ITVS
The Lexicon of Sustainability: Q & A with Filmmaker Douglas Gayeton
Douglas Gayeton’s The Lexicon of Sustainability is a multiplatform project which uses photo collage, animation, and hand-written typography to explore terms and ideas behind sustainable agriculture. KQED’s Jenny Oh interviewed Gayeton for Bay Area Bites on the inspiration behind the project, the creative visual aspect, and more.
The visuals for “Lexicon” are stunning, particularly the mosaic-like compositions that marry photographs, text, animation and video interview in a truly unique way. How did you develop this unique aesthetic?
The Italian images in my book “SLOW” began as a happy accident. I quickly learned that a single image was not enough. Not only were my images too small, but they also lacked the ability to convey the concept of “time,” of the beginning, middle and end of things. The idea of capturing hundreds of images, at times over long periods of time, then creating mosaics seemed like the only solution.
The decision to overlay these images with text came at about the same time. I wanted to convey what these people said to me as I worked. I wanted to share their insights, their observations. And I also wanted to solve another problem I had with photographs, namely that they often left so much unanswered. I wanted to provide as much information as possible within an image, to create what someone once called a “flat film,” a single image that actually uses time, that tells a story. › Continue reading
The ITVS Indies Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
Are you obsessed with GIFs yet? If you’re not, now’s the time to start. PBS Off Book produced an excellent primer into the art of the moving still image, known as the Graphic Interchange Format, from its uncool, corporate beginnings in the 1990s to its current heyday.
Here’s a chuckle-worthy photo of Bill Murray looking twee against a wall of paparazzi at the Cannes Film Festival 2012. The festival featured the premiere of Wes Anderson’s latest whimsical confection, Moonrise Kingdom, in which Murray stars.
Also at Cannes, Saudi Arabia experienced a lot of firsts. The country’s first female director, Haiffa al Mansour, brought Wadjda, the first film ever shot in Saudi Arabia, to the festival. The coming-of-age drama follows an 11-year-old girl in the outskirts of Riyadh. › Continue reading
Good Vibes Coming Out of the PBS Annual Meeting
By Kathleen Unwin, Current
What a great week in Denver! There was a renewed sense of optimism and purpose among our public television colleagues. Many stations reported good revenue news and the programming looks very promising.
I don’t normally promote programming directly, but I have to say a standout moment for me was watching clips for the upcoming program Half the Sky, the centerpiece of the Women and Girls Lead initiative headed up by ITVS. This is truly a cross-platform media event that will have impact and change lives. It features powerful stories of hope and survival from women around the world. If you are not familiar with the book by from journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, grab it and then tune into your local PBS station October 1st and 2nd.
Some of the courageous women featured in Half the Sky were in attendance, selling their beautiful baskets to help better their lives in Africa. I bought a beautiful necklace and basket to benefit the Umoja Uaso Women’s Group in Kenya, a refuge for victims of domestic abuse. You can learn more about their good work at Umoja Uaso Women’s Fund.
Having the opportunity to attend this conference reminds me of how fortunate we are to be working in public media. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with so many of our readers and advertisers. If I did not get the chance to catch up with you in Denver, I hope that perhaps I will see you in Seattle at the PMDMC!
This article was originally posted on Current.org.
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!
Words Are the Building Blocks for New Ideas
ITVS and PBS Food are proud to present three videos from Douglas Gayeton’s The Lexicon of Sustainability multiplatform project, which uses photo collage, animation, and hand-written typography to explore terms and ideas behind sustainable agriculture.
The Lexicon of Sustainability is based on a simple premise: people can’t be expected to live more sustainable lives if they don’t even know the most basic terms and principles that define sustainability.
For the past three years Douglas Gayeton and Laura Howard-Gayeton have crisscrossed the USA to learn this new language of sustainability from its foremost practitioners in food and farming. Alice Waters on edible schoolyards. Wes Jackson on reinventing wheat farming. Joel Salatin on embracing the value of saner farming practices. Vandana Shiva on the global imperative of protecting seeds. Paul Stamets on how mushrooms can save the world. Will Allen on Food Security. Temple Grandin on the humane slaughter of animals. Farmer John on the revolutionary idea of community-supported agriculture.
Kony Unveiled: A Social Screening of Peace vs. Justice
ITVS presents an online social screening of Klaartje Quirijns’s Peace vs. Justice on Wednesday, May 16 at 5PM PT / 8PM ET. The event will take place here.
What do you really know about Joseph Kony? On Wednesday we will be hosting a live online screening and discussion of the documentary Peace vs. Justice, going beyond the slick marketing of KONY 2012 and taking an in-depth look at the rebel leaders responsible for the most egregious of human-rights abuses – kidnapping children and forcing them to fight.
Peace vs. Justice examines the International Criminal Court’s investigation of the LRA and takes a critical look at the problems of applying Western ideas of justice and reconciliation to other countries and continents.
Join us for a social screening of Peace vs. Justice with filmmaker Klaartje Quirijns, who will be taking part in the screening to talk about the film and take your questions live. › Continue reading
The ITVS Indies Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
Get your creativity on! Longshot Radio and Radiolab talked about creativity, revision, and failure at the 99% Conference in New York City last week. For your listening pleasure, they compiled their editors’ picks of podcasts from the event.
Behold the TV of the future: using an iPad as a remote, you can control the features that appear on your screen and the overall size, which can stretch the length of your living room wall. Wired claims this is just “what the TV industry needs to stay relevant.”
“I want a man like Putin, who doesn’t drink. I want a man like Putin, who won’t make me sad.” These are the actual lyrics to a Russian pop song. This gem is explained in the new PBS show SOUND TRACKS that will broadcast in Fall 2012. Until then, you can watch their series on the web to learn the political and cultural stories behind music around the world.
› Continue reading
New Primetime Home for Indie Series Emerges From Independent Strategy Task Force Meetings
ITVS President and CEO Sally Jo Fifer Applauds Year-Round Monday Slot on PBS Core Schedule to Help Meet First-Order Mission of Public Broadcasting
I’m pleased to report that the Independent Strategy Task Force has emerged from months of conversation to deliver a new 10 p.m. primetime slot on Monday nights for Independent Lens and POV. This is great news for our series filmmakers and audiences, but more importantly it affirms the partnership and mission that independents and public broadcasting steward together: amplifying diverse voices to strengthen our democracy.
› Continue reading
The 6th World Premieres on FUTURESTATES
Directed by Nanobah Becker the film will be available to stream for free at futurestates.tv and simultaneously on pbs.org.
Navajo Astronaut Tazbah Redhouse is a pilot on the first spaceship sent to colonize Mars. But a mysterious dream the night before her departure indicates there may be more to her mission than she understands. Watch filmmaker Nanobah Becker’s The 6th World, free on futurestates.tv.
The ITVS Indies Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
Sadly, film festivals are wrapping up this week. Hot Docs in Toronto, the largest North American documentary festival, closes this weekend. The event brimmed with films about edgy artists, such as Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry.
At Hot Docs today, filmmakers are protesting the Canadian government’s cuts to CBC, NBF, and Telefilm Canada. The industry has lost 1,500 full-time documentary jobs in the past two years, according to the Documentary Organization of Canada. (via Realscreen)
To succeed as a documentary filmmaker in such dire economic times, read advice from first-time filmmakers who are screening their work at Hot Docs. › Continue reading
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