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.

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Tags: Awards, documentary, Emmy, Independent Lens, news and doc, P.O.V.

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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Tags: Bhutto, Circo, in the news, P-Star Rising, The Beetle

Pelosi, Other Luminaries Gather to Celebrate Bhutto

Dennis Palmieri is director of communications for ITVS, and led the team that produced the Washington D.C. premiere of Bhutto at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society on June 29th. He reports from the event:

Last night, ITVS hosted the Washington D.C. premiere of the landmark new documentary Bhutto, about the life, career, and tragic death of one of the world’s most dynamic leaders — and the first woman ever to lead an Islamic nation — Benazir Bhutto.

The film debuted at Sundance 2010 to rave reviews and Independent Lens series producer Lois Vossen quickly moved in to secure Bhutto for next season; it will air in March 2011 in celebration of Women’s History Month.

But last night, Bhutto belonged to official Washington. Nearly 400 invited guests, members of Congress and the Washington diplomatic corps, journalists, and other notables were regaled with reflections and remembrances of Ms. Bhutto’s life and work.

The pinnacle of the evening though, was a surprise appearance by another dynamic woman leader, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who took the podium during introductory remarks to share memories of her friendship with Benazir (watch the Speaker’s remarks below).

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Tags: Benazir Bhutto, CPB, documentary, ITVS, Judy Woodruff, NewsHour, Pakistan, PBS

In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

Filmmaker Fears She’s On U.S. Watch List
The name “Laura Poitras” is familiar to Oscar judges, film festival juries, and security officers at U.S. airports, which is what happens when one directs critically acclaimed documentaries that require spending months in dangerous areas of the Middle East. 
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War Insight, Beyond Bang-Bang
At midlife, in a soft job, and nagged by questions that no one was answering, Carol Dysinger boarded a plane from New York to Dubai and then caught a connecting flight into Kabul. The answers, and new questions, emerge in her documentary, Camp Victory, Afghanistan, which she made over five years of listening, watching and asking.
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Cambodia Vs. ‘Chea’
The director of Who Killed Chea Vichea?, a documentary about the 2004 slaying of the Cambodian union leader, is asserting that the Cambodian government has banned screenings of the film. U.S. helmer Bradley Cox says the government has been preventing showings of his film for the past month in the first banning of a politically charged film since the 1980s.
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An Interview With The Director Of ‘The Oath,’ About Osama Bin Laden’s Driver And Bodyguard
Laura Poitras’ documentary, The Oath, … paints close-up portraits of Osama bin Laden’s driver Salim Hamdan and bodyguard Nasser al-Bahri (aka Abu Jandal). She won’t tell how she found the footage.
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Tags: Cambodia, Laura Poitras, review, The Oath, Who Killed Chea Vichea?

Ask Not Snags Outstanding Doc at GLAAD Awards

ITVS-funded Ask Not by Johnny Symons was honored for Outstanding Documentary at the GLAAD Media Awards earlier this month in San Francisco. Ask Not originally aired in June 2009 on Independent Lens.

Equally important is the attention such an award will draw to the national debate over Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT.) The film explores the genesis of that policy from its inception under then-President Clinton in 1993.

Ask Not sheds light on how DADT has prevented some of America’s most talented recruits from serving their country. Examples include skilled Arabic translators so desperately needed in Afghanistan and Iraq combat, ordered to be silent and celibate or else be removed from duty.

“This was a fun award to receive and a great acknowledgment of the film and the issue,” said Symons.

The hype around Ask Not could not come at a more relevant time. At his State of the Union address this past January, President Obama vowed to repeal DADT during his first term. Soon after, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm Mike Mullen also denounced the policy before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The film also recently aired on Capitol Hill to coincide with Congressional hearings on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.

Congratulations to Johnny and his team!

Tags: Ask Not, don't ask don't tell, gay rights, Johnny Symons, Military

In The News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

S. Leo Chiang’s film on PBS touchingly displays how a Vietnamese community picked up the pieces post-Katrina, finding their voice in a quintessentially American way.
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It’s not every June that brings the opportunity to see one of last year’s most acclaimed films on television and without even a cable connection, at that but this June is one of those times. PBS scored a coup by booking 2009’s striking Goodbye Solo as part of its Independent Lens series.
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Premiering on 11 May, as part of PBS’ Independent Lens, Michel Orion Scott’s film suggests that Kristin and her husband Rupert Isaacson find themselves on this adventure, despite her own initial skepticism.
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The Horse Boy is a touching documentary about one Texas couple’s struggle to understand their child’s autism and find ways for all of them to cope with it.
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Tags: Autism, Katrina, oil spill, PBS

Sesame Street Diplomacy — Wrapping Up at the Peacebuilding Summit

ITVS Staff writer Eric Martin posted to ‘Beyond the Box’ live from the Newseum during the day’s proceedings:

The afternoon session kicked off with clips from two films: The World According to

Sesame Workshop CEO Gary Knell moderates the final panel of the day

Sesame Street, a look at the making of “muppet diplomacy” through versions of the iconic children’s show produced by local producers in other countries; and The Team, a documentary look at the Kenyan soap opera of the same title that marries conflict resolution with popular storytelling.

