Here’s a clip…

We’ve also produced an exhibit of the work of origamist Eric Joisel, which is currently featured on PBS Arts.

Plus, filmmaker Vanessa Gould dropped by the Beyond the Box studio last month. Watch the video below to see her take on Independent Lens and her advice to aspiring filmmakers.

I just completed my first full season of Community Cinema — that’s 18 screenings, with more than 30 community partners, 40 panelists, and more than 1,000 audience members.

A DJ spins at the Copyright Criminals screening in Oakland

Copyright Criminals brought out some of our most energetic and diverse viewers. People flooded into the theater and almost immediately lost themselves in the music.  Maybe it’s because I’m a hip hop fan, but having youth DJs mixing Lauryn Hill and Tribe Called Quest started my night off right. Law students, hip hop enthusiasts, teenagers, established authors, and DJs all contributed to conversations about artistic expression, creative ownership, and the overall impact on hip hop.

Last Christmas brought out some of the Bay Area’s finest musical gifts for Young@Heart, in the form of two legendary jazz and blues artists, Margie Baker and Craig Horton. The film gave us a chance to re-introduce our audiences to musical talents in the Bay Area with more than 40 years in the game; performers who at 70 years young still sparkle onstage and have first person accounts of what the “Harlem of the West” was like in its heyday.

Artist, biologist, and origami aficionado — Bernie Peyton — at a Between the Folds screening

Between the Folds brought out some of the world’s premiere paper folders, renowned in the origami community. It is always interesting to stumble into a thriving community that you had no idea existed. Watching Oakland audience members learn to fold panda bears with origami experts Bernie Peyton and Robert Lang was truly heartwarming.  One of our strongest partnerships in Oakland is with DEAF Media, and many of the audience members who stayed to learn folding were students who are hearing impaired. We usually have a discussion component that is translated, but for the first time this was a visual demonstration and the students lit up.

Garbage Dreams brought out massive crowds, including one ambitious teacher in Oakland who summoned her elementary school students to the event in order to reinforce lessons on recycling. In San Francisco, the Department of the Environment was able to provide pictures of the city’s waste removal program in the early 1900’s … pictures that looked like modern-day Egypt.  And so as is often the case at Community Cinema screenings, audiences arrive expecting to watch stories from far and away places only to find themselves rooted in the pictures before them.

And it’s the final highlight of the season which builds on that idea — our community partners, panelists, and audience all participate on a volunteer basis.  They share their time, resources, questions and knowledge with each other graciously.  A most sincere thanks to all of you!  It’s been a great year full of music, art, and wonderful dialogue here in the Bay Area.

The season premiered with a fan favorite, Herb & Dorothy, about the unassuming Vogels of New York City who amassed a remarkable modern art collection on his salary as a postal clerk and hers as a librarian.

Between the Folds, Vanessa Gould’s visionary film about artists and scientists who are using origami to articulate concepts from quantum physics to the meaning of creativity, aired this winter. We heard from many viewers who found the film mind-bending and impossible to tear themselves away from. The film garnered Gould a Peabody Award this spring.

No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos had something of a cult following in our offices. James Chressanthis’s appreciation of Hungarian cinematographers and lifelong friends Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond (winner of the inaugural Independent Lens Vanguard Award) introduced us to industry legends who — from behind the camera on films such as The Deer Hunter and Easy Rider — literally shaped the look of American cinema in the 1960s and 1970s.

Young@Heart was another viewer favorite, chronicling a season of performances with the eponymous senior citizens chorus. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen octogenarians rocking out punk classics from The Clash.

Garbage Dreams — a beautiful film about trash — aired this spring around Earth Day. It was shortlisted for the Oscar in documentary features, and came equipped with one of our coolest interactive games to date.

We rounded out the year with the grand finale — our only fiction film of the season: Goodbye Solo. This award-winning film from Ramin Bahrani (who Roger Ebert has called “the director of the decade”) told of a Senegalese cab driver who tries to talk his fare out of a one-way ride to his death.

You can go to the Independent Lens website on PBS to revisit your favorites of the year, and vote in the Audience Award finals (beginning June 14). And super good news for you, our viewers — if you missed any shows this year, some of them are available to watch in their entirety on the PBS video player right now! And lucky for you, a number of other films from this season and from seasons past are available on iTunes, Hulu, Netflix, Snagfilms and YouTube. So go out there and watch something mind-expanding.

Vanessa Gould (producer/director) of BETWEEN THE FOLDS

As we walked into LA’s Pitches Detention Center, the sky was deep blue and a long flock of birds flew calmly with the wind above. The series of heavy gates and barbed wire fences ahead gave me a pit in my stomach. Behind the barriers, I soon saw men of all ages – hundreds in royal blue jumpsuits – working, standing, exercising outside.

I was there with Desiree Gutierrez, the ITVS National Community Cinema Coordinator for the Southern California region, to answer questions about BETWEEN THE FOLDS, which a group was watching as we arrived. I had strong doubts as to whether they’d connect to a film about paperfolding, worrying it was trivial in light of the gravity of their own personal situations. How would the film be relevant to them? What could I possibly say or do that could be genuinely useful?

A stock photo of a typical inmate gathering provided courtesy of the LA County Sheriff's Department

Desiree and I entered the room with Deputy Bates and a few other staff members just as they had finished the film. It was a crowded room with about 200 men seated closely, gathered around a single television.

As soon as the lights went on and I looked up – despite my insecurity – it was quite possibly the most enthusiastic reception the film has ever seen: a room brimming with almost-rowdy excitement and big smiles, a few thumbs up and hands on hearts. Even some paper hats and paper stars made out of the local county newspaper were floating around. Deputy Bates introduced us, and I filled with warmth, relieved that the film had perhaps given them an escape from their daily routine.

There were far more questions and comments than we had time for. One gentleman – probably in his mid 40s or so – wants to use folding principles to design a collapsible shelter for the homeless that fits on to a wheelchair. Another was curious to learn more about the filmmaking process so he could make his own documentary about drugs and gangs. A third was eager to better understand the medical implications of protein folding. And a fourth man who spoke Korean shared with everyone that “origami” in his language means “tying a knot”, a new meaning of the word that we all liked.

Vanessa and Joel Stern (paper folding artist) at the Teatro Frida Kahlo Theater

Their engaging comments so clearly showed that many of them wanted to get on a different track and do something personally meaningful in their lives.

After about 20 questions, we all folded a simple model of a fox. I tried to remind them that if anyone made a mistake it was okay. They could try again. One of the good things about paperfolding is you can start over. More chances are possible.

And, with that small metaphor, I hoped the afternoon was a success.

In just two days in LA – after screening at an arthouse cinema in Santa Monica (the Aero), a small community theater in downtown LA (the Frida Kahlo Theater), and Pitches – I revisited my initial sense of awe towards the medium of paperfolding. Across these audiences – despite their enormous differences – everyone had a common and equitable relationship with the medium of paper.

What a wonderful starting point for an artform.