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).

 Adding to that powerful showing, midway through Sundance two ITVS-supported films received Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary including Hell and Back Again by Danfung Dennis (coming to Independent Lens in May) and If a Tree Falls by Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman (broadcast on POV).  We were able to celebrate in person as Danfung and Sam (a producer on The House I Live In) were both in Park City.  Even the Utah snowstorms couldn’t slow our momentum because that’s one heck of a week.

From L to R: Danfung Dennis (Hell and Back Again), Lois Vossen, and Sam Cullman (If a Tree Falls)

Independent Lens and ITVS held an intimate lunch to honor our 2012 Sundance and Academy Award-nominated filmmakers. Stepping away from the noise and full-on energy that is Sundance, we wanted to take a moment to recognize and celebrate the extraordinary work of the filmmakers.

Four of the six ITVS films at Sundance are already slated for broadcast on Independent Lens following theatrical distribution, including Grand Jury Prize winner The House I Live In by Eugene Jarecki, Audience Award winner The Invisible War by Kirby Dick, Special Jury Prize winner Love Free or Die by Macky Alston, and Detropia by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, which was honored for best editing. In addition, the Independent Lens film The Island President by Jon Shenk, Richard Berge, and Bonni Cohen screened in a Sundance sidebar program. These five films will make for an exceptional new season of Independent Lens — and they will be joined by a stunning array of other documentaries coming to completion this year.

The two additional ITVS-funded films that premiered in the World Cinema Documentary Competition and took awards are Putin’s Kiss (Best Cinematography Award) and 5 Broken Cameras (Best Directing).

Sundance 2012 is a wrap, but the impact of these extraordinary films is just beginning. We have an exceptional year ahead, lead by the power of independent storytelling.

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.

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.

Danfung Dennis woke up this morning in Park City as an Academy Award nominated filmmaker for his documentary Hell and Back Again. The film weaves together two overlapping narratives of a Marine at war on the front and in recovery at home. BTB caught up with the filmmaker earlier today on Main St at the Sundance Film Festival.

Hell and Back Again will air on May 24 on Independent Lens.

Premiering Monday night at Sundance is Macky Alston’s new film Love Free or Die, which  follows the historic and controversial rise of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop. BTB caught up with Alston at a mass held at St. Luke’s Church on Sunday in Park City, where LGBT leaders showed up to support and discuss the film.

Love Free or Die is an ITVS-funded film slated for broadcast on an upcoming season of  Independent Lens.

Lois Vossen (IL), Sharon La Cruise (Daisy Bates), Dr. Angela Davis and Talib Kweli (The Black Power Mixtape), Michael Jones (COO of PBS), and Shukree Hassan Tilghman (More Than a Month)

Independent Lens begins its celebration of Black History Month on PBS with Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock, which premiers on February 2. The film follows the seven-year journey of filmmaker Sharon La Cruise to learn about the mostly forgotten civil rights activist Daisy Bates.

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 airs the following week on February 9. Directed by Göran Hugo Olsson, the film weaves together footage shot by Swedish television journalists, chronicling the black power movement of the 1960s. Featuring iconic leaders Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, and Eldridge Cleaver — the film provides a fascinating look at the people, society, culture, and style that fueled an era of convulsive change.

Finally, More Than a Month will premiere on PBS on February 16. The film follows African American director Shukree Hassan Tilghman on a cross-country journey to end Black History Month as he explores what the treatment of history tells us about race and power in “post-racial” America.

This year at Press Tour, Independent Lens teamed up with PBS NewsHour‘s Hari Sreenivasan, who interviewed nearly a dozen filmmakers and subjects on the films honoring black history. Keep an eye on BTB and NewsHour to watch those conversations in their entirety.

In February 2012, Independent Lens will lead the celebration of Black History Month on public television with premieres of three new documentaries that shine a unique light on the history of African American activism, with one provocatively re-examining of the whole idea of Black History Month.

Independent Lens’s Black History Month program kicks off on February 2, 2012 with the premiere of Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock, the story of a seven-year journey by filmmaker Sharon La Cruise to get to know the mostly forgotten civil rights activist Daisy Bates.

