Revisiting Borat Territory

What happened to the villagers who were misled into appearing as backward and ignorant Kazakhs in the film Borat?

We find out in Carmen Meets Borat, airing Sunday, September 5 on Global Voices on PBS WORLD. Director Mercedes Stalenhoef follows the life of 17-year-old Carmen, who dreams of skipping town for a better life in Spain.

Her plans to emigrate are spoiled, however, when an American film crew arrives to shoot Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

The village is used in the movie to show where the main character comes from, and Borat depicts the villagers as primitive caricatures › Continue reading

Tags: Borat, Bruno, documentary, Eastern Europe, Film Industry, Global Voices, Global Voices PBS, Gypsy, independent film, ITVS, kazakhstan, law, Lawsuit, Motion Pictures, PBS, public television, Roma, Romania, Sacha Baron Cohen

Granito Makes Good Use of the Past

A Scene from Granito

Granito is a story of destinies joined by Guatemala’s past, and how a documentary film from 1982 — When the Mountains Tremble — became forensic evidence to help prove a genocide case against a military dictator.

In Granito, the characters sift for clues buried in archives of mind and place and historical memory, seeking to uncover a narrative that could unlock the past and settle matters of life and death in the present. Like a crime thriller where the narrative is revealed step by step, this epic film travels between present and past, uncovering evidence of massive crimes and bringing accountability to the present.

The film, by Pamela Yates and Paco de Onis, was selected during last year’s round of Open Call.

Watch the producers of Granito answer questions about the film below.

Tags: documentary, granito, ITVS, Open Call, PBS, public television

Visiones Kicks Off on Global Voices

Visiones: Latino Art and Culture, directed by Hector Galan

Visiones: Latino Art and Culture profiles some of the most influential painters, musicians, dancers, and writers working in America today. Parts one and two of the six-part series air this Sunday, August 15 on Global Voices on PBS WORLD.

Directed by Hector Galan, Visiones explores how contemporary Latino artists continue to build on rich traditions that reflect a unique multi-ethnic experience, taking established art forms and reinventing them, constantly challenging themselves and the communities that nurture them.

From New York City’s breakdancers to mural painters in Los Angeles to stage actors in Texas, the series offers a unique cross section of Latino artists working today.

Check out parts one and two of Visiones this Sunday on Global Voices.

Tags: arts & culture, arts programming, documentary, Hispanic, independent, indie films, ITVS, Latino, PBS, public television

FUTURESTATES Goes Hollywood

It’s official: FUTURESTATES has gone Hollywood. No, we didn’t sign a multimillion dollar deal with a studio for a trilogy of sci-fi features to rival Marvel Studios’s many franchises (but there’s always next year). We’re referring instead to a selection of five FUTURESTATES films presented in the posh screening room at the offices of top Hollywood talent agency CAA.

Last week’s screening was co-hosted by CAA and Film Independent (FIND), designed to promote the exceptional work these organizations are doing in both independent and commercial film and television circles to promote diversity in the industry, and also to celebrate the FIND fellows that were greenlit by ITVS for season 1 of FUTURESTATES: Ramin Bahrani (Plastic Bag), Tze Chun (Silver Sling), Amyn Kaderali (The Other Side), Aldo Velasco (Tent City), and Garret Williams (The Rise).
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Tags: CAA, documentary, FUTURESTATES, Hollywood, indie films, indielens, ITVS, PBS, short films

Revisiting Sentenced Home and the Case of Many Uch

Filmmakers Nicole Newnham and David Grabias

Sentenced Home aired back in 2007 on Independent Lens and put a human face on a controversial immigration policy. The film followed three young Cambodian Americans, raised in inner-city Seattle, each of whom faced deportation for mistakes they made as teenagers. Filmmakers Nicole Newnham and David Grabias provide an update on the case of Many Uch, one of the three subjects featured in Sentenced Home.

In June, 2007, Many Uch decided to apply for a pardon for his 1994 crime from Christine Gregoire, the governor of Washington State. Although we knew it was a long shot, it was something that we had been hoping he would do for quite a while. We met Many while filming Sentenced Home in 2003, and we were struck by his gentle soul and his extraordinarily thoughtful perspective on his difficult situation: in limbo, living with the constant threat of an order of deportation to Cambodia.

