Catch ITVS Films and Staff at the Silverdocs Festival

The Silverdocs Film Festival and Conference kicks off Monday June 20 in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Known as the “pre-eminent documentary festival in the U.S.,” Silverdocs is a seven-day international film festival and five-day concurrent conference that promotes documentary film as a leading art form and supports the work of independent filmmakers.

Silverdocs kicks today in Silver Spring, Maryland and both ITVS staff and films are well represented:
› Continue reading

Tags: documentary, film festival, filmmaker, funding, independent, ITVS, Silverdocs, Washington DC

Celebrate Black History Month with Adjust Your Color

THE STORY OF AMERICA’S ORIGINAL SHOCK-JOCK PETEY GREENE AIRS TONIGHT ON INDEPENDENT LENS.

He was a former drug addict and felon. He was also America’s first “shock jock.” Petey Greene gave voice to the unheard––speaking truth to power on his raw and uncensored TV and radio programs. His explosive language and brash style shocked the world as he battled both the system and his own demons on a journey to becoming a leading activist during some of the most tumultuous years in recent history.

Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene airs tonight at 10 PM on Independent Lens (check local listings).  Watch a trailer after the jump.

› Continue reading

Tags: black history, howard stern, Petey Greene, shock jock, Washington DC

Last Train Home Picks Up Speed in December

The ITVS-funded Last Train home has been earning plenty of recognition this past month. The film earned top prize in the documentary category at the LA Film Critics Association and was selected in a cultural film exchange effort by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and the Sundance Institute in New York. Read more about the program here.

Set against the backdrop of the world’s largest annual human migration, filmmaker Lixin Fan’s documentary follows the Zhang family who travel home on Chinese New Year to reunite with their teenage daughter.

Tags: international, ITVS, last train home, president, Washington DC, white house

Notes from Washington: TEDWomen Part 2

ITVS Vice President and Independent Lens Series Producer Lois Vossen reports on the second and final day of the TEDWomen conference in Washington, D.C. The event explores how women and girls are reshaping the future.

Day Two of TEDWomen had a decidedly different feel, as if to say, “We’re getting down to business today.” The morning opened with Deborah Rhodes, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Executive Health Program. She spoke about research she has conducted with a gamma camera that can see tumors missed in traditional mammography for women with dense breast tissue.
› Continue reading

Tags: hillary clinton, Independent Lens, ITVS, lois vossen, madeline albright, TED talks, tedwomen, Washington DC

Welcome to TEDWomen, Part 1

ITVS Vice President and Independent Lens Series Producer Lois Vossen reports from the TEDWomen conference in Washington, D.C. The two-day event explores how women and girls are reshaping the future.

What happens when 600+ Type-A women get together for two days? Well, the first thing they ask is why is it still important to designate a conference as just for women. The answer is for the empowerment of women and girls.

From L to R: Lois Vossen, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Pat Mitchell President of the Paley Center

After the usual pat-downs at airports and pat-downs to get into this government building in Washington D.C., we begin the journey known as TEDWomen.
› Continue reading

Tags: Independent Lens, ITVS, lois vossen, nancy pelosi, tedtalks, tedwomen, Washington DC

ITVS Teams Up with All Roads Film Project at Nat Geo

Michon Boston, Community Cinema’s Regional Outreach Coordinator in Washington D.C., updates BTB on a new partnership between ITVS and the All Roads Film Project at National Geographic.

My first community partnership experience with the All Roads Film Project at National Geographic was in 2007 when ITVS and All Roads co-hosted a special screening of Miss Navajo for the All Roads Film Festival.  We brought in filmmaker Billy Luther, and the film’s star Crystal Frazier (and her mom) to join the Q&A moderated by Francene Blythe, the festival’s director.  The National Geographic special events team hired a vendor to make fry bread on the spot during the after-party on the patio.  It was a night to remember; especially the fry bread. Additionally, ITVS International content has appeared on the National Geographic Channel in the past. The two organizations also partnered up this past summer for the premiere screening of Bhutto in Washington, DC and back in 2007 around the film Please Vote for Me.

› Continue reading

Tags: all roads film project, independent films, indie films, ITVS, nat geo, PBS, screenings, Washington DC

Community Cinema Featured on Channel 9 in Washington, D.C.

Local TV station WUSA Channel 9 in Washington D.C. featured an in-studio interview with local Community Cinema Coordinator Michon Boston  on Thursday, December 3, 2009. Watch Michon discuss the Community Cinema program, local partners and upcoming films in her live TV interview.

› Continue reading

Tags: dc, Free, garbage dreams, Washington DC, Young@Heart