Community Cinema Screens The Eyes of Me in Houston

Last night, Community Cinema hosted a screening of the Independent Lens film The Eyes of Me at HoustonPBS. The film follows four visually impaired teenagers in Texas as they face the usual challenges of adolescence while simultaneously learning to navigate a world designed for the sighted. Filmmaker Keith Maitland attended the screening and gives an overview of what happened and the impact the event below.

Patrick Floyd (left), the producer of The Eyes of Me, and Keith Maitland (right), the director, at the HoustonPBS Community Cinema Screening of their film.

Bernice Klepac, with the Houston Council for the Blind, talks about her experience as a student at Texas School for the Blind back in the 1950s.

With more than 125 audience members in attendance –– many of them blind or visually-impaired –– HoustonPBS hosted a wonderful Community Cinema screening of The Eyes of Me. It’s always exciting for me to be able to sit in a crowded theater and share the film with a new audience but there was something very special about this particular screening. Along with producer Patrick Floyd, I was happy to travel to Houston from Austin, Texas, to experience Community Cinema firsthand. Meagan McComic (one of the main characters from the film) and Bill Daugherty, superintendent of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI), joined Patrick and I on the panel after the film, to share their reflections and perspectives with the Houston community –– many of whom had ties to TTSBVI directly.

Two of the audience members were alumni of TSBVI –– Michael Garrett, class of ’69, and Bernice Klepak, class of ’55. It was exciting to hear Michael and Bernice’s response to the film, and the contrasts between their days at the school and the stories of Chas, Meagan, Denise, and Isaac represented in the film. Bernice was impressed with how honest and natural today’s students were compared to her days when she feels that they were all “pretty straight-laced.”

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Tags: blind, disability, disability rights, Texas, visually impaired

TATTOOED UNDER FIRE Filmmaker Discusses Fort Hood Shootings

TATTOOED UNDER FIRE, airing this month on public television (check local listings), looks at the River City Tattoo Parlor in Killeen, Texas–home to Fort Hood, America’s largest military base–where war-bound and returning soldiers go under the needle and confess their deepest secrets and fears. Watch video clips from the film and read filmmaker Nancy Schiesari’s thoughts about the recent shooting at Fort Hood, which left 13 dead and 30 injured.

Nancy Schiesari, filmmaker of TATTOOED UNDER FIRE

The massacre at Food Hood was a terrible reminder of the vulnerability and mental fragility of our forces currently engaged on two war fronts with the prospect of multiple tours. One could only imagine last week’s fatal event––young men and women recruits waiting for flu shots and filling out paperwork, nervous and anxious about their eminent deployment, when suddenly they are being shot at with an automatic weapon. They had no means to escape or defend themselves.

Perhaps only families who have lost a son or daughter can understand the enormous grief that has befallen the parents and loved ones of those killed on November 5. The rest of us stand bewildered and distraught looking in from the outside at the impenetrable façade of Fort Hood.

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Tags: Fort Hood, Military, soldiers, tattoo parlor, tattoos, Texas

Revealing Documentary About Fort Hood: America’s Largest Military Base

As the nation continues to grapple with the causes and the effects of the recent tragedy at Fort Hood, ITVS and Austin PBS affiliate KLRU present TATTOOED UNDER FIRE, a new documentary shot on location in and around Fort Hood and Killeen, Texas.

Premiering this month on public television (check local listings), the film offers an intimate, character-driven portrait of Iraq-bound and returning U.S. soldiers, professing their pride, sharing their secrets and confessing their fears as they go under the needle at a tattoo parlor serving the Fort Hood community. Shot over four years TATTOOED UNDER FIRE has captured the chronological history of the stress and anguish of military duty experienced by these young men and women as they prepare and return from war. What emerges is an evocative, poignant and highly personal look at the human and cultural cost of war, and the pressures of life on America’s largest military base.

“When a tragedy like this occurs at a place like Fort Hood, it is very unusual that public television can respond immediately with a national premiere of a new program so deeply connected to these difficult events,” said Sally Jo Fifer, CEO and president of ITVS.

As we struggle to understand the meaning and impact of the horrific incident at Fort Hood that left 13 dead and 30 injured, we hope this very timely and important film will help shed some light on the lives and challenges of our soldiers, and of life in the Fort Hood community.

TATTOOED UNDER FIRE airs this month on public television (check local listings).
A co-production of ITVS in association with KLRU/Austin

Tags: Fort Hood, Military, soldiers, tattoo parlor, tattoos, Texas

New Flickr Group: TATTOOED UNDER FIRE

Tattoo artists spend countless hours creating and designing their work.

Next month, TATTOOED UNDER FIRE airs on public television and follows war-bound and returning U.S. soldiers as they go under the needle––openly professing their pride, sharing their secrets and confessing their fears.

Check out the new Flickr group inspired by the film. Are you a solider with tattoos? Share your photos with us.

