Filmmakers Steer Clear of Big Easy Clichés

Five years ago, the worst natural disaster ever to hit the United States struck southern Louisiana, forever altering the face of America’s most unique and freewheeling city, New Orleans. While the news media revisits the Crescent City to find out what has changed and what hasn’t, a team of filmmakers working with ITVS is documenting the real story of the resurrection of a metropolis with a long history of coming back from the dead with inimitable style.

Their documentary-in-progress Getting Back to Abnormal by former New Orleans residents, Louis Alvarez, Andrew Kolker, Peter Odabashian, and Paul Stekler, explores the state of New Orleans politics and culture five years after Hurricane Katrina.

Set against the backdrop of the 2009-2010 local political season, the election of the first white mayor in a generation, and the triumph of the city’s erstwhile worst NFL team, the Saints, Getting Back to Abnormal will frame its story via the city’s complicated and ever-present issues of race.

The film was one of several to receive Open Call funding from ITVS in the most recent round. At the producers’ orientation last month, filmmakers Andrew Kolker and Paul Stekler spoke about what New Orleans means to them and why it was important to get the story right.

Tags: hurricane, ITVS, Katrina, New Orleans, nola, PBS, public television

The Trials of Comrade Duch

Kaing Guek Eav or "Comrade Duch"

Much ado about the sentencing of Kaing Guek Eav — known by his Khmer Rouge nickname “Comrade Duch” — to 35 years in prison (to be reduced to 19 considering time served) on July 26 in Phnom Penh by a United Nations-led tribunal. The verdict and sentence shocked many Cambodians who remember Duch’s reign of terror as a remorseless prison chief in charge of torturing and murdering as many as 16,000 Cambodians on the orders of the notorious Pol Pot. Many Cambodians were angry that the sentence had not been harsher, given the horrific nature of the crimes.

Adrian Maben, director of a recently funded ITVS film called Comrade Duch, is currently in Phnom Penh to document the sentencing and the reaction to it. Maben has directed three previous films on the Khmer Rouge for ARTE.
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Tags: adrian maben, Cambodia, comrade duch, documentary, ITVS, kaing guek eav, khmer rouge, PBS

Newly Funded: Films from Around the World

ITVS funds, distributes, and promotes new programs produced by independent producers primarily for public television and beyond.

We’re proud to announce the latest projects recently funded by ITVS. We look forward to working with each of the filmmakers to support their broadcast and continued effort to bring a diversity of programming to viewers.

Congratulations to all the filmmakers!

OPEN CALL

Wham! Bam! Islam!
by Isaac Solotaroff
Wham! Bam! Islam! follows one of the most intriguing stories to come out of the Middle East in recent memory: the creation of THE 99 — the first Muslim superheroes and brainchild of Kuwaiti Naif Al-Mutawa.  Following the story of THE 99’s creation and distribution throughout the Islamic world and Al-Mutawa’s emergence as a central figure in the raging debates over the role of religion and tradition in contemporary Muslim societies, Wham! Bam! Islam! is a powerful story about the challenges, risks and value of bridge building between Islam and the West at the dawn of the 21st century.
Co-production of ITVS

This Is Where We Take Our Stand
by Bestor Cram, Mike Majoros, and David Zeiger
This Is Where We Take Our Stand, conceived and shot as a verité production, tells the story of the multi-faceted struggle to organize Winter Soldier, a unique gathering of veterans and active duty soldiers.  The film weaves highly personal organizing experiences with four days of stunning testimony at the largest gathering of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.  The program concludes two years later with the disbanding of the army of anti-war veterans, struggling to move on with their lives back on the home front; some in disarray, some still on active duty, all changed by their commitments to serve their country.
Co-production of ITVS
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Tags: newly funded, Open Call

Recently Funded by ITVS

ITVS funds, distributes and promotes new programs produced by independent producers primarily for public television and beyond.

We’re proud to announce the latest projects recently funded by ITVS. We look forward to working with each of the filmmakers to support their broadcast and continued effort to bring a diversity of programming to viewers.

Congratulations to all the filmmakers!

