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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.
› Continue reading
Live Coverage of PBS at TCA Press Tour
This weekend, PBS will present some of this year’s lineup at the TCA Press Tour in Los Angeles. BTB is at The Beverly Hilton and will be relaying updates from the conference in a series of live posts.
ITVS-Funded Circo Opens in New York
The documentary Circo has its theatrical release on Friday at the IFC Center in New York City.
Set within a century-old travelling circus, Circo is an intimate portrait of a Mexican family struggling to stay together as they travel and perform along the back-roads of Mexico.
Filmmaker Aaron Schock will be on hand at the NYC screening and discussing the film afterwards in a Q&A.
For our West Coast audience, Circo opens at the Landmark Nuart Theater in Los Angeles on April 8th, and in the Bay Area on April 15.
Find a complete screening schedule of Circo here.
The Desert of Forbidden Art Arrives in Los Angeles
Coming to Independent Lens on April 5, The Desert of Forbidden Art opens in Los Angeles on Friday, March 18 at the Laemmle Theatres.
The documentary by filmmakers Amanda Pope and Tchavdar Georgiev tells the incredible story about a group of visionary Soviet-era artists and one man who risked his life to rescue their work.
The art exhibited in the film was featured earlier this month in The New York Times.
Art Films from Independent Lens on Display at TCA
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child is one of the art films on display this weekend at TCA
This weekend, Independent Lens will prominently feature three art-related programs at the Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour in Pasadena, California.
Building on the system-wide arts programming initiative led by PBS, the panel presentation represents three of four films to premiere in April 2011 on Independent Lens as part of Artist Month.
Have a look at the films on display this weekend at TCA below…
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child
By filmmaker Tamra Davis
Airs on Independent Lens April 12 at 10 PM
Made in L.A. Arrives on Global Voices
Made in L.A. airs this Sunday on Global Voices
Follow the remarkable story of three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles sweatshops as they embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from a trendy clothing retailer. Catch Made in L.A. this Sunday, September 26th on Global Voices on PBS WORLD (check local listings).
In intimate observational style, filmmakers Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar tell a story about immigration, the power of unity, and the courage it takes to find one’s voice. The film was a regular in our Women’s Empowerment screenings last month and we’re delighted to bring it to you on Global Voices this Sunday.
Los Angeles and San Francisco Proclaim April 20th to be “Dirt Day”
The cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco have issued proclamations naming April 20th to be “Dirt Day” in honor of Dirt! The Movie, the award-winning documentary airing nationwide on PBS’ Independent Lens tonight at 10 PM (check local listings). San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Councilwoman Jan Perry will sign the official Dirt! Day Proclamations in their respective cities today, to ignite the discussion about safeguarding soil and the billions of organisms it contains.
Dirt! The Movie tells the story of the underappreciated stuff beneath our feet. Narrated by award-winning actress, author and activist, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dirt!, tells the story of Earth’s most valuable and least valued source of fertility from its miraculous beginning to its current crippling degradation. Inspired by William Bryant Logan’s acclaimed book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth, the film deftly combines science and humor as it digs into the history and current state of the living organic matter from which we all come and where we will all one-day return. An eclectic group of passionate dirt lovers appear in Dirt! – from world-class biologists to Rikers Island convicts, from community activists to Nobel Laureates – to offer viewers answers to problems while inspiring us to clean up the mess that we have created.
Don’t miss Dirt! The Movie tonight on Independent Lens (check local listings).
Watch an interview with Jamie Lee Curtis, the narrator for Dirt! >>
Sneak Preview of FUTURESTATES episode Fallout
It’s almost here… ITVS’s new fictional online series — FUTURESTATES — launches online March 8 and will have its theatrical world premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW) on March 14.
FUTURESTATES explores possible future scenarios through the prism of today’s global reality. America circa 2010 sits at the crux of competing and paradoxical forces of creation and destruction. Never before have we been capable of such great discovery and accomplishment, and yet our very existence hangs in balance as climate change, weapons of mass destruction, and economic collapse threaten our very existence.
Check out this sneak preview of Fallout, by Ben Rekhi. The War on Terror has escalated drastically, bringing America into conflict with countless enemies. Los Angeles has fallen victim to a nuclear attack from an unknown aggressor. In the aftermath of the bombing, a young man’s search for his girlfriend addresses the human toll of eternal war.
Join the FUTURESTATES Facebook Fan Page and watch other clips >>
Vanessa Gould Tours Los Angeles With Her Film BETWEEN THE FOLDS
Director of the Community Cinema documentary selection BETWEEN THE FOLDS Vanessa Gould spent the past few days at a series of screening events for the film in the greater Los Angeles area. In addition to the two unique screening and folding events at the historic Aero Theatre in Santa Monica and at the Frida Kahlo Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, Ms. Gould attended a very special screening of the film at the LA County Sheriff’s Pitches Detention Center for close to 200 inmates. She shares her deeply moving visit with us. [No photographs were allowed in or near the detention center for security reasons.]
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.
Watch CRIPS AND BLOODS Tonight on Independent Lens
It’s a civil war that’s lasted 40 years. Passed down from son to son. Fought eye for an eye. Over 15,000 dead and counting, while the world stands by. Welcome to South Central Los Angeles. But what’s at the root of this long-standing battle? Filmmaker Stacy Peralta hits the streets of L.A. to find out, and speaks with former and current members of the Bloods and the Crips, two of the most notorious and violent street gangs in America.
“CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made in America, a documentary feature airing tonight on the PBS series Independent Lens, begins with the arresting picture––not a picture of an arrest, although those come soon enough––of downtown Los Angeles hanging upside down in the sky,” Los Angeles Times.
Check out the trailer below:
CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made in America airs tonight at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings)
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