Beautiful, glamorous, and articulate, Bates was fearless in her quest for justice, stepping into the spotlight to bring national attention to issues — and some say to herself.

Unconventional and egotistical, she became a household name in 1957 when she fought for the right of nine black students to attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Her public campaign culminated in a constitutional crisis — pitting a president against a governor and a community against itself.

Fresh from a successful theatrical run, Independent Lens presents Göran Hugo Olsson’s The Black Power Mixtape 1967–1975 on February 9, 2012 . In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Swedish television journalists came to America to document the burgeoning Black Power movement.

This fascinating film weaves this long-lost trove of film into an irresistible mosaic chronicling the movement’s evolution: footage shot on the streets of Harlem, Brooklyn, and Oakland; interviews with Black Power leaders including Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, and Eldridge Cleaver; and contemporary audio interviews with leading African American artists, activists, musicians, and scholars. The film provides a fascinating look at the people, society, culture, and style that fueled an era of convulsive change.

Finally, on February 16, 2012, More Than a Month follows African American filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month. Humorous and thought provoking, More Than a Month combines cinema verité, man-on-the-street interviews, and inspired dramatizations to explore what the treatment of history tells us about race and power in “post-racial” America. What does it mean that we have a Black History Month? What would it mean if we didn’t?

In addition to the film, the Independent Lens team will unveil More Than a Map(p), a smartphone application that uses a phone’s GPS to point users in the direction of the nearest location relevant to African American history. Users can experience each point in a variety of ways including text, video, audio, and links to more information. What makes More Than a Map(p) truly unique is the user’s ability to add his or her own historical points to the map — points that then become part of everyone’s app. More Than a Map(p) will be available on iTunes February 2012.

On Thursday, January 5, 2012, Independent Lens will present its Black History Month slate at the Television Critics Association meetings in Los Angeles. At the event, filmmakers Sharon La Cruise and Shukree Hassan Tilghman will be joined by legendary activist, scholar, and icon Dr. Angela Davis.

“It is beyond exciting that Dr. Davis has agreed to join us for this presentation, and to support Black History Month on public broadcasting,” said Lois Vossen, series producer for Independent Lens. “This important programming will reach more African American families — and more Americans overall — because of her participation.”

Two of the three films — Daisy Bates and More than a Month — will also be featured in ITVS’s acclaimed Community Cinema program, where local public television stations team up with community-based organizations and NGOs to present special live preview screenings. With expert speakers and panel discussions to help contextualize the programs, these screenings give audiences the opportunity to get involved. More than 100 screenings of each film will take place in cities and towns across the country during the months of January and February. Find more information and screenings your area, here.

In addition, Daisy Bates is also part of the ITVS-led Women and Girls Lead campaign, a three-year public media initiative to focus, educate, and connect citizens worldwide in support of the issues facing women and girls. By building a pipeline of some 50 public television documentaries and integrating content from partners across radio, commercial television, and beyond, Women and Girls Lead offers another model for public media to serve its mission in the 21st century.

To learn more about the films, and the issues involved, visit the companion website. Get detailed information on each film, watch preview clips, read interviews with the filmmakers, and explore the subjects in depth with links and resources. The site also features a Talkback section where viewers can share their ideas and opinions.

Filmmaker Deepa Dhanraj's Invoking Justice was among the ITVS docs to premiere at IDFA

The 19^th FORUM took place in Amsterdam on November 21-23 as part of 25^th annual International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).

The current economic crisis unfolding around us as the EU debt crisis mounts, public financing under pressure, and a dangerous decrease in airtime allocated to social issue documentaries provided an urgency to this year’s FORUM. The IDFA’s FORUM is the longest-standing gathering that brings together documentary filmmakers, TV stations, funds, distributors, and other financiers to support high-level documentary projects and help partner joint ventures.

I joined my fellow commissioning editors from more than 20 countries around the world including Korea, Latin America, and across Europe to learn about new documentary projects seeking support.

A clear sign that technology is quickly transforming the genre and the dissemination of nonfiction content, the FORUM again offered commissioning editors access to traditional long-form projects and a wide array of cross-media and linear projects.

