Watch THE NEW AMERICANS on Global Voices on PBS WORLD

Tune in this Sunday, July 26 at 10:00 PM (check local listings) for the fourth episode of THE NEW AMERICANS on Global Voices on PBS WORLD.

This seven-part series, airing on Sundays through August 16, looks at the search for the “American dream” through the eyes of recent immigrants and refugees during their first tumultuous years in America. From Nigeria, India, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, each family has come with different hopes: to achieve athletic glory or high-tech riches, to escape poverty and persecution or to simply provide for their families.

Watch a preview:

Like what you saw? Download all the episodes on iTunes >>

Tags: immigrants, online video

The Masculinity Project: Watch Tonight’s Virtual Screening of REMIX: Outside Looking in

The National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) and Independent Television Service (ITVS) recently launched a web-based “virtual screening” series, which showcases some of the latest short documentaries from the Masculinity Project.

Be sure to check out tonight’s virtual screening at 8:00 PM EDT of the film REMIX: Outside Looking in, which looks at filmmaker Phil Bertelsen’s personal exploration into his layered heritage through his own trans-racial adoption. Following the screening, join a live Q&A with the filmmaker.

Launched in November 2008 by NBPC, ITVS and the help of national partners, the Masculinity Project is an interactive multimedia and community engagement initiative. The initiative delves beyond stereotypes to reveal what it means to be a black man in America through an online mix of new and re-released works from emerging and veteran filmmakers, focusing on the areas of community, justice, culture and family.

Watch REMIX: Outside Looking in at 8:00 PM EDT tonight and join the discussion >>

Learn more about the Masculinity Project >>

Tags: African American, Masculinity Project

Inside Indies: Filmmaking Tips and Tricks of the Trade

How do they do it? Go behind the scenes and get real-life examples from documentary filmmakers. Sit in on conversations between up-and-coming indies and seasoned professionals as they share their personal take on tricks of the trade. From stop-motion animation and using archival footage, to gaining trust and telling personal stories, learn how independents meet creative challenges to get their story told in compelling ways.

Watch these clips and learn more >>

Tags: film resources, filmmakers, independent film

In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

“Aron Gaudet’s simple, moving documentary captures these homespun folks as they make the phone calls to wake each other up, put on their ‘Maine Troop Greeters’ hats and buttons… Hardened soldiers’ eyes mist over at their reception in Bangor. Yours will to in this sweet little film.”
Read full review >>

“If Ripley’s Believe It or Not! were still around, Herb and Dorothy Vogel would surely be in it for amassing a world-class art collection on the most ordinary of working-class salaries.”
Read full review >>

“UNMISTAKEN CHILD stands as a window on a beautiful and mysterious world… A moving coming-of-age story in which a shy student matures into a teacher.”
Read full review >>

“LIONESS shows how a documentary positioned at the centerpiece of a strategic outreach campaign can put an issue on the public agenda and have a direct impact on public policy.”
Read more >>

“Yun Suh’s documentary [CITY OF BORDERS] opens on a literal evocation of its title, as young Palestinian Boody and his friends make their way through a break in the West Bank wall… They’re going to Shushan, an openly gay club owned and run by Sa’ar, also the city’s first openly gay council member. Lively and precise, the movie notes the club’s status as a cultural haven…”
Read more >>

Tags: art, gay, Military

Watch CHILDREN OF THE SUN Tonight on the Sundance Channel

“CHILDREN OF THE SUN explores the era’s ideals, failures and legacy as it interweaves archival home movies, children’s songs, other rare recordings of kibbutz life from 1930-1980, as well as poignant interviews with the now-grown ‘Children of the Sun,’ some of his family members and their friends.”
- Jewish Tribune

In the 1920s and 30s, tens of thousands of children were born on an Israeli kibbutz and raised as part of a social experiment to create a new and improved human. The film traces the “Children of the Sun” from their birth through their growth as members of the Zionist elite and to the crisis that weakened the kibbutz movement.

Watch a preview below:

CHILDREN OF THE SUN airs tonight, July 20, at 9:00 PM on the Sundance Channel (check local listings).

Director Ran Tal recently discussed how he became interested in the topic on Beyond the Box Blog.
Read his Q&A >>

Tags: Israel, kibbutz, Zionist

Watch THE NEW AMERICANS on Global Voices on PBS WORLD

Tune in this Sunday, July 19 at 10:00 PM (check local listings) for the third episode of THE NEW AMERICANS on Global Voices on PBS WORLD.

This seven-part series, airing on Sundays through August 16, looks at the search for the “American dream” through the eyes of recent immigrants and refugees during their first tumultuous years in America. From Nigeria, India, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, each family has come with different hopes: to achieve athletic glory or high-tech riches, to escape poverty and persecution or to simply provide for their families.

Watch a preview:

Like what you saw? Download all the episodes on iTunes >>

Tags: immigrants, online video

The Masculinity Project: Virtual Screening of KARL CARTER (MY LIFE, MY HUSTLE) by Anthony Marshall

The National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) and ITVS recently launched a web-based “virtual screening” series, which showcases some of the latest short documentaries from the Masculinity Project. Each screening will be followed by a Q&A and give audience members worldwide the opportunity to engage with the filmmaker. Find out what inspired filmmaker Anthony Marshall to make KARL CARTER (MY LIFE, MY HUSTLE), which will have its virtual screening at 8:00 PM EDT tonight.