Visit the Flickr group >>

Tags: Flickr, Military, soldiers, tattoo parlor, tattoos, Texas

In the News: The Latest on ITVS Programs

“In defense of television, it’s all about picking and choosing. There are brilliant programs that engage, uplift, entertain and educate… [such as] an upcoming film on PBS’ Independent Lens called CRIPS AND BLOODS.”
Read more >>

“A CLASS APART is in a class all its own…which tautly explores the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Hernàndez v. Texas. … If for no other reason than because it is a powerful reminder of the civil rights movement and the gaping holes in that story in Texas, A CLASS APART is one to watch.”
Read full review >>

“Vet PBS arts documentarian Peter Rosen’s GARRISON KEILLOR: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes takes an aptly rambling, leisurely, fond look at this professional anachronism, whose gently satirical variety show celebrates a small-town Americana of yesteryear (or never-was).”
Read full review >>

“Of all the films nominated for a Foreign Language Oscar this year, director Ari Folman’s WALTZ WITH BASHIR reaped substantial press and stirred the most controversy.”
Read more and the Q&A with director Ari Folman >>

Tags: Garrison Keillor, newspaper reviews, Texas

American Experience and ITVS Explore Civil Rights in A CLASS APART

Tonight at 9:00 PM (check local listings), American Experience, in a co-production with ITVS, will present A CLASS APART, a documentary that tells the little-known story of a group of Mexican-American lawyers and their struggle to get a fair murder trial for Pete Hernandez, a Texas field hand.

Houston Chronicle: “…films about Mexican-Americans and other Latinos who struggled and prevailed against segregation and discrimination are few and far between. That scarcity emphasizes the significance of documentaries such as A CLASS APART.”

Check out a preview below:

A CLASS APART premieres tonight at 9:00 PM on American Experience on PBS (check local listings)

Tags: American Experience, civil rights, Mexican American, Texas

Recent Talkback About Independent Lens This Month

Always thought-provoking, sometimes controversial, Independent Lens brings you documentaries, dramas, shorts and Web-exclusive projects made by independent thinkers. Check out some of the recent Talkback from viewers about films airing this month.

ADJUST YOUR COLOR:
The Truth of Petey Greene

“What an excellent documentary. In this age of political correctness, I doubt very much Petey Greene would have a voice on the radio let alone TV. Thank you PBS and Independent Lens. I always look forward to the pieces that are aired.”
Posted by: HJV on February 7, 2009

“I Tivo Independent Lens and watch it when I can. I can’t tell you have much you have ignited my soul with such an awe-inspiring documentary. Petey Greene jumps off the screen and into your heart. Truly Amazing!”
Posted by: Dick Burl on February 6, 2009

“I want to thank PBS for presenting this excellent documentary about Petey Greene. I grew up in a suburb of Detroit during the 60′s and never knew about Petey Greene growing up. I admire his being so outspoken during those turbulent times.”
Posted by: Ellen Tippit on February 5, 2009

View more Talkback and submit your own for ADJUST YOUR COLOR >>

TULIA, TEXAS:

“I was appalled by the story. It is very scary to know this could happen anywhere. I believe the prison system needs an overhaul for anyone charged with a drug charge. At times, in this nation, you do get overzealous law enforcement officials that will do anything to get a promotion or move up within their law enforcement agency.”
Posted by: Carol Stevens on February 11, 2009

“I have never seen anything as sad as what happened and is still happening to the folks in Tulia. I’d like to know how many African Americans work at decent paying jobs there, like bank tellers or in policing or any other jobs that can make a man or woman feel proud of how they’re contributing to their community. I don’t think everyone that lives there is racist but I do think there is a ‘better than’ attitude amongst the people.”
Posted by: Sharon Lamont on February 11, 2009

“I saw this documentary and was shocked, I am grateful to the filmmakers to bring this mess to our attention. It makes you take a look at your own life and think. That could have been me or my son. Kudos to the attorney’s who gave these people back the lives and their families for having the conviction to stand by their loved ones side.”
Posted by: Robin on February 13, 2009

“Racism and segregation are alive and thriving. See Atlanta. See Memphis. What’s interesting is to compare African Americans’ struggle in Tulia post-agrarianism to blacks’ struggle in America post-slavery… Here we are today with a ‘black’ president whose house is within the jurisdiction with the highest child poverty rate and homeless rate in the country. And 2.0 million African Americans live there. Someone somewhere must find that perverse. Hats off to the filmmakers. Keep ‘em coming!”
Posted by: Paul Nizov on February 11, 2009

View more Talkback and submit your own for TULIA, TEXAS >>

Tags: African American, Petey Greene, Texas

In the News: The Latest on TULIA, TEXAS

TULIA, TEXAS airs tonight at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings). Check out the latest media coverage below:

“It’s appropriate that the excellent documentary TULIA, TEXAS (three and a half stars) has such a deliberate pace. If the documentary that told the painful story of this town had had a showy or loud style, the result would have been overkill.”
Read full review >>

“Too often, good stories are overtold by the people behind the camera. By contrast, Cassandra Herrman and Kelly Whelan know that the story of 46 people who were subjected to trumped-up drug charges in a town of 5,117 doesn’t need a lot of fancy gimmicks.”
Read full review >>

“From its start, the film lays out discrepancies in perspectives and effects.”
Read full review >>

“As compelling as any feature film, this documentary looks at an undercover agent who put 46 citizens of a small town in jail for drug dealing. All but seven were black citizens from the “other” side of the tracks.”
Read more >>

“Tonight’s must-see TULIA, TEXAS: The beauty of this richly crafted documentary is its even-handed approach.”
Read more >>

Tags: Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Texas

Watch TULIA, TEXAS Tonight on Independent Lens

TULIA TEXAS: A lone undercover cop moves into a small farming town. By the end of the blazing summer of 1999, 46 people are arrested for selling cocaine––nearly all of them African American. It was heralded as one of the biggest drug busts in Texas history, until a team of lawyers set out to uncover the truth. 

Check out the preview below:

Check out a clip from tonight’s broadcast below:

TULIA, TEXAS, airs tonight at 10:00 PM (check local listings) on Independent Lens on PBS

Tags: African American, online video, Texas