Archive for July, 2010
The Politics of Your Morning Fix
Filmmakers Nick Francis and Marc Francis
Filmmakers Nick Francis and Mark Francis revisit their documentary Black Gold, which will air on Global Voices this Sunday, July 18th on PBS WORLD. The documentary traces one man’s fight for a fair prices of coffee in an eye-opening expose of the $80 billion coffee industry.
A few weeks ago, we met up with Tadesse Meskela the main character in Black Gold who was in London for a coffee trade show. He said “every week people contact me from around the world after seeing the film – they want to buy coffee directly.”
While Black Gold has been on release internationally since 2006, we continue to receive emails all the time from people who want to arrange screenings or who have recently seen the film.
People often say that they hadn’t questioned the story behind their instant cup of Nescafé or their Frappucino at Starbucks. This ongoing feedback underlines how critical it is to ensure that the issues of trade justice don’t slip off the international agenda.
ITVS Programs Nominated for Six Emmy Awards
The nominees for the 31st Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards were announced today and ITVS programs received an impressive six nominations.
Among the nominees are three Independent Lens programs — Tulia, Texas; No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos; and Crips and Bloods: Made in America.
Tulia, Texas — by filmmakers Cassandra Herrman and Kelly Whalen — received a nomination in the Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story, Long Form category. The film tells the story of a small town’s search for justice and the price Americans pay for the nation’s war on drugs.
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos — by director James Chressanthis — received a nomination in the Outstanding Arts and Culture Programming category. The documentary profiles legendary cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond and how they reinvented Hollywood moviemaking for an entire generation.
In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs
Most documentaries about Mexico tend to focus on its embattled northern border–tales of drug wars and desperate migrants. In Circo, we’re led into the belly of rural Mexico, town by town. New York director Aaron Schock offered LAFF audiences his ravishing portrait of a century-old Mexican circus dynasty as they struggle to survive their country’s changes.
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A new documentary film about the life and death of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto — the first woman head of an Islamic country who was assassinated in 2007 — may attract as much interest for its political content as for its artistic or journalistic value…
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Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi paid glowing tribute to martyred prime minister Benazir Bhutto as politicians and policymakers gathered at the premiere of a documentary chronicling courageous life and democratic contributions of the popular leader.
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The Beetle Queen Conquers San Francisco
Director Jessica Oreck inside the Kabuki Cinema
Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, airing in the upcoming season of Independent Lens, sheds light on Japan’s love affair with insects. Filmmaker Jessica Oreck screened her film last weekend in San Francisco and shared her experience with BTB.
Last Friday and Saturday nights, the lobby of the Sundance Kabuki Cinema in San Francisco was crawling with live insects.
SaveNature.org partnered with Argot Pictures to present this one-of-a-kind event for the opening of my latest film, Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.
The Future According to Hugo Perez
Director Hugo Perez
ITVS filmmaker Hugo Perez discussed the making of his latest work, the FUTURESTATES short Seed, with BTB. Watch the entire episode online and browse the site for a creative glimpse into the future.
What got you interested in the subject matter of Seed?
I am a lifelong sci-fi geek who has always been interested in the intersection of science and society and how technology, for good and for ill, affects the world. The first time I read about the way that companies wield their GMO (genetically modified organism) seed patents as a bludgeon to force farmers into licensing their product, I was appalled and intrigued. When companies can legally “own” nature, they can control aspects of our lives that we take for granted. So I became interested in extrapolating what could happen in the future based on what was happening today. And seed patents are just the tip of the iceberg. Before this century is over, everyone will be paying premium prices for the water they drink and the air they breathe.
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Always Look on the Sunnyside of the Doc
Last month, the Sunnyside of the Doc International Documentary Market took place in La Rochelle, France. Cynthia Kane, ITVS International programming manager, was on hand to hear from producers and filmmakers from around the world about their latest projects. She reports back on the intimate climate of the event:
I honestly thought this might be a “light” year at Sunnyside given the economic crisis, the fact that Silverdocs was happening simultaneously in Silver Springs, and the EBU Pitching was taking place at France Télévisions in Paris instead of La Rochelle.
Morning meetings on the terrace at Sunnyside of the Doc
Yet, while U.S. participation was somewhat down, Sunnyside was alive and well — thriving in fact with almost 1,800 people in attendance from 48 countries. And, as manager of ITVS’s International Initiative, it was the right place for me to be.
What I have always loved about Sunnyside is the opportunity it provides me to sit down with filmmakers and producers for relaxed one-on-one meetings and in depth talks about their projects. This year was no different; I arrived on “the Terrace”every morning by 8:30 AM — coming in the back way, as the Espace Encan was not officially open till 9 AM (important to find a good table and get an early start).
