Community Cinema

Be a Revolutionary Optimist

nallaly_jimenez — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:44:17 +0000

Shikha, Salim, Kajal, and the other youth featured in The Revolutionary Optimists are sending our Community Cinema patrons home from screenings this month with an important life lesson: Optimism is Revolutionary! The youth are all community organizers for Prayasam, a non-profit arts and education organization that works to empower children living in the slums of [...]

The Island President: St. Louis Screening

meredith_mcdonald — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:39:54 +0000

On April 3rd the Nine Network of Public Media screened The Island President at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis, MO. Following the screening, KETC’s Michael Pagano checked in to let us know how it went. The Island President is a film about a small nation of islands in the Pacific that will most [...]

Turning the Tide on Rising Sea Levels

meredith_mcdonald — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:50:33 +0000

Phil Aroneanu, Co-Founder and US Campaigns Director for 350.org, one of the leading environmental organizations of environmental policy change, tells us a little more about what’s being done to fight climate change, and how you can get involved! What is 350.org? We started 350.org because we knew that there was growing concern about climate change, but that there [...]

Community Cinema Chicago: Superhero Expo

meredith_mcdonald — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:56:32 +0000

By Naomi Walker National Engagement Coordinator, ITVS Last Saturday at the historic Chicago Cultural Center, all kinds of comics fans fought through crowds of St. Patrick’s Day (aka Green Mardi Gras) revelers for the screening of Wonder Women: The Untold Story of American Superheroines and participated in the explosive (Wham! Pow! Krrrraaaash!) SUPERHERO EXPO. Some [...]

High School Girls Tell Us Their Superpowers

meredith_mcdonald — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 23:03:04 +0000

By Renee Gasch Engagement & Education Coordinator, Independent Television Service On International Women’s Day March 8th, we screened our March film, Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines, to 200 enthusiastic high school girls in Oakland, California. The Wonder Women! documentary traces the story of the comic book heroine from her pre-World War II [...]

Call For Submissions: Bay Area Youth Media Festival

meredith_mcdonald — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 18:18:44 +0000

BAYMN FEST is a free two-day interactive showcase of media produced by youth ages 12–24 hosted at the San Francisco Public Library in Bay Area of California. Presented by BAYMN (The Bay Area Youth Media Network) and sponsored by Adobe Youth Voices and the AT&T Foundation, this event will be a unique opportunity for youth, educators and [...]

A Girls Scouts leader reflects on using ITVS docs to help girls behind bars

meredith_mcdonald — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:04:31 +0000

By Shalon Maral Outreach Manager, Got Choices In 2012, ITVS’s Community Classroom partnered with the Girls Scouts of the USA to create the curriculum “This is a Story You Have to Tell: Women, Girls, and the Criminal Justice System.” The collection features modules from three ITVS films: Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story, Troop 1500, and [...]

5 Easy Ways to Spark Change in Your Community

meredith_mcdonald — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 01:39:34 +0000

The Powerbroker: Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights examines the life of Whitney M. Young, Jr., one of the most celebrated and controversial leaders of the civil rights era. Want to know how you can become a powerbroker in your own community? Take a look at some suggestions below.

Teaching Half the Sky

nallaly_jimenez — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:54:18 +0000

ITVS Community Classroom and the film Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide made a big splash at the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference in Seattle in November. This is the largest national gathering of social studies educators, drawing more than 3,500 people. ITVS hosted a screening of excerpts from the film to a crowd of more than 700 of them, and Sheryl WuDunn gave a keynote address before the screening. NCSS awarded the honor of their national endorsement for the curriculum Community Classroom developed around the film. U.S. Department of Education Ambassador fellow Lisa Clarke moderated a panel discussion with representatives from local and national NGOs, and writes here about the importance of bringing this content into social studies curriculum nationwide.

Examining Healthier Food Options

nallaly_jimenez — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 18:53:12 +0000

To many African Americans, soul food is sacrament, ritual, and a key expression of cultural identity. But does this traditional cuisine do more harm to health than it soothes the soul? Soul Food Junkies explores the history and social significance of soul food to black cultural identity and its effect on African American health, good and bad. Soul food is also used as the lens to investigate the dark side of the food industry and the growing food justice movement, born in its wake.