Newly Funded: ITVS is Pleased to Announce Funding for Mariachi High

ITVS recently approved funding for the documentary Mariachi High by filmmakers Kim Connell and Ilana Trachtman.

In a part of America that rarely makes headlines, there is a small town with a group of teenagers who will captivate your ears and warm your heart. Mariachi High presents a year in the life of the champion mariachi ensemble at Zapata High School on the Rio Grande in South Texas.  As they compete and perform with astonishing musical virtuosity, these teens, and the music they make, will inspire, surprise, and bring you to your feet.

Join ITVS is congratulating the filmmakers!

Tags: Ilana Trachtman, ITVS, Kim Connell, Mariachi High, Zapata High School

ITVS Interactive Projects Awarded NEA Funding

Tags: Arts in Media Grants, games for change, half the sky, National Endowment for the Arts, our mother tongues, power poetry, to be heard, we still live here

Newly Funded: ITVS is Pleased to Announce Funding for David Osit’s Building Babel

ITVS recently approved funding for the documentary Building Babel by filmmaker David Osit (Director/Producer).

Building Babel  follows a year in the life and work of Sharif El- Gamal, the developer behind New York’s ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ otherwise known as Park51 — a Muslim community center two blocks from the site of the World Trade Center. The film covers Sharif’s struggle to build the embattled center against seemingly endless opposition, all while struggling with his own religion and identity amid intense scrutiny.

Building Babel provides a portrait of American identity ten years on from September 11th. Who are Muslims, and who are Americans? Where does the line get drawn, and who gets to draw it?

Watch an interview with David Osit after the jump> › Continue reading

Tags: building babel, david osit, park51, recently funded, Sharif El-Gamal

2011 Slate of Diversity Development Fund Films

ITVS has announced the eleven documentary projects selected as part of the 2011 Diversity Development Fund.

This year’s selections provide extraordinary access and insight into the daily lives and struggles of people around the world, from military veterans threatened with deportation in the U.S. to women’s human rights struggles in Nigeria.

The productions were selected through a competitive application process, which resulted in 138 submissions.

Check out the complete list of funded projects after the jump >> › Continue reading

Tags: diversity development fund, recently funded

Newly Funded: ITVS is Pleased to Announce Funding for Christina Ibarra’s Marthas

ITVS recently approved funding for the documentary Marthas by filmmakers Christina Ibarra (Director/Co-Producer) and Erin Ploss-Campoamor (Co-Producer).

Marthas is a one-hour documentary that follows the year-long preparations of Mexican American teenagers debuting in the annual Martha Washington Society Ball in Laredo, Texas. The Ball, a unique 112-year-old colonial-themed celebration of George Washington and exclusive to daughters of Society members, is the stage where privilege and legacy are on display, provoking questions about patriotism, tradition, history, identity and the role of women along the border.

Watch an interview with Christina Ibarra (Director/Co-Producer) and Erin Ploss-Campoamor (Co-Producer) after the jump>> › Continue reading

Tags: christina ibarra, erin ploss-campoamor, ITVS, marthas, recently funded

Newly Funded: ITVS is Pleased to Announce Funding for Charles Dye’s Indian Relay

ITVS recently approved funding for the documentary Indian Relay by filmmaker Charles Dye (Director/Producer).

“I’m perpetually in awe of the work I see on other ITVS-supported programs. To have Indian Relay now associated with that quality of work is an incredible honor.”
-Charles Dye, Director/Producer, Indian Relay

From the bitter-cold of winter on the Rocky Mountain front to the heat and mayhem of the summer’s championship races in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon, Indian Relay follows several teams from three different American Indian communities as they prepare for and compete across a grueling Indian Relay season — all hearts set on the glory and honor of winning this year’s National Championship.

The hope and determination of modern-day American Indian life is revealed in this story about what it takes to win one of the most exciting and dangerous forms of horse racing practiced anywhere in the world today.

Join ITVS is congratulating filmmaker Charles Dye!

Tags: charles dye, horseracing, indian relay, ITVS, recently funded

NEWLY FUNDED: ITVS is Pleased to Announce Funding for Jehan S. Harney’s The Lost Dream

ITVS recently approved funding for the documentary The Lost Dream by filmmakers Jehan S. Harney (Director/Producer) and Laura Poitras (Executive Producer).

The Lost Dream examines the lives of two Iraqis who supported the U.S. mission in their own country and came to America, only to find themselves strangers in a strange land. Nazar and Salam both helped the coalition forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom and were forced to flee their homes. As they begin new lives in the United States, they are left to wonder if their sacrifice was worth the costs.

The Lost Dream reflects a rarely seen Iraqi refugee community in the U.S., a population still paying the price for a war that was supposed to liberate them.

Join ITVS in congratulating the filmmakers and watch an interview with filmmaker Jehan Harney after the jump.

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Tags: Iraq, ITVS, Jehan S. Harney, recently funded, the lost dream

NEWLY FUNDED: ITVS is Pleased to Announce Funding for Lacey Schwartz’s Outside the Box

ITVS recently approved funding for Outside the Box by filmmakers Lacey Schwartz (Producer/Director), Mehret Mandefro (Producer), and James Adolphus (Director).

Outside the Box by Lacey Schwartz

Outside the Box follows the life of Lacey Schwartz, a young woman who grew up in an upper-middle-class household with two loving Jewish parents. When she discovers that the man she’s always assumed was her father is not her biological parent, she unlocks a powerful family secret.

What defines our identity, our family of origin, or the family that raises us? How do we come to terms with the sins and mistakes of our parents? Lacey discovers that answering those questions means understanding her parents’ own stories as well as her own.

Tags: family, ITVS, lacey schwartz, outside the box, race, recently funded

ITVS Announces Funding for Eight International Productions through The Global Perspectives Project

ITVS has contracted with eight international documentary projects from its 2011 International Call. The next International Call Deadline is December 9, 2011.

ITVS announced that it has contracted with eight international documentary projects from its 2011 International Call as part of the Global Perspective Project. This year’s selections provide extraordinary access and insight into the daily lives and struggles of people who live in Uruguay, Iran, China, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Myanmar, and India.

The productions were selected through a competitive application process, which resulted in 476 submissions from 118 countries representing 72 languages.

All eight documentary projects are slated for eventual broadcast, including primetime slots on the Emmy® Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens, P.O.V., and the international series, Global Voices.

Check out the complete list of funded projects after the jump >>
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Tags: documentary, filmmakers, financing, funding, international, PBS, producers, public media, public television

NEWLY FUNDED: ITVS is Pleased to Announce Funding for Brad Lichtenstein’s Doc, As Goes Janesville

ITVS recently approved funding for As Goes Janesville, which tells the the story of what happens when GM leaves Janesville, Wisconsin. From laid off workers to political and business leaders, the documentary shows how a community rebuilds and reinvents itself.

As Goes Janesville follows the lives of dislocated workers, business entrepreneurs and politicians from the Janesville, Wisconsin area to see how they reinvent their lives and the local economy to survive the loss of their century old GM plant in the larger economic downturn.

Watch an interview with Director/Producer Brad Lichtenstein after the jump >>
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Tags: class, economy, GM, janesville, jobs, politicians, recession, wisconsin, working class