ITVS
IL Series Producer Recaps Sundance 2012
By Lois Vossen, Founding Series Producer of Independent Lens and Vice President of ITVS
ITVS-funded filmmakers and staff rally for lunch at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT
Sundance 2012 was a record-breaking year year for ITVS and Independent Lens. Six ITVS funded films screened in the documentary competitions and all six were honored with Sundance awards. (ITVS had had seven films playing at Sundance in 2004; six films in 2002; and eight films in 1997 for those interested in banner years).
Special Screening of “Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock” Wednesday in Los Angeles
Community Cinema and The Museum of Tolerance, in association with The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum, will be presenting a special screening of Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock Wednesday, February 1 in Los Angeles.
The film will be followed by a discussion with Sharon La Cruise (filmmaker), Terrence Roberts, Ph.D. (one of the Little Rock Nine), and Larry Earl (Executive Director of The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum). › Continue reading
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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Filmmakers of “The House I Live In” Respond to Sundance Premiere
By Steve Goldbloom, Reporting for PBS and BTB at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival
The House I Live In premiered last weekend at the Sundance Film Festival. The film weaves together director Eugene Jarecki’s personal narrative with America’s war on drugs. Here, producers including Sam Cullman, Melinda Shopsin, Danny Glover, and director Eugene Jarecki — reflect on the film and its Sundance premiere.
Up Next on IL: Have You Heard from Johannesburg
The five-part series by Connie Field chronicles the history of the global anti-apartheid movement. Watch the first two installments on Thursday, January 12 on PBS.
Have You Heard from Johannesburg examines the movement that took on South Africa’s entrenched apartheid regime and its international supporters who considered South Africa an ally in the Cold War.
Airing over three weeks, the five-part series chronicles the unprecedented international movement of citizen activists who fought for three decades to bring down the brutal, racist system of apartheid in South Africa when their governments would not.
NOTE: ITVS and the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) will host a special online-only social screening of the film following the broadcast at 1PM PT / 4PM ET on Friday, January 13. Click here for details!
Catch To Be Heard on Public Television
The ITVS-funded documentary To Be Heard looks at a unique poetry class in the Bronx for at-risk youth where anything can be said or shared. The film was produced and directed by Roland Legiardi-Laura, Amy Sultan, Deborah Shaffer, and Eddie Martinez – a combination of seasoned filmmakers, educators, and instructors in the Power Writers program. ITVS’s Kate Sullivan Green spoke with all four about their nearly seven-year journey of making the film, the importance of literacy, and their online companion, Power Poetry. To Be Heard is playing in January on public television. Additional online-only content will accompany the film in the months ahead.
How did you all come together to make this film?
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Power Poetry Begins in To Be Heard
Flagged as “one of the best documentaries of the year,” by The New York Times, To Be Heard is a look at a unique poetry class in the Bronx for at-risk youth where anything can be said or shared. The film (airing on public television starting in January) focuses on three subjects — Pearl Quick, Anthony Pittman, and Karina Sanchez — weaving their deeply personal stories with their writing and performances. ITVS’s Kate Sullivan Green had the opportunity to talk with Pearl Quick about Quick’s experience of growing up in the Bronx and finding her voice through the Power Writers program.
How did you find out about the Power Writers program?
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Creating a More Diverse Rolodex: Using Social Media As a Sourcing Tool
On his second day on the job, NPR’s new President & CEO Gary Knell tweeted, “Diversity is essential. We must reflect more of America, be accessible & relevant.” One way NPR is increasing diversity is through social media.
Join NPR and NCME on Wednesday, December 14 at 2PM ET / 11AM PT for a webinar on using social media to increase the diversity of your sources. Luis Clemens from NPR will share best practices and discuss the value of developing more diverse sources in journalism. Register now. Find more info on the presenters below the jump.
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POV Extends Stream of Where Soldiers Come From
The ITVS-funded documentary by filmmaker Heather Courtney will stream free on POV until December 18.
Where Soldiers Come From
A four-year journey that takes teenagers from rural northern Michigan to the battlefields of Afghanistan and back, Where Soldiers Come From follows five high school friends who join the National Guard to pay for college. The film is an intimate look at the young men who fight America’s wars. Check out the film’s trailer after the jump.
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New York Women in Film & Television Honors ITVS President
ITVS President and CEO Sally Jo Fifer was awarded the Loreen Arbus Award for Those Who Take Action and Effect Change on Wednesday, December 7 in New York City. ITVS was recognized for spearheading public media’s Women and Girls Lead campaign.
Each December, New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) presents the Muse Awards for Vision and Achievement, honoring women who have made significant contributions to the field.
Some 1,200 industry guests gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2011 Muse Award recipients: actors Claire Danes and Christine Baranski, TV celebrity Martha Stewart, Sony Pictures Classics co-founder Marcie Bloom, and Budd Enterprises president Nadine Schramm. At the same luncheon, Sally Fifer accepted the Loreen Arbus Award on behalf of ITVS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and PBS and expressed great appreciation for the independent filmmakers who provided the powerful stories at the core of Women and Girls Lead.
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