From L to R: Filmmaker Mona Eldaief (Producer of Solar Momas), ITVS's Lois Vossen, and Filmmaker Deepa Dhanraj (Director of Invoking Justice)

A total of 49 projects from around the world pitched during the three-day FORUM. Their wide-ranging topics were as diverse as the filmmakers nurturing them. Subjects included corruption in Guatemala explored through a murder mystery that plays like a crime thriller; an Iranian female teenager who hopes to overcome societal constraints and become an astronaut; and the daily lives of Afghan women imprisoned for committing “moral crimes” against the husbands who beat and abused them.

ITVS also presented a Women & Girls Lead panel that was moderated by our VP of Programming Claire Aguilar, and featured Deepa Dhanraj (Director of Invoking Justice, which premiered at IDFA), Mona Eldaief (Producer of Solar Momas), Jo Lapping (BBC Storyville producer), and myself.

Still from Solar Momas, by Producer Mona Eldaief

The panel highlighted programming that has been selected to be a part of the Women and Girls Lead campaign and served as a call to arms, encouraging both female and male filmmakers to produce more films that explore the complex rolls of women and girls changing the world.

I arrived in Amsterdam in fog so thick that some flights were delayed six hours. After four days of pitching and managing to screen five films at the festival, the sun came out, just as I had to leave the city of canals.

Here’s hoping that signals the birth of many new, important documentaries that will come to light in the months and years ahead.

Read American University Professor Patricia Aufderheide’s post on the school’s Center for Social Media site on the importance of public funding for social-issue documentaries. Aufderheide goes on to highlight several of the ITVS-funded films that were on display at the event in Amsterdam.

Bitter Seeds
By Micha X. Peled

Family Portrait in Black and White
By: Julia Ivanova, Boris Ivanov (Reflecting Images – Best of the Fest)

Give Up Tomorrow
By: Marty Syjuco, Michael Collins (Reflecting Images – Best of the Fest)

Bill T. Jones: A Good Man
By: Gordon Quinn, Bob Hercules

Heart of Sky – Heart of Earth
By: Eric Black, Frauke Sandig

The Island President
By: Jon Shenk, Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen

Invoking Justice
By: Deepa Dhanraj (Reflecting Images – Panorama)

The Interrupters
By: Steve James (Steve James retrospective)

The New Americans
By: Steve James (Steve James retrospective)

Putin’s Kiss
By: Lise Birk Pedersen, Helle Faber, Martin Dalgaard

To Be Heard
By: Roland Lagardi-Laura, Deborah Shaffer, Edwin Martinez, Amy Sultan (Doc U)

When the Drum is Beating
By: Whitney Dow

5 Broken Cameras
By: Emad Bornat, Guy Davidi, Serge Gordey

The Unofficial Mayor of New York City
By Tracie Holder

Joe Papp in Five Acts is the story of New York’s indomitable, street-wise champion of the arts who introduced interracial casting to the American stage and brought us free Shakespeare in the Park, Hair, and A Chorus Line.

Convinced that women and minorities, denied power elsewhere in society, could develop it on the stage, Papp became a tireless fighter for the arts who raised enduring debate about our founding ideals and the role of the arts in a pluralistic society. Using his life and work as its prism, the film explores the issues he chose to champion: freedom of expression, democracy in the arts, and the definition of American culture.

Recently, the Ford Foundation hosted a screening of our documentary, Joe Papp in Five Acts, at an event celebrating Papp’s Public Theater. It was a thrilling evening during which the President of the Foundation announced a $2 million gift to the Public to complete its capital campaign.

October 31, 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of Joe Papp’s death. Since then, Papp’s name had faded from popular memory. I wondered if the film would resonate for a contemporary audience and specifically if Papp’s vision of a truly democratic American art — one that is free and accessible to everyone regardless of ability to pay — would be relevant.

But as I watched the film, my first time seeing it on a big screen, I was struck by how timely it had become.

In this moment, when the public sphere is so hotly contested and any sense of a shared culture is melting away, Papp’s belief in the power of art to transform people’s lives and to empower people whose voices often go unheard is amazingly current.

