Amelia Nardinelli on Her Mother, Filmmaker Gail Dolgin

Amelia Nardinelli talks about her mother, filmmaker Gail Dolgin, who passed away last year. Gail’s film Daughter from Danang is the first featured documentary streaming free until Wednesday, as part of ITVS’s Indies Showcase.

The Oscar-nominated film follows the reunion of a Vietnamese mother and her Amerasian daughter after they were separated for 22 years.

Tags: daughter from danag, film festival, gail dolgin, ITVS's indies showcase, Vietnam

A Filmmaker Transformed by Her Subject

"Teacher" premieres Sunday, May 9 on Global Voices

Filmmaker Leslie Wiener-Legrand (Teacher, premiering May 9 on Global Voices on PBS WORLD, check local listings) went to Ho Chi Minh City fully intending to make a travel documentary about Vietnam for the Lonely Planet franchise. But as she spent time in the city scouting out locales to highlight for prospective tourists, she found it ever more difficult to ignore the poverty all around her — particularly the plight of the city’s thousands of street children, many of whom have AIDS.

As she found her lens drawn more and more to them and their stories, she met their guardian angel, Nguyen Van Hung, a former drug addict who came of age just as Saigon fell and who spent decades as an aimless street thug and heroin addict.

How did such an unlikely character end up dedicating his life to the stricken children of Vietnam’s capital? wondered Wiener-Legrand. She was captivated, and shifted her focus — literally — from travel guide to social documentary. But it wasn’t just her work that was transformed: it was herself, as well.

Watch this behind-the-scenes footage from the filmmaker as she explains how Nguyen taught her profound lessons in life, courage, death, generosity, and love as she made her film about him, Teacher.

Tags: Aids, education, HIV, international, Vietnam

At the Toronto International Film Festival: THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which kicked off last week, is considered one of the top festivals in the world. This year, two ITVS films are in competition. Read the article below from the TIFF blog, by Heidy Morales, about the ITVS film THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers and the audience’s reaction.

The Vietnam War has been the subject of many documentaries. Daniel Ellsberg is a quintessential figure of the time; he helped shed light on the atrocities and the necessity to stop this war by leaking the “Pentagon Papers.”

The film––THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers––is a personal account of the changes Ellsberg experienced throughout this time, his relationship with his wife Patricia and the many friends who helped him the most important decision of his life. Ehrlich and Goldsmith combine Ellsberg’s own narrative with that of other key players and some very poignant images of the time.

The audience responded very well to the film. We were lucky to have both Mr. and Mrs. Ellsberg in the audience for the world premiere. After the film, they joined the filmmakers for a Q&A session. It was great to see how pleased they were with the film. Mrs. Ellsberg, as remarkable a person as Mr. Ellsberg, shared with us the fact her husband is still her hero and realizes this everyday. She has never stopped being impressed by him.

Visit the TIFF blog to watch a video clip from the premiere >>

Find screening times >>

COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS, airing on the upcoming season of Independent Lens, will have its world premiere on Saturday. Learn more >>

Tags: Daniel Ellsberg, independent film, TIFF, Vietnam

Watch These ITVS Programs This Month on Public Television

BOLINAO 52, premiering this month on public television (check local listings). In 1988 a group of Vietnamese boat people attempted to flee their country in search of freedom. Once at sea the boat’s engine died leaving over 100 people stranded in the ocean. What happens next is an unbelievable story of perseverance that changed the lives of the survivors forever.

Watch a preview below:

BOLINAO 52 received ITVS LINCS funding and is distributed by the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA).

Also, be sure to check out HEART STRINGS: The Story of the Kamaka `Ukulele, premiering this month on public television (check local listings). Out of all the Hawaiian manufacturers that were crafting instruments at the dawn of the twentieth century, only Kamaka Hawaii remains in business today. HEART STRINGS is the story of four generations of one family that has carried on its namesake business and commitment towards craft, culture and heritage, maintaining age-old values with a distinctly Hawaiian point of view.

Watch a preview below:

HEART STRINGS received ITVS LINCS funding and is distributed by PBS Plus.

Learn more about these films and other upcoming ITVS programs >>

Tags: Hawaii, Human Rights, music, Vietnam