good folks at ITVS shared that concern from time to time too. But it’s certainly not the last great day that THE EYES OF ME will give back to me. I don’t plan on sitting around thinking about it, but today for five minutes I did imagine a day sometime in the future, a day like today but a whole lot bigger––that would be the day when THE EYES OF ME airs on PBS. That will be the day when nobody will be turned away at the door.

Wow. We’re going to need a bigger pontoon boat!

- Keith

Tags: disability, film festival, SXSW

At SXSW with ITVS Programming Manager Karim Ahmad

Held annually in Austin, Texas, South By Southwest (SXSW) is considered one of the world’s premiere festivals, recognizing the best of film, music and interactive projects. ITVS Programming Manager Karim Ahmad gives some of the highlights from ITVS’s and PBS’s participation from this past week.

ITVS Programming Manager Karim Ahmad with WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM co-producer Megan Gilbride and Kyle Henry.

Karen Skloss, director of SUNSHINE, with Aaron Gaudet, director of THE WAY WE GET BY, winner of the Special Jury Prize at SXSW.

Despite unseasonably cold and wet weather in Austin (and an economic crunch felt industry wide), the opening weekend of the SXSW film and interactive festival was as frenzied as ever.

I arrived in Austin a couple days before the start of the festival, which allowed me a taste of the city––sans festival. I welcomed the proverbial calm before the storm. But more importantly, arriving early gave me the opportunity to conduct a proposal-writing seminar at the University of Texas for students of the graduate film and TV department. UT Austin has long been the stomping ground for many members of the ITVS-funded filmmaker family, so I was glad to reach out to this group before graduation.

In fact, many UT alumni had films in the festival, including Keith Maitland, director of the innovative and impactful ITVS-funded film THE EYES OF ME, Karen Skloss, also ITVS-funded for her fearless and evocative film SUNSHINE, and Ben Steinbauer, whose film Winnebago Man proved a festival favorite––not only due to its highly entertaining nature, but also a special appearance by the Winnebago Man himself, Jack Rebney who has become a hit on YouTube. Other ITVS-funded films at the festival included GOODBYE SOLO, directed by Ramin Bahrani, and THE WAY WE GET BY, directed by Aaron Gaudet, and winner of the Special Jury Award in the documentary competition.

Once the festival was in full swing, I was engaged in the usual juggling act of screenings and meetings and panels galore. At SXSW, there is always far too much happening at one time to do it all! But the panels I attended offered some interesting case studies on distribution and marketing in the brave new world of new media. SXSW demonstrated that digital distribution continues to be a hot topic, and while no one has it all completely figured out, there’s much to be gleaned from forays to date. “The Future of DVD and Digital Distribution” was one such panel, wherein a lengthy discussion took place about the relatively low revenue earned by digital distribution compared to fees earned by television licenses. Rick Allen of SnagFilms likened the state of online video today to the early days of cable, and noted that it took decades to get cable advertising price parity with what it is now. Another hot topic was, as always, funding––and that in this economic climate. Private equity funding for film and TV is slimmer than ever, highlighting the importance of public funding opportunities like ITVS.

Not generally one for the festival party circuit, my evenings mostly consisted of opting for oversized portions of Texas BBQ. But I was happy to make an exception Sunday evening, when ITVS and PBS welcomed festival attendees to our Happy Hour at the Mooseknuckle Pub. This Sixth Street locale was packed with festival-goers and filmmakers alike; eating, drinking and merriment ensued, as the entire shindig was streamed live by PBS Engage (check out a clip of the music performance below).

By Monday, as clouds faded and the temperature rose, I managed to squeeze in a few precious minutes of sun between mentor sessions with emerging filmmakers, before returning to the vestiges of winter in San Francisco that evening, feeling both exhausted and sated from a full schedule at what remains one of my favorite film festivals in the country.

- Karim
Programming Manager, ITVS

PBS Engage hosted a Social Media & Online Video Studio on Sixth Street. Check out the interview below with ITVS-funded filmmaker Gary Huswit, (HELVETICA/Independent Lens), who discusses his new film Objectified.

