Filmmaker Profile: Avon Kirkland Discusses Legacy of Sam Cooke

Documentary filmmaker Avon Kirkland didn’t follow the typical path to filmmaking – earning a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis and working as a research scientist and educational publishing executive before starting a career in television in 1972.

Since then, his work as a producer, director, and writer has focused on creating films that explore the rich history and culture of African Americans and their contributions.

His work has included numerous ground-breaking projects such as Up & Coming, a 25-part drama series about an African-American family struggling between working- and middle-class in San Francisco; Booker, a one-hour drama based on the childhood of Booker T. Washington; and numerous other films that aired on American Masters and public television including Simple Justice, Street Soldiers, and Ralph Ellison: An American Journey.

More recently, Kirkland played a pivotal role as executive producer of Sam Cooke: Crossing Over, on which he worked with producer/director John Antonelli to secure completion funding from ITVS. The film looks at the musical and political significance of composer, performer, and pioneering pop music entrepreneur Sam Cooke and the circumstances that led to his murder.

Check out this video where Kirkland explains the impact and importance of the legendary singer.

Learn more about this film >>

Read our interview with John Antonelli from last month >>

Tags: African American, Avon Kirkland, civil rights, John Antonelli

John Antonelli Discusses Inspiration Behind Sam Cooke

The ITVS film Sam Cooke: Crossing Over recently premiered on American Masters on PBS. The film looks at the musical and political significance of composer, performer, and pioneering pop music entrepreneur Sam Cooke and the circumstances that led to his murder. Beyond the Box recently caught up with producer John Antonelli to discuss his interest in the topic, why he approached ITVS for funding, and what he hopes viewers took away from the film.

Executive Producer Avon Kirkland, Narrator Danny Glover, and Producer John Antonelli.

How did you first get involved with filmmaking? Are there any specific topics that interest you?
My production company came out of the experience of making my Jack Kerouac documentary in the early 80s. My partner Will Parrinello and I have been working together since then making a variety of films that focus on the environment, culture, and politics. The Sam Cooke program goes full circle back to producing a full-length documentary about a cultural icon.

What made you interested in Sam Cooke?
I’ve always loved Sam Cooke’s music since I discovered it as a teenager back in the early sixties. When I read Daniel Wolff’s biography You Send Me, I was quickly convinced that I should try and make a film about him. Wolff was supportive but wasn’t interested in forming a partnership. At that point, I decided that I would make the film for PBS directly. We managed to reach many of Cooke’s closest friends and relatives to do interviews for the film.

Why did you approach ITVS for funding?
I’ve always wanted to do a project with ITVS and have applied there with various films. I knew when I decided to do this project for PBS that I had two strong options for funding and distribution –– ITVS and American Masters. If ITVS were an individual, you could say that I was their stalker. I started applying to ITVS back in 1998 when I started making the film. I applied and got rejected, and as I had on previous projects, signed up for their feedback session. Although I didn’t like hearing the reasons from different anonymous panel members why they didn’t like the project, I also heard some encouragement sprinkled in with the criticisms. I then set out to improve the proposal and sample tape. Little did I know that this process of applying and getting feedback would take another nine years before it would get funded. The feedback–– almost as much as the financing –– is a big reason why I was able to complete the film. The feedback always gave me specific ways that I could make the project stronger. As far as I know, ITVS is the only entity in the documentary world that gives this kind of feedback –– it is something that every filmmaker should take advantage of.

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Tags: African American, gospel, Human Rights, music, racial

Robert Clift Looks at Racial Identity in Hip-Hop Music

Blacking Up: Hip-Hop’s Remix of Race and Identity, airing in February on public television, explores the tension between white racial identity and black cultural propriety at a time when hip-hop is redefining American life. Filmmaker Robert Clift recounts some of the questions he received about the film and what it was like working with white rappers — including Vanilla Ice. Read his take below.

C-Note of Too White Crew performs at the Bluebird in Bloomington, Ind.

In the years leading up to this film’s release, I’ve wondered, like any filmmaker, how people were going to react to it. Thanks to Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake’s Super Bowl show, fines from the FCC was a top concern for many at PBS, and the topic of my film lent itself to some objectionable language. So for years while my film waited for an audience, I fielded people’s questions and comments.

“When am I going to see it?”
“White kids and hip-hop? You’re doing a film about wiggers?”
“Don’t you think we’re past this already?”
“Is that what my kid is doing?”
“It’s going to be on PBS?”
“Did you really interview Vanilla Ice?”