Moderator Gary Knell, CEO of the Sesame Workshop, carried the theme of the clips into the discussion, highlighting the importance of “indigenous” partnerships to achieve local impact.  Mburugu Gikunda, executive producer of The Team in Kenya, reinforced that idea with his story of how his work combines television, radio and local screenings as equally important to getting people to act.  “When people see it in their living rooms, they are very passive,” he said.  “When they watch it in a group, there is encouragement to one another to take some action with it.”  New media, he continued, represent new opportunities.

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Liveblogging, Part 2 — Storytelling 2.0

ITVS Staff writer Eric Martin posted to ‘Beyond the Box’ live from the Newseum during the day’s proceedings:

CPB president and CEO Patricia Harrison set up the second panel, “Storytelling 2.0”, observing that “Mutual understanding and respect begins with someone else’s story.”  The challenge in this 21^st century media world of audiences turned media makers, she said, lies not only telling those stories but in the fact that “you have to shut up long enough to listen to someone else’s story.”  Public media is tackling these issues across radio, new media, and television, including documentaries like Project Kashmir, the ITVS-funded documentary that premieres May 18 on the PBS series Independent Lens.

Patricia Harrison, President and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting addresses the leadership summit

After clips from the film were screened for the audience, moderator Jamie Tarabay asked how can films like Project Kashmir and their filmmaker promote this understanding and respect?   “When you’ve reached people and they’re moved by it” said Orlando Bagwell, director of Ford Foundation’s Freedom of Expression Program, “and they want to do something—what do you do with this moment?”   New media tools combined with storytelling open up new possibilities to engage audiences and get them to act—whether it’s giving money for Haiti relief or volunteering in their communities.

“You need time to get to know the person behind the story,” added Harrison, along with a “firewall of independence” where storytellers can speak their mind and be seen as credible and authentic.  Even then, how do you compete in the marketplace?  “We need to create material that feeds the beast,” said Project Kashmir director Geeta Patel, not simply tell stories to people who watch documentaries.  That means bringing more humor, plugging into popular formats like love stories and action movies to reach audiences who “might not read the newspaper but they watch the Terminator.” › Continue reading

Liveblogging “Media as Global Diplomat” — Seizing the Moment

ITVS Staff writer Eric Martin posted to ‘Beyond the Box’ live from the Newseum during the day’s proceedings:

The third “Media as Global Diplomat Summit” got underway at the Newseum on a bright Washington DC morning, with a mix of some 250 dark-suited power brokers and quick-typing bloggers filling the room.  The question of the day:  how can those working in conflict resolution and public interest media “seize the moment” presented by new technology and new stakeholders?

More than 300 people gathered at the Newseum's Knight Conference Center for the "Media as Global Diplomat" leadership summit

Hosts from ITVS and USIP, which co-presented the summit, opened the session by framing the day.  USIP president Dick Solomon described how “traditional notions of public diplomacy have not kept up with [new] technologies” while his colleague Sheldon Himmelfald brought to life a media world where children consume 12 hours of media every day, in a multimedia presentation that contrasted cognitive scientific data with video clips of Ohio militia calls-to-arms and optimistic journalistic partnerships in Burundi as opposing forces in the battle of peace and hate.  ITVS Sally Jo Fifer announced progress in the form of the International Documentary Exchange Act, recent legislation now moving through Congress that would support a two-way media exchange between the U.S. and other countries based on the work of the ITVS Global Perspectives Project.

The first panel, “The New News,” got underway against the backdrop of a clip from the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, funded by ITVS and slated for broadcast on P.O.V. in the summer of 2010.  Panel moderator Jamie Tarabay, the NPR correspondent who was part of the news team that won a DuPont-Colombia Award for coverage of Iraq, contrasted the age of controlled information depicted in the film with the explosion of today’s media environment, challenging the panelists to reconcile the possibilities and realities of 21^st century media. › Continue reading

In The News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

[Werner Herzog] the last of the great auteur directors voices the role of a plastic grocery bag in [Plastic Bag], a philosophical short film by much-tipped director Ramin Bahrani.
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Old men with energy, high spirits and full capacities are inherently charming, and Pei, who has charmed his way across the planet and left a huge imprint on it, charms yet again [in I.M. Pei: Building China Modern].
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Host Michel Martin speaks with Edward Tom, principal of the Bronx Center for Science & Mathematics, and filmmaker Christopher Wong [of Whatever It Takes].
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Whatever It Takes is strongest when it makes precisely this point: that however much we embrace the “tough love” idea, it is by definition a small-scale effort.
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Lost Souls is the sort of documentary that approaches reality television terrain. Yet it seriously presents themes of personal responsibility and redemption.
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Tags: architecture, Bronx, China, education, IM Pei, Mexico, New York