Filmmaker Anthony Marshall’s interest in making films is driven by his interest in capturing real people do great things. In his short film KARL CARTER (MY LIFE, MY HUSTLE), Marshall looks at the life of Karl Carter, CEO of GTM, Inc., a Los Angeles- and Atlanta-based marketing company responsible for some of the biggest brands in the United States including Sprite, Burger King, Nissan and Current TV. The film looks at how this independent entrepreneur hits successful strides through his determination––presenting an inspiring articulation of drive and a multi-cultural portrait of a man open to new energy.

“My goals were to show African American men in a responsible light. Breaking the stereotypes that exist through today’s media,” he said. “My hope is that people walk away with that experience.”

Karl Carter, the film’s main subject, and Marshall have been long-time friends. Both men thought they knew each other well; however, it wasn’t until filming began that Marshall learned about how hard his friend worked to get to where he is today.

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Tags: African American, Masculinity Project

Voting Closes Tomorrow for the Independent Lens Audience Award Runoff

Have you voted for your favorite Indie Lens film yet? If not, don’t wait any longer since the runoff ends tomorrow. Pick your favorite and let your voice be heard!

Choose from the four most popular films:

ADJUST YOUR COLOR: The Truth of Petey Greene
The unlikely story of America’s original shock-jock—Petey Greene—who battled the system and his own demons during a time of civil unrest in the nation’s capital.

HELVETICA
A film about typography, typeface, type, font, fonts, graphic design and global visual culture, HELVETICA looks at the proliferation of one typeface.

STRANDED: The Andes Plane Crash Survivors
The survival tale of a group of young men who lived for 72 days in the Andes Mountains after their plane crashed in October 1972.

TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai
The dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a global movement.

Cast your vote today! >>

(Also be sure to post this link on your Facebook page and Tweet about it, too!)

Tags: Audience Award

Filmmaker Jamie Meltzer Discusses Digital Distribution Strategy

Filmmaker Jamie Meltzer’s OFF THE CHARTS: The Song-Poem Story is currently available to watch online. Learn about his online distribution strategy and how he embraced various social networking tools.

OFF THE CHARTS: The Song-Poem Story exposes the strange underworld of the song-poem industry. Like a warped fun-house mirror, the song-poem industry has run parallel to the mainstream music business for close to a century; it’s estimated that over 200,000 song-poems have been recorded since 1900.

Originally airing several years ago on Independent Lens, Jamie Meltzer sees multiple opportunities online by reaching a new digitally engaged audience. He also is excited by the idea of encouraging viewership through social networking sites and providing a space for debates and exchanges.

“I’m now looking at ways to change my approach to filmmaking and storytelling as people turn to the Internet,” he said. “There are so many possibilities. I recently started a website with a few friends that comes up with filmmaking challenges. Each month, we take a set of technical, formal or thematic limitations and then make a short film according to whatever rules are set.”

Meltzer explained it’s an effective tool to gauge how people approach different problems and interpret rules in their own way. Check out the site and submit a film >>

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Tags: film resources, music, online video, Poetry

ITVS Programs Nominated for Six Emmy Awards

The nominees for the 30th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards were announced today and ITVS programs received an impressive six nominations.

Among the nominees are two Independent Lens programs––CHICAGO 10 and HARD ROAD HOME.

CHICAGO 10, directed by Brett Morgen, received a nomination in the Outstanding Individual Achievement In A Craft: Graphic Design & Art Direction category. Mixing animation with archival footage, the film explores the buildup to and unraveling of the protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the ensuing 1969 Conspiracy Trial. CHICAGO 10 premiered on Independent Lens on PBS, October 22, 2008.

HARD ROAD HOME, directed by Macky Alston, received a nomination in the Outstanding Informational Programming Long Form category. The film follows two former felons in different stages of life “on the outside.” HARD ROAD HOME premiered on Independent Lens on PBS, February 26, 2008.

Two Emmy nominations also went to DOPING FOR GOLD and BELARUSIAN WALTZ––both ITVS International productions.

DOPING FOR GOLD, directed and produced by Alison Rooper, is nominated in the Outstanding Science, Technology and Nature Programming category. Set in Cold War-era East Germany, DOPING FOR GOLD reveals how young female athletes were injected with male hormones and anabolic steroids–all in the name of “international prestige through success in sports.” The film is a Firefly Production for Thirteen/WNET New York and ITVS International in association with Five, Channel Four International and History Channel (UK). DOPING FOR GOLD premiered on Secrets of the Dead series on PBS, May 7, 2008.

BELARUSIAN WALTZ, directed by Andrzej Fidyk and produced by Torstein Grude, received a nomination in the Outstanding Historical Programming-Long Form category. BELARUSIAN WALTZ is the story of Alexander Pushkin, a performance artist who used his “patriotic” art to protest against his country’s dictatorship. The film is a co-production of Piraya Film, ITVS International, MG Productions and Arte and premiered on P.O.V. on PBS, August 12, 2008.

Additional nominations went to ITVS-funded programs IN THE FAMILY, produced by Joanna Rudnick and Gordon Quinn, and THE JUDGE AND THE GENERAL, produced by Elizabeth Farnsworth and Patricio Lanfranco. Both premiered on the P.O.V. series in 2008.

The News and Documentary Emmy Awards will be presented on September 21 at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at the Lincoln Center in New York City.

Interested in seeing the full list of nominees?

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Tags: Emmy