OPEN CALL

ADOPT ME, MICHAEL JORDAN
By Melanie Judd and Susan Motamed
Spanning four years in the life of one irrepressible girl, ADOPT ME, MICHAEL JORDAN offers an intimate look at the struggle to create an identity in the aftermath of adoption across race and culture.
A co-production of ITVS

IF A TREE FALLS
By Marshall Curry
A behind-the-curtain look at the Earth Liberation Front, the radical environmental organization that the FBI calls the “number one domestic terrorism threat” in America.
A co-production of ITVS

LIVES WORTH LIVING
By Eric Neudel
A story about one man’s struggle to survive after a spinal cord injury and the Disability Rights Movement.
A co-production of ITVS

MORE THAN A MONTH
By Shukree Hassan Tilghman
Shukree Hassan Tilghman, a 29-year-old African American filmmaker, is on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month.
A co-production of ITVS and the National Black Programming Consortium

THE OATH
By Laura Poitras
Filmed in Yemen, THE OATH is a family drama about Al Qaeda and Guantanamo Bay Prison.

THE PROMISE OF FREEDOM
By Beth Murphy
A modern-day Oskar Schindler story about Kirk Johnson, a 26-year-old American aid worker, fighting to save thousands of Iraqis whose lives are in danger because they worked for the United States to help rebuild Iraq.
A co-production of ITVS

SEEDS
By Micha X. Peled
A look at the debate surrounding biotechnology and the future of farming.
A co-production of ITVS

SUN KISSED
By Maya Stark and Adi Lavy
When a Navajo couple embarks on a journey to discover more about their children’s rare genetic disorder, they uncover a controversial genetic trail and bravely tackle deep-rooted cultural taboos.
A co-production of ITVS

TALES OF THE WARIA
By Kathy Huang
Three transgender individuals in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, search for love and acceptance with unexpected results.
A co-production of ITVS

LINCS

AS NUTAYUNEAN – We Still Live Here
By Anne Makepeace
The Wampanoag nation of southeastern Massachusetts revives their native tongue, a language that was silenced for more than 100 years.
A co-production of ITVS in association with WGBY

WHAT A GHOST FORETELLS: The Making of the Opera
By Monica Lam, David Petersen and Fawn Ring
WHAT A GHOST FORETELLS follows the making of a contemporary opera written by Amy Tan with music by Stewart Wallace. The film charts a journey that begins in Tan’s personal stories and family secrets and evolves into a highly collaborative, visually stunning production that opens on the stage of the San Francisco Opera.
A co-production of ITVS, CAAM and KQED

BUILDING CHINA MODERN: I.M. Pei and the Transformation of an Ancient City
By Eugene Shirley
After 70 years in the U.S., renowned architect I.M. Pei returns to his ancestral home of Suzhou, China to build a modern museum in this ancient city.
A co-production of ITVS in association with South Carolina ETV

DEEP DOWN
By Sally Rubin and Jen Gilomen
Deep in the Appalachian mountains of eastern Kentucky, Beverly May and Terry Ratliff find themselves at the center of a contentious community battle over a proposed mountaintop removal coal mine.
A co-production of ITVS in association with Kentucky Educational Television

THE IMMIGRATION PROJECT
By Marco Williams
An investigation into migrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border and the efforts of the Mexican Consulate and the Medical Examiner to repatriate the remains back to Mexico.
A co-production of KUAT and ITVS

THE MUSIC’S GONNA GET YOU THROUGH
By Gabrielle Mullem
In New Orleans, a group of blind and visually-impaired teenagers from across the country gather to study with master musician Henry Butler at his creative music and jazz camp.
A co-production of ITVS in association with WLAE Educational Broadcasting Foundation, Inc.

THE WAY WE GET BY
By Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly
On call 24/7 for the past six years, three senior citizens have made history by greeting nearly one million U.S. troops at a tiny airport in Maine.
A co-production of ITVS in association with WGBH and Maine Public Broadcasting Network

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Tags: film resources, filmmakers, independent film

Six New Projects Selected for Funding Through ITVS International Call

ITVS recently contracted six projects from ITVS International Call 2009, providing them with production funding and eventual U.S. television broadcast. This year’s application process was highly competitive and included 482 submissions from 82 countries––spanning the globe and offering insights from countries such as Chile, Kenya, Vietnam and Jordan. Since the launch of the Call in 2005, nearly 91 international programs have been supported through ITVS International’s Global Perspectives Project and its International Media Development Fund.

All six documentary projects are slated for eventual broadcast on PBS, including prime-time slots on the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens and the new PBS WORLD series Global Voices. The programs may also be distributed on commercial outlets, including the Sundance Channel, the National Geographic Channel and HBO, and on online video sites, such as Caachi, Jaman, SnagFilms and others.