When I was growing up, Papp was the unofficial Mayor of New York. He was on the front lines of every important issue I held dear, while the plays he staged reflected the real life dramas that were going on around us. From the Vietnam War to AIDS, from public funding of the arts to defending the rights of squatters — Papp saw no separation between life and art.

At the reception following the screening, several young men and women sought me out. They shared with me how moved they were by Papp’s belief in art as an essential ingredient of a democracy and his unwavering commitment to a vibrant public sphere.

They said his vision reminded them why they do what they do, despite the financial hardships, and helped reaffirm their commitment to their work as artists. I was deeply touched by their words and realized in that moment that Papp’s spirit lives on and his vision is as meaningful now as it was when he was alive.

I believe that great art is for everyone —not just the rich or the middle class. When I go into East Harlem or Bedford-Stuyvesant and see the kids who come to see our shows, I see nothing so clearly as myself.
— Joe Papp

Why Joe Papp Matters
By Karen Thorsen

One of the key lines in our film comes from playwright/director George C. Wolfe:  “Joe understood that culture empowers you.  If you see your images, if you hear your stories, it gives you a sense that you have the right to be in the room.  It is a way to affirm who you are.”

Joe Papp spent a lifetime empowering others and Tracie and I were among those he touched. Joe produced some of our earliest memories: not always the same plays, not even the same memories — but we were both in Joe’s audience.

I’m old enough to remember the original Hair (my parents took me) and I now take my own son to the Public Theater.  Just as I did for so many years, my son now stands in line with his own friends to see free Shakespeare in the park.

Joe Papp gave us so much!  That’s why, when Tracie came to me with the idea of making a film on Joe, I agreed to collaborate.  Yes, I thought we might complete it more quickly; but the film we imagined is finally made and despite all the detours, I can finally say, it was worth it.

Another key line in our film is when playwright David Hare tells us “It was Joe who taught me to be radical at the center.  He wanted to storm the citadel because he believed that radical ideas are more important, that they could have greater impact, at the center.”

Tracie and I share that belief.  For us, to be radical at the center is the ultimate challenge; to win hearts and minds with an emotional narrative; to turn subversive ideas into a mainstream product; and to create art with impact, where it matters most.  That’s what I’ve tried to do in my past work as a writer and filmmaker and it’s what I hope we achieve through our film on Joe.

Here’s why Joe Papp matters: Joe was a game changer.  Theater was his medium — but his real stage was American culture.  He turned his childhood passion for Shakespeare into a series of radical acts and he turned his radical acts into a series of mainstream successes.

During his 40-plus years in the theater, he went from outsider to insider, from extreme poverty to a position of power, and yet he never lost his conviction that “great art is for everyone.”

He believed that art could change lives, that it could influence society and increase social justice.  He brought more theater to more people than any other producer in history — but even more importantly, he trashed the old debates of elite versus popular culture and brought art to all people.

In particular, he brought art to those he christened “the culturally dispossessed,” the kids so much like himself who had “not seen a living actor on the stage or been inside a concert hall or an art gallery.”  He vowed to break down the wall between the have-nots and the arts – a wall spawned by poverty, ignorance, historical condition – and wound up creating a life-changing theater, one that was socially relevant, affordable, accessible, and inclusive.

His first target was Shakespeare.  He was unimpressed by rarified British productions, which were considered the norm, the good-for-you plays known as ‘cultural spinach.”

Joe offered a highly energized American Shakespeare, a free Shakespeare, in parks and poor neighborhoods throughout New York City.  He cast minority actors without hesitation; he welcomed all accents and attitudes.  And he did the same for contemporary theater.

Distressed by the safe, whitebread fare offered by Broadway, he produced far more daring productions: black, white, Asian, Latino, almost always provocative, pushing the outer edges of both style and content.  Some of them flopped, some became major hits.  All of them stormed the citadel.

Joe Papp in Five Acts is a co-Production of The Papp Project, THIRTEEN’s American Masters, and ITVS in association with WNET.  The program is slated to broadcst on PBS’s American Masters in 2012.

From left to right: Gail Papp, Meryl Streep, Karen Thorsen, Kevin Kline, and Tracie Holder

From left to right: Karen Thorsen, Oskar Eustis, Tracie Holder, and Kevin Kline