Check out other filmmaker interviews on YouTube >>

Hip-hop violinist Paul Dateh and singer songwriter Ken Belcher performed at the Happy Hour hosted by ITVS and PBS at the Mooseknuckle Pub. Watch part of their performance below:

Tags: Austin, film festival, SXSW

Vice President and Indie Lens Series Producer Discusses Filmmaking Trends

What are some of the latest trends in documentary film? Lois Vossen, vice president and series producer for Independent Lens, discusses what she has seen on the film festival circuit and films submitted to ITVS. Listen to her exclusive interview with Beyond the Box Blog.

Download the interview on iTunes for free (TRT: 3 minutes) >>

Tags: film resources, independent film

Watch ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING Tonight on Independent Lens

Tonight, tune in and watch ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).

Set against the turbulent relationship between the United States and Iran, Iranian-American filmmaker Marjan Tehrani captures the struggle and excitement of her brother Alex and his bride Heather as they plan a Persian Islamic wedding in Iran. But when Alex’s Iranian-born parents and Heather’s conservative American father meet for the first time, cultures clash and test the couple to their limits.

Modern Iranian Online Magazine: “In ARUSI: PERSIAN WEDDING, the brilliant indie-filmmaker gives people outside of Iran a close and insightful look into the country and its people.”

Check out the trailer below:

When Heather’s parents meet Alex’s Dad and stepmother over dinner, their friendly conversation quickly escalates into a heated debate about politics and international diplomacy. Check out the clip below from tonight’s broadcast.

Tags: Iran, online video, Wedding

Second Season of Global Voices Launches on PBS WORLD on April 26

Former president Hissène Habré at the courthouse in Dakar who is pursued in THE DICTATOR HUNTER.

Are you a world traveler? Want to learn more about stories that affect our global community? Beginning April 26 at 10:00 PM (check local listings), tune in and watch the second season of Global Voices, the international documentary series produced by ITVS International for the PBS WORLD digital channel.

Kicking off this season is Dutch filmmaker Klaartje Quirijn’s THE DICTATOR HUNTER, which looks at Human Rights Watch lawyer Reed Brody who pursues former dictators worldwide in order to bring them to justice including Hissène Habré, one of the most brutal dictators of the 20th century. Brody and former political prisoner Souleymane Guangueng work the system of international diplomacy like a chess game to bring Habré to trial for authorizing the torture and murder of thousands.

Other films making their U.S. debut include WITNESSES TO A SECRET WAR, which tells the stories of three generations of Hmong refugees as they struggle with their personal and political legacies; RULES OF THE GAME, which follows the course of the 2007 elections in eastern highlands of Papua New Guinea from the perspective of three candidates; ESTILO HIP HOP, which chronicles the emergence of hip hop music in Latin America, its impact on youth culture and the regional politics that underscore its existence; END OF THE RAINBOW, a film that explores the human dimensions of industrial gold-mining in the remote locations of Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo and Guinea, West Africa; THE END OF THE WAITING TIME, which evokes the past and its effect on the present by looking at the long dictatorship of Spanish General Francisco Franco and the hundreds of people who were arrested, executed or disappeared. Today, the families of those who vanished have begun to search for answers about their relatives. The season draws to a close with ARCHEOLOGY OF MEMORY, a powerful, intense and imaginative musical journey that follows exiled Chilean musician, Quique Cruz, from the Bay Area to Chile and back as he creates his masterwork.

Encore presentations include the highly acclaimed mini-series THE NEW AMERICANS, the Emmy® Award–nominated AFGHANISTAN UNVEILED, DuPont Award winner SEOUL TRAIN, Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award winner SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA and the acclaimed THE DEVIL’S MINER.

In addition to the PBS WORLD broadcast, select programs from last season and the current season of Global Voices will become available via such online distribution platforms as SnagFilms, Hulu, YouTube, Xbox and Zune.

Visit the Global Voices Web site and learn more >>

Check out the trailer below from the upcoming season of Global Voices:

Tags: Africa, Human Rights, international

Flickr Group: Ethnic Weddings

We are currently seeking photos of ethnic weddings to be part of a photo slide show in support of our upcoming broadcast of ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING, premiering Tuesday, March 17 at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings).

