Jan
24
At the ITVS Community Cinema Nashville screening of DAISY BATES: FIRST LADY OF LITTLE ROCK at the Nashville Public Library, mentors and mentees from several organizations in Nashville shared their experience. In these two FLIP camera videos, Clemmie Greenlee, a mentor and founder of Nashville Peacemakers, and her mentee Mykeshia Sanders; and Barbara Woenker, a volunteer mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee, and her mentee Alasia; talk about their experiences together.
Jan
11
On Saturday, December 17, Community Cinema Nashville hosted a special screening at the Nashville Public Library of TAKING ROOT: THE VISION OF WANGARI MAATHAI. To celebrate the work of Kenya’s Maathai, the Nobel-prize winner and Green Belt Movement founder who died in September, students from Whites Creek High School and Sierra SCENE (Student Coalition Empowering Nashville Environmentalists) presented their research projects for guests during a pre-screening reception and eco fair. Following the film, Dr. Cliff Cockerham from Whites Creek High School led a discussion with Sierra SCENE student representatives who all offered eloquent and confident responses to the film and the issues it raised. Cockerham also presented awards to several students for their outstanding environmental science research projects. To further honor the legacy of Maathai, Metro Beautification and Environment Commission donated 75 bald cypress seedlings to attendees and announced plans to plant a special tree at Whites Creek High School in honor of the event.
Raw video of the panel discussion is embedded below.
Dec
08
STUDENT-LED SUSTAINABILITY FAIR TO AUGMENT SCREENING OF TAKING ROOT: THE VISION OF WANGARI MAATHAI, CELEBRATE LIFE OF KENYA’S NOBEL-WINNING ACTIVIST
Nashville Screening To Also Include Seedling Giveaway from Metro Beautification & Environment Commission
Whites Creek High School junior Hailie Wilson took her mysterious health problems to school – specifically, to her environmental science class. When a doctor suggested that Wilson’s vertigo, migraines, asthma and skin growths might be environmental, Wilson, who lives in Bordeaux, began a research project. She’s since been studying the relationship between her symptoms and synthetic chemicals found in soil, water and air in her community, which is near the DuPont chemical plant.
Wilson’s research project, which involves testing and comparing soil samples from the DuPont area and Bethel Church of Christ in Joelton, will be on display at the December 17, 2:00 p.m. ITVS Community Cinema Nashville screening at the downtown Nashville Public Library of TAKING ROOT: THE VISION OF WANGARI MATHAAI as part of a student-led sustainability fair. High school students from Sierra SCENE (Student Coalition Empowering Nashville Environmentalists) will present their research projects before a panel of judges. Prizes will be given to winning projects during the post-screening discussion, which is also led by students and their teacher mentors.
In addition, Metro Beautification and Environment Commission will give away dozens of seedlings to people who sign up to receive one at the screening (first-come, first-served while they last), and announce plans to plant a tree in Nashville to memorialize the life and work of Wangari Maathai.
WHAT: FREE screening/discussion of TAKING ROOT: THE VISION OF WANGARI MAATHAI and student-led sustainability fair.
WHO: ITVS Community Cinema Nashville, presented by NPT, Nashville Public Library, Nashville Film Festival and Hands On Nashville with special partners Sierra SCENE, The Sierra Club of Middle Tennessee, and Metro Beautification and Environment Commission.
WHEN: Saturday, December 17, 2 p.m. reception/sustainability fair, 3 p.m. film/discussion
For more information, visit: http://www.itvs.org/engagement.
Where: Nashville Public Library, Downtown Branch, 615 Church St., Nashville, TN 37219
Please contact Allison Inman (allison_inman@itvs.org or 615-585-8321) by Thursday, December 15, for accessibility or accommodation requests, including captioning, sign language translation, or audio description services.
Here’s a clip:
Nov
07
Community Cinema leapt a step forward this season, thanks to a new partnership with the Belcourt Theatre. As part of the Belcourt’s new education and engagement program, we’re bringing films, including several Community Cinema offerings, to after-school programs across the city. We started in September, screening Abigail Disney’s Women, War & Peace: Pray the Devil Back to Hell to middle school students at the Martha O’Bryan Center in East Nashville. Penny Mitchell, Middle School Coordinator at Martha O’Bryan, leads fantastic, age-appropriate discussions with her 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders, who are eager to learn about the world outside their community. Penny has a knack for making the film’s material – women in Liberia protesting the civil war there – relevant to the lives of these students. She talked with students about life in African countries, which provides an excellent opportunity for American-born kids to better understand situations some of their Somali classmates faced before coming to Nashville. The film presented a chance to discuss concepts of war, peace, and democracy – and the kids got it.
On October 10 and 12, we followed up at Martha O’Bryan with Deaf Jam, which airs Wednesday, November 9, at 9 p.m. on NPT. Deaf Jam, a profile of deaf high school students in New York City who use American Sign Language to perform poetry, was a hit with the middle school students, who were excited to learn more about deaf culture and the poets they saw onscreen. Michelle Muldoon from Hearing Bridges, a local nonprofit that unites the deaf and hearing communities, came to Martha O’Bryan to teach students some basic sign language and talk to them about how to approach deaf people they might meet.
That same week, the Belcourt and Community Cinema also presented an after-school screening of Deaf Jam at Hearing Bridges. About 25 deaf children, teens and adults tuned in for the film. Following the screening, students had the opportunity to chat via Skype with Aneta Brodski, teenage poet and the main subject of the film.
Donice Kaufman and Meena Man at our Downtown Public Library Screening of Deaf Jam. The film will be broadcast nationally on NPT and PBS Stations nationwide on Wed. 11/9 at 9:00 p.m. Central.
