Independent Lens
Three ITVS Programs Win Peabody Awards
Bhutto, My Perestroika, and Who Killed Chea Vichea were among the ITVS programs to earn the George Foster Peabody Awards this year. Administered by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Peabody is one of the most prestigious honors in electronic media.
Congratulations to the filmmakers on this incredible achievement! This brings the total of Peabody awards for ITVS films to 22.
Bhutto by Duane Baughman, which aired on Independent Lens, takes an intimate look at one of the most fascinating and important world leaders of our time, Benazir Bhutto.
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Take the Ultimate Sesame Street Quiz!
In preparation for the premiere of Being Elmo on April 5 and April 9 at 9 PM, here is a quiz for our audience, many of whom probably watched Sesame Street in the Mr. Hooper era, long before there even was an Elmo!
Many of us learned to read, write, count, speak a few Spanish words, and get along with others with help from the denizens of Sesame Street, an urban neighborhood where puppets and humans coexist in peace and shared curiosity. If you were even a semi-regular watcher of Sesame Street in your formative years, chances are you have precious memories of the characters and sketches on the show that made you love learning. See how much you remember from the 42 years of the world’s most beloved children’s television program.
Take the quiz after the jump. › Continue reading
IL Presents a Social Screening of You’re Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don’t
The event will take place online this Sunday, April 1 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET.
Join a social screening of You’re Looking At Me Like I Live Here And I Don’t, with a panel of Alzheimer’s experts and share your own stories about how you have been impacted by the disease.
The event, which takes place exclusively online, will feature special guests Scott Kirschenbaum, director/producer of the film; Dr. David Oliver, co-author of The Human Factor in Nursing Home Care; Dr. Steven Zweig, community medicine and hospice expert; and David Shenk, author of the seminal Alzheimer’s book, The Forgetting.
Participants can join for free by signing in with Facebook or directly on the site, interacting with other viewers and panelists in real-time, while watching 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 of experiencing documentary films and it is inherently social.
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The Island President Hits Theaters
The Island President may not be coming to Independent Lens until next season, but audiences don’t have to wait to see the story of former President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed.
In February, former President Mohamed Nasheed made headlines when he was forced to step down after the Maldivian police and army turned against him. Prior to the coup, President Nasheed was known for his impassioned stance on climate change and was rewarded by being pushed out of office earlier this year, after the documentary concluded filming. The Island President follows Nasheed as he worked tirelessly to motivate the world to take action before the rising sea levels wiped out the Maldives, giving a human face to an issue that continues to threaten his country.
The Island President opened in theaters in New York on Wednesday, March 28th and will be coming to San Francisco (March 30), Los Angeles (April 6), Washington DC (April 20), San Diego (April 20), Minneapolis (April 27), and Detroit (April 27) throughout the next month. Additional cities will be added soon and will be posted to film’s website. Watch the film’s trailer after the jump. › Continue reading
ITVS in the News
Coverage of ITVS from The New York Times and PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler.
The New York Times: PBS Agrees to Revisit Documentary Schedule
Under intense public pressure from independent documentary filmmakers, including a Twitter campaign, PBS on Thursday agreed to find a new home next season for the award-winning film series “Independent Lens” and “POV.” Continue Reading >>>
PBS.org: Independent Lens Brings a Focus on PBS
This comes under the heading of “nobody asked me, but . . .” Viewers have not written to me about recent scheduling changes that affect two major, long-running PBS series of independent documentary films — Independent Lens and POV, which stands for point of view. But the changes and the controversy they have stirred are getting a fair amount of attention in the press, at least in those segments that pay close attention to public broadcasting, within PBS and among independent filmmakers. So that makes it seem worthwhile for me to record the issues for readers of this column. Continue Reading >>>
ITVS in the News
Coverage of ITVS and Independent Lens from Monday’s edition of The New York Times.
The New York Times: PBS Shifts in Time Slots Hurts Series of Films
The home page of PBS.org in recent days has highlighted a new feature, the PBS Online Film Festival. But the prime-time schedule for PBS this television season has, in the eyes of some, effectively marginalized its two award-winning independent film series: “Independent Lens,” which started its new season last October, and “POV,” which will begin new episodes June 21. Continue Reading >>>
The Black Power Mixtape Inspires Students in NYC
The Education Department at the Tibeca Film Institute will screen the documentary before more than 200 high school students at the Tribeca Cinemas on March 21, at 11AM ET.
This spring, the Education Department at Tribeca Film Institute is rethinking the way they share film with the community. In partnership with ITVS Community Classroom, and in conjunction with their Women and Girls Lead initiative, they will screen The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 on March 21st at 11am.
A film by Goran Hugo Olsson, The Black Power Mixtape brings together never before seen footage of Harlem, New York in the 1970s, and black power leaders like Stokely Carmichael and Angela Davis. Watch Davis discuss the film in an ITVS interview conducted earlier this year, after the jump.
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Joint Task Force Working to Boost Audience for Indies on PBS
ITVS, POV, and PBS Leadership Meet Weekly to Develop New Indies Strategy
During most of the past decade, Independent Lens and POV together have provided a year-round broadcast slot of independent documentary films, airing on Tuesday nights at 10 PM, with POV running June to October with special presentations in other months and Independent Lens airing October through June.
In May 2011, changes in PBS’s prime-time schedule moved Independent Lens and POV to 10 PM on Thursdays, a night traditionally reserved for stations’ local and syndicated programming. For Independent Lens, the move has resulted in a significant decline in both station carriage and viewership.
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ITVS in the News
A sampling of coverage from Current, The Huffington Post, and more …
Current: Indie docs lose viewers, carriage as they’re moved to Thursdays
The shift of Independent Lens from Tuesdays to Thursdays this season has created ratings and carriage woes for the indie-doc showcase and highlighted two often-conflicting objectives of programmers: winning larger audiences by serving highly value loyal viewers, and getting more diverse and sometimes daring programming into the public TV lineup.
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A Message from Mary Louise Parker on International Women’s Day
The Independent Lens host invites you to celebrate International Women’s Day and ITVS’s public media campaign — Women and Girls Lead.
Show your support for the initiative (literally!) by adding the campaign’s banner to your Facebook profile for 24 hours in celebration of International Women’s Day. You can find the images on the Women and Girls Lead Facebook page.
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