First, yes, I did really interview Vanilla Ice, and yes, he really did consent to the interview. To be honest, I found his cooperation surprising. Getting white people to talk about race was perhaps the most difficult part of making this film, and that difficulty doubled when it came to white rappers. I would have loved to interview Eminem, for example, but I had little success with anything but being brushed off by his handlers. The perception was that he had too much to risk. Too many people, too many hip-hop magazines, some of which were started by white people, might use it as an opportunity to go after him.

Blacking Up: Hip-Hop’s Remix of Race and Identity airs February on public television (check local listings)

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Tags: African American, hip hop, race, rap, Vanilla Ice

Behind the Scenes: Girls On The Wall with Filmmaker Heather Ross

This month, Girls on the Wall airs on public television (check local listings). The film follows a group of incarcerated teenage girls who are given a shot at redemption in a most unlikely form: a musical. Learn more about filmmaker Heather Ross’s professional background, how she discovered this unique story, and some of the recent press coverage the film has been receiving.

Heather Ross spent much of her childhood on the floor of an edit studio, watching as her mother finished her MFA thesis film. Somehow undeterred, Ross studied documentary filmmaking as well –– obtaining degrees in film/video and psychology at UC Santa Cruz.

The five-year journey of Girls On The Wall began during a slow commute to work. Heather happened to tune into a radio segment featuring a musical production staged inside a juvenile detention center.

“The voices of the girls performing under lockup were exuberant, brazen, yet achingly vulnerable. They were unlike anything I’ve ever heard before,” says Ross.

Shortly thereafter, Ross moved across the country to Chicago to shoot a nine-month cycle from concept to completion. The film looks at three female inmates as they write, rap, and rehearse the harrowing events leading up to their crimes. In the process, they’re challenged to find their own voices, reclaim their humanity and take a first step toward breaking free of the prison system.

Special permission from the governor of Illinois allowed the production team including unprecedented access to the teenage residents and the facility that housed them. The resulting film recently premiered at Chicago International Film Festival where it won a Special Mention jury award. It was also singled out by Roger Ebert and Time Out Chicago as a festival pick.

The film has gone on to play at the Hot Springs Documentary Festival, the CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival in New York, the Santa Fe Film Festival, and the Anchorage International Film Festival. Critics have called the film “amazing” (Time Out), “outstanding” (Chicago Public Radio), and “an unforgettable portrait detailing the empowerment to be found in self-expression … one of the most stirring films you will see all year.” (The Anchorage Press).

Heather continues to keep in touch with many of the girls in Girls on the Wall, the making of which she calls a life-changing experience. Watch this special behind-the-scenes video with Ross as she attempts to gain the trust of the film subjects and documents their journeys.

Girls on the Wall airs this month on public television (check local listings)

Tags: behind-the-scenes, crime, Illinois, music, musical, prison

Vanessa Gould Tours Los Angeles With Her Film BETWEEN THE FOLDS

Director of the Community Cinema documentary selection BETWEEN THE FOLDS Vanessa Gould spent the past few days at a series of screening events for the film in the greater Los Angeles area. In addition to the two unique screening and folding events at the historic Aero Theatre in Santa Monica and at the Frida Kahlo Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, Ms. Gould attended a very special screening of the film at the LA County Sheriff’s Pitches Detention Center for close to 200 inmates. She shares her deeply moving visit with us. [No photographs were allowed in or near the detention center for security reasons.]

Vanessa Gould (producer/director) of BETWEEN THE FOLDS

As we walked into LA’s Pitches Detention Center, the sky was deep blue and a long flock of birds flew calmly with the wind above. The series of heavy gates and barbed wire fences ahead gave me a pit in my stomach. Behind the barriers, I soon saw men of all ages – hundreds in royal blue jumpsuits – working, standing, exercising outside.

I was there with Desiree Gutierrez, the ITVS National Community Cinema Coordinator for the Southern California region, to answer questions about BETWEEN THE FOLDS, which a group was watching as we arrived. I had strong doubts as to whether they’d connect to a film about paperfolding, worrying it was trivial in light of the gravity of their own personal situations. How would the film be relevant to them? What could I possibly say or do that could be genuinely useful?

A stock photo of a typical inmate gathering provided courtesy of the LA County Sheriff's Department

Desiree and I entered the room with Deputy Bates and a few other staff members just as they had finished the film. It was a crowded room with about 200 men seated closely, gathered around a single television.

