Black History Month
An Extra Day To Be Black
On this extra day of February, our friends at the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) talk to visual artist Michael Paul Pritto to discuss his thoughts on Black History Month.
Black History Month? There’s an App for That!
Shukree Tilghman, the director of the Independent Lens film More Than a Month, speaks with Hari Sreenivasen from PBS NewsHour about the iPhone app, called More Than a Mapp, which his team has developed to crowdsource and showcase important African American historical sites.
Much like the apps that help you find a nearby cup of coffee or ATM, the More Than A Mapp (MTAM) iPhone and iPad app allows users to locate, experience, and contribute to African American History through an interactive map. Designed to show that this aspect of American History exists all around us, even in months outside of February, this free application highlights relevant locations in one’s immediate vicinity and gives users the ability to upload their own. Download More Than A Mapp here.
PBS NewsHour & IL Present: A Social Screening of More Than a Month
Following the PBS broadcast premiere on Independent Lens — a social screening of the film will start at 12PM PT / 3PM ET on Friday, February 17. Filmmaker Shukree Tighlman will participate in the event, which is being produced in partnership by PBS NewsHour and Independent Lens. Follow this link to participate in the screening.
Watch End Black History Month? on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.
The event will take place exclusively online. Participants can join for free by signing in with Facebook (or directly on the site), interact with other viewers, and filmmaker Shukree Tilghman 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. We are looking forward to an open, informative, and engaging public conversation about ethnic heritage months and whether relegating African American history to the shortest month of the year – and separating it from American history on the whole – denigrates the role of black people and black culture throughout American history.
Find more information on Friday’s screening here.
Dr. Angela Davis on Black Power and Occupy
Dr. Angela Davis is featured prominently in the documentary The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, airing this week on Independent Lens. In this ITVS-produced segment, the icon and activist sat down with PBS NewsHour‘s Hari Sreenivasan to discuss the state of activism from the Black Power Movement to Occupy Wall Street.
The documentary is the product of Swedish journalists, who came to the U.S. to document the anti-war and Black Power movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The film combines music, original 16mm footage, and contemporary audio interviews from leading African American artists, activists, musicians, and scholars.
Filmmaker Sharon La Cruise Discusses Daisy Bates Biopic with Hari Sreenivasan
The documentary Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock will air Thursday, February 2 on Independent Lens to kick off Black History Month. Recently, PBS NEWSHOUR’s Hari Sreenivasan caught up with filmmaker Sharon La Cruise to discuss the project.
ITVS Heads into High Gear for Black History Month
By Sally Jo Fifer, President & CEO of ITVS
The organization has supported a slate of documentaries that shine a unique light on the history of African American activism. Several of the films will air this month on Independent Lens.
February is Black History Month. It’s an important time for public media, because the heritage months — as artificial as they seem to some, including ITVS-funded filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman, whose film More than A Month tracks his playful yet serious quest to end Black History Month — act as public reminders of our mission to bring underrepresented voices into the mainstream and ensure that the diversity of the nation is reflected on television.
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Independent Lens Announces Winter/Spring 2012 Season
Hosted by Mary-Louise Parker, the Independent Lens Winter/Spring lineup includes the award-winning films We Were Here, Hell and Back Again, Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, and more
Independent Lens announced its winter/spring 2012 schedule this week. “Our upcoming winter/spring season features a robust slate of some of the most engaging and award-winning documentaries ever on Independent Lens,” said senior series producer Lois Vossen. “It’s a perfect mix of unique characters, critical issues, and important stories that demonstrate the extraordinary range and power of independent documentary filmmakers. We can’t wait to share them with millions of viewers across the country.”
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Independent Lens Honors Black History at TCA
At this year’s Television Critics Association, Independent Lens announced three new films that examine the history of African American activism and produced a panel including legendary activist Angela Davis and artist Talib Kweli. Watch the video below to see some of the icons and artists who joined Independent Lens in recognizing African American history at this year’s TCA Press Tour in Los Angeles.
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.
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ITVS in the News
A sampling of coverage from the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and more …
Independent Lens launched a slate of films on black history at the Winter Press Tour in Los Angeles
Los Angeles Times: Black History Month: A celebration with mixed feelings on PBS
The celebration of Black History Month on PBS’s Independent Lens will include a film that is highly critical of the annual February observance of African American history.
Boston Globe: “Hell and Back Again,” presents war flashbacks from different perspectives
With some documentaries, you can feel the filmmakers hit a wall. They have a great subject – the war in Afghanistan, say – and they have a point to make or an angle to pursue. But, despite the proliferation of talking heads, they can’t find a style or a voice. The heads talk, but the movie doesn’t speak. Danfung Dennis doesn’t appear to have a limit.
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Independent Lens Leads PBS’s Black History Month
The lineup will include three new critically acclaimed documentaries in February: Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock, More Than a Month, and The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 — featuring the legendary activist and scholar Dr. Angela Davis.
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.
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