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Tags: deportation, documentary, immigration, indie films, ITVS, PBS, Seattle, sentenced home

On the Road: ITVS Represented at DocMontevideo

ITVS' Claire Aguilar, with, Luis González Zaffaroni and Patricia Boero

Last month, ITVS’s Vice President of Programming Claire Aguilar attended DocMontevideo in Montevideo, Uruguay and filed this report.

Montevideo, Uruguay, — a European-style city between Argentina and Brazil — is a unique and surprising place for a television documentary conference.  Since Uruguay has been in the news recently — they took a triumphant fourth place at this year’s World Cup and elected a new president in the spring, the former leftist-guerilla Jose Mujica — I was delighted to get a chance to come to a documentary event and also discover this fascinating and beautiful country.

In just its second year, DocMontevideo has established itself as a meeting ground for documentary filmmakers and broadcasters on the South American continent. It comprises a series of workshops, informational seminars, broadcaster meetings, and a pitching forum for 15 projects in development and production. This year, the meeting convened 300 television producers and documentary filmmakers and 30 broadcasters from South and North America.
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Tags: documentary, film festivals, funding, international, ITVS, latin america, PBS, uruguay

Thunder in Guyana Strikes Global Voices

Power Couple: Janet Rosenberg and Dashing Cheddi Jagan

How did a 77-year-old Jewish woman from Chicago become the president of a South American country?

In Thunder in Guyana, airing this Sunday on Global Voices on PBS WORLD, filmmaker Suzanne Wasserman offers a compelling explanation.

Wasserman grew up fascinated by her glamorous cousin Janet, a Chicago native, who at 23 fell in love with a handsome dental student from a country no one in her family had even heard of. Together, the political power couple became known as the founders of modern Guyana, and in 1997, Janet Rosenberg became the first American-born woman to lead a nation.

Throughout the film, Wasserman uses interviews, family photos and archival footage to tell the story of her remarkable cousin: a tale of life-long love, political intrigue, and struggles to bring progressive policies to an adopted country.

Tags: doc, documentary, Global Voices, guyana, indie, ITVS, PBS, south america

New Independent Lens Season Unveiled in L.A.

Lois Vossen, series producer for Independent Lens, reports from the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Los Angeles.

Hello from the Television Critics Association (TCA) Summer Press Tour. The TCA represents 200 journalists who write about television for print and online outlets in the U.S. and Canada. Twice a year, they gather in what Tim Goodman, TV writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, refers to as a “death march with cocktails.” It’s two weeks holed up in a swanky hotel in Los Angeles to see what’s coming to television. PBS invites series to present during the two days that PBS is showcased.

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Tags: Bhutto, docs, documentary, Independent Lens, indie films, ITVS, PBS, Press Tour, public television, tca

Shop Talk: Q & A with Programming

Q.  My last program was funded by ITVS several years ago. I see that the Open Call guidelines state that I am not eligible to apply if I am not “up to date with reporting requirements.” How do I find out if I am current or not?

A.  If you have previously received production funding from ITVS, your ancillary income reporting requirements were laid out in your original agreement. Please revisit this to understand your requirements. You should also contact the business finance staff if you have questions about your ancillary income reporting status or about the steps you need to take to come up to date.
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Tags: ask programming, documentary, funding, ITVS, Open Call, PBS

Notes from Orientation: Producers Learn the Ropes at Camp ITVS

From orientation, producers talk shop with ITVS Production Manager Cheryl Hirasa

ITVS’s Open Call provides finishing funds for single nonfiction public television programs on any subject and from any viewpoint. Last week, ITVS hosted nearly a dozen filmmakers who were recently awarded Open Call funding. Among the troops was Andy Schocken, producer and director of photography, of The World in a Room. Here he wraps up ITVS’s crash course in producing for public television.

Somewhere between our discussion of Canadian retransmission royalties and the percentage-of-completion method of contract accounting, it hits me that I’m not at film school anymore. Looking around the room at a remarkable group of filmmakers whose work I’ve long admired, I accept that there’s a time and place for six-hour Frederick Wiseman marathons and roadtrips up Highway 1 with nothing but a Bolex and a dream. I’m here at ITVS orientation to hone my skills as a producer for public television, and this is right where I want to be.
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Tags: documentary, feature film, film funding, filmmakers, ITVS, Open Call, orientation, producers, short film