The submission deadline for projects to be considered for the next ITVS International Call is February 5, 2010. Learn more >>

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Tags: film resources, filmmakers, independent film

Recently Funded by ITVS

ITVS funds, distributes and promotes new programs produced by independent producers primarily for public television and beyond.

We’re proud to announce the latest projects recently funded by ITVS. We look forward to working with each of the filmmakers to support their broadcast and continued effort to bring a diversity of programming to viewers. Congratulations to all the filmmakers!

OPEN CALL

CIRCO (Circus)
By Aaron Schock
Living and performing on the road since the 19th century, the hardscrabble Ponce family circus struggles to preserve their art and way of life against the backdrop of Mexico’s collapsing rural economy.
Co-production of ITVS

GIVE UP TOMORROW
By Michael Collins & Marty Syjuco
When a teenager from a political family in the Philippines is accused of double murder, the country’s judicial system is put to the test after years of alleged corruption.
Co-production of ITVS

IN THE SHADOW OF LITTLE ROCK: The Life of Daisy Bates
By Sharon La Cruise
A look at the life of African American political activist and newspaper publisher Daisy Bates.
Co-production of ITVS, in association of NBPC

STRONG!
By Julie Wyman
Weightlifter Cheryl Haworth struggles to defend her champion status as her lifetime weightlifting career inches towards its inevitable end.
Co-production of ITVS

WHEN I WALK
By Jason DaSilva and In Face Films/When I Walk Inc.
The personal story of Jason DaSilva, who at the young age of 25, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
Co-production of ITVS, in association with CAAM

EDF

HARLEM IN MONTMARTRE: A Paris Jazz Story
By Dante James and Charles Hobson
Based on the book by William Shack, HARLEM IN MONTMARTRE: A Paris Jazz Story looks at the impact of African American performers and musicians during the great jazz era of Paris.
Co-production of WNET, ITVS, Ideale Audience SAS and Arte France

THE STORM THAT SWEPT MEXICO
By Raymond Telles
The complex historical, social, political, economic and cultural forces that shaped the Mexican Revolution and its legacy.
Co-production of ITVS, in association with LPB

LINCS

FACING THE STORM
By Doug Hawes-Davis
A chronicle of the complex relationship between bison and North Americans from pre-historic times to the present.
Co-production of ITVS, in association with KUFM-TV/MontanaPBS


IT’S A GIRL’S LIFE
By Tug Yourgrau
An exploration into the obstacles girls face during their adolescent years.
Co-production of ITVS, in association with OPB

THE LORD IS NOT ON TRIAL HERE TODAY
By Jay Rosenstein
The personal story of the woman responsible for one of the most important and landmark First Amendment cases in U.S. Supreme Court history that set the foundation for the separation of church and state in public schools.
Co-production of ITVS and WILL-TV

WAILA! MAKING THE PEOPLE HAPPY
By Daniel Golding
The history and evolution of Waila, the contemporary dance music of southern Arizona’s tribal communities.
Co-production of ITVS in association with Eight/KAET and NAPT


WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA?
By Loud Mouth Films
The mystery behind the assassination of a Cambodian labor leader set against the backdrop of the international garment trade.
Co-production of ITVS, in association with WGBH

ITVS INTERNATIONAL

AFRICAN SCHOOL
By Nicki Stoker, Max Baring, Ed Kellie and Sarah Hamilton
A series that captures the daily lives, concerns and personalities of young Africans and their teachers in Masindi, Uganda.



CHINESE SCHOOL
By Marcus Jones, Sarah Howitt, Sarah Hamilton, Daisy Newton Dunn and Drankie Fathers
A year at a small town school in rural Anhui, China, where a group of families, teachers and children reveal stories of hardship, joy and success.


COWBOYS IN INDIA
By Simon Chambers, Teddy Leifer and Paul Taylor
Aided by two inept locals, director Simon Chambers investigates the poorest area in India where a tribe is fighting to save a sacred mountain from multinational mining moguls who say its resources will bring prosperity to the people.
Co-production of Rise Films Limited, Tiffin Films Limited and ITVS International

IMPOSSIBLE JOURNEYS
By John Murray
A two-part series that follows the greatest traditional journeys from around the world as seen through the eyes of people who still travel them.
Produced by Crossing the Line Films in Association with ITVS International for National Geographic Channel

Tags: film resources, filmmakers, independent film