Set against the turbulent relationship between the United States and Iran, Iranian-American filmmaker Marjan Tehrani captures the struggle and excitement of her brother Alex and his bride Heather as they plan a Persian Islamic wedding in Iran. But when Alex’s Iranian-born parents and Heather’s conservative American father meet for the first time, cultures clash and test the couple to their limits.

From Morocco’s noisy precessions to Bali’s timeless beauty, view colorful images of ethnic weddings, inspired by ARUSI PERSIAN WEDDING, in this month’s Your Lens Flickr Group.

View the slide show and add your own images >>

Tags: international, Iran, Wedding

Digital Distribution: Bill Rose, THE LOSS OF NAMELESS THINGS

With over 20 years of experience producing and directing documentaries and short films, Bill Rose’s work has been seen on television, the big screen and the film festival circuit. Today, Rose has come to embrace online distribution; his documentary THE LOSS OF NAMELESS THINGS is available on various platforms through the Digital Distribution Lab, a joint initiative between ITVS and PBS.

“I’m really psyched that it’s on Hulu and that it’s reaching new audiences. People are seeing the film that wouldn’t have seen it otherwise.” Rose says. ITVS digital partner Hulu has recently become the No. 2 video site in the United States behind YouTube, with 309 million video views last month.

In THE LOSS OF NAMELESS THINGS, Rose uses interviews with Oakley “Tad” Hall III and his friends and family to tell the haunting story of what happened after a single moment on a slippery bridge snatched Hall’s brilliant mind, and left him a stranger to himself and those who loved him. The film has sparked a flurry of new comments on Hulu and SnagFilms. While not that long ago, the film could have slipped off of the radar, Rose is heartened by these discussions.

“I’m excited about the fact that we can still be having a conversation about the film three years after it debuted on TV. We’re really seeing the viability of this, long tail,” says Rose, who is currently traveling the festival circuit to promote his latest documentary THIS DUST OF WORDS, another portrait of an early bloomer whose life went off the rails.

Though the simultaneous distribution of online video and DVD sales had worried him, Rose is encouraged by the idea that “the more available the film is out there in the world, the more it increases viability in all markets.”

Rose tells THE LOSS OF NAMELESS THINGS fans that Oakley Hall III is currently in Albany, NY directing a puppet theater production of Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry. Curtis Burch, former vice president of development for James Cameron, is working on the feature film version of THE LOSS OF NAMELESS THINGS.

This film and other full-length Independent Lens programs are available on our digital partners. Visit the video page and find out more >>

Visit ShopPBS for a DVD copy >>

Tags: digital, Hulu, Oakley Hall

Idaho State University Presents TAKING ROOT

A discussion about TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, took place last night at Idaho State University as part of Independent Lens Community Cinema. TAKING ROOT tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a global movement.

Susanne Forrest, international exchange and study abroad coordinator at Idaho State, was inspired to organize the Community Cinema screening after hearing Wangari Maathai speak in Montreal at the NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference. She was impressed not only by Maathai’s strong personal presence, but her insistence that anyone can have an impact––no matter how small or how futile––to make the world a more humane place to live.

A major focus of last night’s discussion, which followed the film, focused on the issue of human rights. Copies of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights were distributed and used as a reference to talk about everything from environmental issues to women’s rights and freedom to agrarian societies to personal responsibility to faith and perseverance.

Sibongile Kamusoko, an ISU doctoral candidate in education leadership, originally from Zimbabwe, shared her perspectives as an African woman and the many themes present in the film affecting the continent today. Mary Ellen Walsh, emeriti faculty from the ISU English department, spoke of her experiences in Africa as a Fulbright scholar at the University of Rwanda in the 1980s, and later as an ISU recruiter in Africa.

One audience member expressed her perception of similarities between the oppressive dictatorship in Kenya and the previous federal administration for the United States. While she had protested openly against the Bush administration, she felt it was not enough, and admired Professor Maathai’s commitment to fighting for human rights.

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, environmental