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Director Sedika Mojadidi on Filming Her Father in Motherland Afghanistan
Director Sedika Mojadidi
One in seven Afghan women dies in childbirth. Motherland Afghanistan, airing Sunday, July 11th on Global Voices, introduces the women behind these devastating statistics. Afghan American filmmaker Sedika Mojadidi examines her father’s work as an OB/GYN as he struggles to make a difference. Beyond the Box spoke with Mojadidi about filming such an intimate story alongside her father.
Both your parents are physicians. How did you get into film?
I was always interested in movies. I gravitated toward them naturally, from a young age. And in school, I studied film for a long time, film theory and film history. I was never good in science or math so it’s ironic that I’m following my parent’s story because growing up I wasn’t really all that interested in medicine.
Your voiceover guides part of the film, but it’s your father’s voice that serves as the chief narrative. Was this your intention all along?
Dr. Qudrat Mojadidi serves as both a principle charcter in the documentary and as the filmmaker's father
It was always my plan. Actually, I never planned to be in the film but that emerged out of the process of making it for two years. After the first trip, we looked at some of the footage of me translating and other producers felt strongly about keeping me in the picture. I fought against it but eventually surrendered. I felt strongly from the get-go that the film needed to be from my father’s perspective. The film needed to be centered around him, his work, and the patients he looked after.
You immigrated to the U.S. when you were very little in 1972. How much of a culture shock was it for you to return to Afghanistan and shoot this film?
Joseph Aguirre — AKA — The Rainmaker
Director Joseph Aguirre
In Next Year Country, three Montana farming families who have struggled to keep afloat through years of drought, take their chances on hiring a rainmaker. Director Joseph Aguirre shares the genesis of the story and why it was so hard to stay dry while shooting a film about drought. Look for Next Year Country on public television this July (check local listings).
I originally heard about rainmaker Matt Ryan and the work he was doing with drought-stricken farmers in Montana from an article that ran in the Los Angeles Times in February of 2003.
On first read, the story seemed to me to have a lot of cinematic potential. I liked the folkloric Americana aspect of the rainmaker story, and the story of drought and hardship in the American West made me think of Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” and the seminal work of the depression-era FSA photographers like Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange.
Independent Producers Get Hooked Up Digitally
Producers and filmmakers convened in Boston last month for the annual CPB/PBS Producers Workshop. The program, started 10 years ago by veteran WGBH producer Judith Vecchione, has trained more than 190 producers from some 40 states, and ITVS has participated in every class since the beginning. ITVS’ Senior Programming Manager, Richard Saiz, spent an entire day giving feedback to producers at the workshop. Matthew Meschery, Director of Digital Initiatives at ITVS, was also on hand. He co-facilitated a workshop on new-media and filed this report.
From the Producers Workshop in Boston
This was the first time I had attended the Producers Workshop in any capacity and it was also the first year they designated an entire class on the broad subject of new media. I was thankful for being invited and thankful that the Workshop’s Director, Judith Vecchione, WGBH, and CPB recognized new media as an integral part of a producer’s training in working with public television. Oh yes, and I was thankful for the air conditioning in the WGBH building (I had forgotten just how humid New England can be in the summer).
The session was co-facilitated by myself, Dave Peth, interactive producer at WGBH and Dan Sonnet, interactive producer for PBS. We decided to structure the first part of the session as an overview, covering a wide range of topics from trends in trans-media storytelling, to social media (a formal debate of the pros and cons of Facebook and Twitter), to digital distribution, to games (you’d be surprised how much documentary producers know about digital games). We then spent the latter half of our three-hour session discussing some new media projects that the producers were working on. Projects ranged from a role-playing game to an episodic web series, to a user-generated content campaign. It was exciting to have producers share their ideas with us and their peers so openly and accept honest and constructive feedback considering this is a relatively new discipline for all of us.
Community Cinema Rocks the Bay Area
Sara Brissenden-Smith, regional outreach coordinator for the Bay Area, gives us highlights from a season of Community Cinema screenings.
I just completed my first full season of Community Cinema — that’s 18 screenings, with more than 30 community partners, 40 panelists, and more than 1,000 audience members.
A DJ spins at the Copyright Criminals screening in Oakland
Copyright Criminals brought out some of our most energetic and diverse viewers. People flooded into the theater and almost immediately lost themselves in the music. Maybe it’s because I’m a hip hop fan, but having youth DJs mixing Lauryn Hill and Tribe Called Quest started my night off right. Law students, hip hop enthusiasts, teenagers, established authors, and DJs all contributed to conversations about artistic expression, creative ownership, and the overall impact on hip hop.
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