As soon as the lights went on and I looked up – despite my insecurity – it was quite possibly the most enthusiastic reception the film has ever seen: a room brimming with almost-rowdy excitement and big smiles, a few thumbs up and hands on hearts. Even some paper hats and paper stars made out of the local county newspaper were floating around. Deputy Bates introduced us, and I filled with warmth, relieved that the film had perhaps given them an escape from their daily routine.

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Tags: between the folds, filmmaker, Los Angeles

Filmmaker Profile: Antonio Perez Molero, END OF WAITING TIME

During the long dictatorship of Spanish General Francisco Franco, hundreds of people were arrested, executed or disappeared. In END OF WAITING TIME, filmmaker Antonio Perez Molero talks with the families of those who vanished and have begun to search for answers about their relatives. The film will air at 10:00 PM on September 20 on Global Voices on PBS WORLD (check local listings). Learn more about the film and the challenges he faced.

Filmmaker Antonio Perez Molero

What has the reaction to the film been like?
In general, despite the delicate subject, the documentary has been well received.

The Spanish Civil War and its aftermath is still going on 70 years after it ended. It’s a continuous cause of debate amongst the Spanish people. We can’t agree about the causes, the events or those who are responsible. Now, however, these differences, happily, are fought through talking and writing—or making films and documentaries.

Perhaps the only thing that the vast majority of Spanish people have agreed on is the right of the families of war prisoners to recuperate the remains and memories of their loved ones. That may seem obvious today, but it has required a transformation of several years for Spanish public opinion to acknowledge that the moral right of family members should prevail over the long held fear in Spain that any kind of investigation of our civil war, even with a humanitarian objective, might lead the country to open old, painful and dangerous wounds.

This is the main theme of our documentary—the family members and their struggle to recover the remains and memories of the disappeared. And in fact, the majority of the people who have seen the documentary appreciated it, independently of their political inclinations.

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Tags: Francisco Franco, Human Rights, Spanish Civil War

Q&A With END OF THE RAINBOW Filmmaker Mitzi Goldman

Airing this Sunday at 10:00 PM on Global Voices on PBS World (check local listings), END OF THE RAINBOW explores the human dimensions of industrial gold-mining in two remote locations: Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo and Guinea, West Africa. We recently spoke with filmmaker Mitzi Goldman about the challenges of making the documentary and her style of filming. Learn more about the film and get her take below:

Q. What were some of the challenges you faced in making this film? What were some of the lessons you learned in making END OF THE RAINBOW.

Mitzi Goldman: Making a documentary in Africa is always going to present challenges, especially if the country is undergoing some political strife. In our case, we were lucky to have the access and cooperation of the mining operation. They helped enormously with logistics and accommodation as well as power and transportation. This is due to the director’s excellent relationships with the mine.

The translations were quite challenging and time consuming. It was expensive to find translators in Australia who could speak the Malinke dialect and be able to transcribe the interviews. We didn’t really find them, and so we had to do the labor intensive typing as they were translated from the screen.

I learned that sometimes being in the right place at the right time can make your movie. It’s important to grab opportunities as they present themselves and make the most of the moment. Sometimes, one scene can make a film. For us, it was the pit bust scene. When we had that scene and the following events, we knew we had a great film.

Always go that extra mile.

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Tags: Africa, filmmakers, mining

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

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

Director Ran Tal Discusses CHILDREN OF THE SUN, Airing Monday on the Sundance Channel

Ran Tal, director of CHILDREN OF THE SUN.

Director Ran Tal was born in Israel to a farmer’s family and grew up on Kibbutz Beit Hashita. In his latest film CHILDREN OF THE SUN, airing Monday, July 20 at 9:00 PM on the Sundance Channel, Tal traces Israel’s kibbutz movement and follows members of the Zionist elite from their birth in the 1920s and ‘30s to the crisis that weakened the movement. Appearing at film festivals across the country, Tal discussed his personal connection to the subject. Check out his Q&A from the San Francisco International Film Festival and learn more about how the audience reacted in Israel, the research process and why he made the film.

Why did you decide to focus your film on a family in the kibbutz?
I understood that the story of the kibbutz might be very big. But I really thought that to focus on these small intimate things, on this radical alternative family of the kibbutz, would be a good chance to tell a story that is very intimate, on the one hand, but, on the other hand, would be a big one. I really believe in intimate cinema, instead of the cinema that tries to put everything together and ends up not catching anything.

Read the full interview >>

Watch a preview >>

Tags: Israel, kibbutz, Zionist