Independent Lens

Dr. Angela Davis on Black Power and Occupy

Dr. Angela Davis is featured prominently in the documentary The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, airing this week on Independent Lens. In this ITVS-produced segment, the icon and activist sat down with PBS NewsHour‘s Hari Sreenivasan to discuss the state of activism from the Black Power Movement to Occupy Wall Street.

The documentary is the product of Swedish journalists, who came to the U.S. to document the anti-war and Black Power movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The film combines music, original 16mm footage, and contemporary audio interviews from leading African American artists, activists, musicians, and scholars.

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IL Series Producer Recaps Sundance 2012

By Lois Vossen, Founding Series Producer of Independent Lens and Vice President of ITVS

ITVS-funded filmmakers and staff rally for lunch at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT

Sundance 2012 was a record-breaking year year for ITVS and Independent Lens. Six ITVS funded films screened in the documentary competitions and all six were honored with Sundance awards. (ITVS had had seven films playing at Sundance in 2004; six films in 2002; and eight films in 1997 for those interested in banner years).

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Filmmaker Sharon La Cruise Discusses Daisy Bates Biopic with Hari Sreenivasan

The documentary Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock will air Thursday, February 2 on Independent Lens to kick off Black History Month. Recently, PBS NEWSHOUR’s Hari Sreenivasan caught up with filmmaker Sharon La Cruise to discuss the project.

The film examines the life of Daisy Bates — a complex, unconventional, and largely forgotten heroine of the civil rights movement who led the charge to desegregate the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957.

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Special Screening of “Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock” Wednesday in Los Angeles

Community Cinema and The Museum of Tolerance, in association with The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum, will be presenting a special screening of Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock Wednesday, February 1 in Los Angeles.

The film will be followed by a discussion with Sharon La Cruise (filmmaker), Terrence Roberts, Ph.D. (one of the Little Rock Nine), and Larry Earl (Executive Director of The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum). › Continue reading

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ITVS in the News

A sampling of coverage from the New York TimesRealscreen, and more …

New York Times: Sundance Documentaries Transform Data Into Stories
Over the weekend, The House I Live In, Eugene Jarecki’s heart-heavy investigation into the American war on drugs, nabbed the grand jury prize for documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.

Miller-McCune Magazine: Does Black History Month Need More Than a Month?
At a time when so many documentaries adopt an either angry or elegiac tone, More Than a Month has a disarmingly light touch. Among the several laugh-out-loud moments is a brief parody of Ken Burns’s The Civil War, featuring the filmmaker in period costume. Tilghman’s a great guide on this journey: he’s genuinely troubled by the questions he raises, but he’s also unpretentious, quizzical, and, at times, bemused.
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Central High Hosts a Social Screening of Daisy Bates

On Friday, we’re hosting a screening of the documentary Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. and will include the participation of filmmaker Sharon La Cruise. Moderated by PBS NewsHour‘s Hari Sreenivasan and featuring filmmaker Sharon La Cruise, the event will take place at this link on Friday, February 3 at 11:30 AM PT/1:30 PM CT/2:30 PM ET. Premiering on Independent Lens this Thursday, the film examines the life Daisy Bates — a complex, unconventional, and largely forgotten heroine of the civil rights movement who led the charge to desegregate the all-white Central High School in Little Rock in 1957.

The screening will take place exclusively online; you can join for free by signing in with Facebook (or directly on the site) and interact with other viewers, Central High students, La Cruise, and Sreenivasan in real-time, while you watch the film. Viewers can comment, ask questions, take polls, and even express their feelings about what they’re watching through a variety of tools on the site.

This is an entirely new way we’re offering some of our documentary films, and all of us are looking forward to an open, freewheeling conversation on Daisy Bates!

Find more information on Friday’s screening here.

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ITVS Heads into High Gear for Black History Month

By Sally Jo Fifer, President & CEO of ITVS

The organization has supported a slate of documentaries that shine a unique light on the history of African American activism. Several of the films will air this month on Independent Lens. 

February is Black History Month.  It’s an important time for public media, because the heritage months — as artificial as they seem to some, including ITVS-funded filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman, whose film More than A Month tracks his playful yet serious quest to end Black History Month — act as public reminders of our mission to bring underrepresented voices into the mainstream and ensure that the diversity of the nation is reflected on television.
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ITVS Films Clean Up at Sundance

All six ITVS films in competition at Sundance picked up awards on Saturday, marking an unprecedented accomplishment for the organization and the filmmakers.

WINNER OF THE GRAND JURY PRIZE IN U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION
The House I Live In by Eugene Jarecki
The film weaves together director Eugene Director’s personal narrative with America’s war on drugs. Here, producers including Sam Cullman, Melinda Snopsis, Danny Glover, and director Eugene Jarecki — reflect on the film and its Sundance premiere.
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Filmmakers of “The House I Live In” Respond to Sundance Premiere

By Steve Goldbloom, Reporting for PBS and BTB at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival

The House I Live In premiered last weekend at the Sundance Film Festival. The film weaves together director Eugene Jarecki’s personal narrative with America’s war on drugs. Here, producers including Sam Cullman, Melinda Shopsin, Danny Glover, and director Eugene Jarecki — reflect on the film and its Sundance premiere.

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Filmmakers of “The Invisible War” Reflect on Sundance Premiere

By Steve Goldbloom, Reporting for PBS and BTB at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival

This past weekend, filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering premiered their documentary The Invisible War at the Sundance Film Festival. The film examines the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the U.S. military, the institutions that cover up its existence, and the profound personal and social consequences that arise from it. Watch the video below as both filmmakers recount the Sundance experience.

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