That weekend, on October 15, Deaf Jam screened for the public at Nashville Public Library’s monthly Community Cinema event. Hearing Bridges provided ASL interpreters for the introduction and post-screening discussion, and the conversation was also translated via CART — Computer Assisted Realtime Translation – from a laptop in the back of the room to the big screen. Hearing Bridge’s Donice Kaufman led the discussion, featuring Hillsboro High School deaf education teacher Meena Mann, who performed poems via ASL. Meena also talked about showing up for her job interview at Hillsboro with an interpreter, surprising the interview staff, who hadn’t realized before that she was deaf. Several deaf audience members shared their job-search experiences and their love of deaf culture. (For those who haven’t attended a public event with deaf panel members, a translator voiced those comments from a microphone in the audience.) It was a fantastic event and our first experience with CART and ASL translation.
All Community Cinema films include closed captioning, made available upon request, so I hope this is something we’ll continue all season. We’re committed to building translation services into our budget so we can make Community Cinema screenings fully accessible. When we screened The Eyes of Me last season, a film about students at the Texas School for the Blind, we realized how few public screenings are accessible. Thanks to ITVS, who produces the Independent Lens documentaries we show at Community Cinema, all films now include captioning, and we’re working to provide audio description for audience members who are blind or visually impaired.
Thank you to Hearing Bridges, Martha O’Bryan Center, and the Belcourt Theatre for making the build-up to the Deaf Jam broadcast so great – and for bringing a fantastic film/discussion opportunity to Nashville. We’re also thrilled this season to bring Community Cinema films to students at Oasis Center. Details coming soon.
This month, we’re screening We Still Live Here: As Nutayunean for the public on Saturday, November 26, 2:30-5 p.m. at Nashville Public Library’s downtown branch. We’ll also be screening it at Martha O’Bryan. It’s a beautiful film about the Wampanoag people in Massachusetts – the Native people who first greeted the pilgrims – so it’s an ideal learning opportunity as we observe the Thanksgiving holiday.
Hope to see you there!
Allison Inman is National Engagement Coordinator for ITVS and Education and Engagement Coordinator for the Belcourt Theatre.
Photos courtesy of Frank Keesee.
Sep
22
Before September 17’s season opener for Community Cinema, Women, War & Peace: Peace Unveiled, a diverse group of women gathered for lunch at the downtown library to learn about Women and Girls Lead, a multi-year initiative from ITVS to use media to bring attention to issues facing girls and women worldwide, and discuss how make Nashville a better place for girls and women.
The group got an overview of the initiative from Nashville Public Television (NPT) president and CEO Beth Curley, and watched clips from this season’s Community Cinema season films that are part of Women and Girls Lead. Together with NPT, I invited those assembled to get involved by partnering on Women and Girls Lead films, taking advantage of free educational tools, tuning into Independent Lens this season, and hosting community discussions. I invite you to the same, and ask that you join our Facebook community page, Women and Girls Lead Nashville, for updates.
In an informal engagement session during the lunch, NPT’s director of education, Jo Ann Scalf, asked the group to envision how a city can be most hospitable to girls and women. Ideas ranged from introducing them to better heroines (not princesses) to celebrating their math and science skills to creating a hub for all girl-related programs and services in Nashville. Two teachers from the group expressed interest in hosting documentary screenings for students, a service we’re excited to provide in select schools this season as part of the Belcourt Theatre’s education program.
After the luncheon, we officially opened our Community Cinema season with Peace Unveiled, an unsettling but ultimately inspiring documentary about Afghan women fighting for a seat at the negotiating table between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Instead of a panel discussion, we heard from Elizabeth Barger, cofounder of CODEPINK, a women-led grassroots peace and social justice movement, and Judy Meeker, another CODEPINK cofounder and founder or More Than Warmth, a quilt project that promotes friendship with nations at war and provides opportunities for cultural understanding among children worldwide.
On October 15, we’ll screen the fabulous Deaf Jam, another great film that focuses on a powerful young woman. It follows New York City’s Aeta Brodski as she prepares to be one of the first deaf poets to compete in a youth slam, leading to an unexpected collaboration. Following the film, we’ll be treated to an ASL poetry performance from local deaf poets, thanks to a partnership with Hearing Bridges. And thanks to our new partnership with the Belcourt Theatre, we’re able to bring Deaf Jam to Hume-Fogg High School for its Food For Thought series and to Martha O’Bryan Center’s middle school afterschool program—another chance to promote cultural understanding through film!
And don’t forget our September 28 screening another part of Women, War and Peace, the award-winning Pray the Devil Back to Hell, at Lipscomb University. The film is screening as part of the university’s excellent HumanDOCS series and starts at 8:30 p.m. in Ward Hall. See you there!
Allison Inman is a national engagement coordinator for ITVS and the Community Cinema coordinator in Nashville. She is also the education and engagement coordinator for the Belcourt.
Aug
26
ITVS, together with partner station Nashville Public Television (NPT) and series partners Nashville Public Library, Nashville Film Festival (NaFF) and Hands On Nashville, is proud to announce the 2011-12 season of ITVS Community Cinema Nashville. Now in its four year, Community Cinema Nashville returns with 10 compelling documentaries, eight of which are culled from this year’s lineup of the venerable PBS series “Independent Lens.” Two are from the upcoming five-part PBS special “Women, War and Peace.” Each film is followed by engaging panel discussions or performances and Q&A sessions. All screenings are free and take place one Saturday per month at 3:00 p.m., with a catered reception at 2:30 p.m., in the auditorium theatre at the downtown branch of the Nashville Public Library, 615 Church Street, except where noted.
The season opens in Nashville on Saturday, September 17 with “Women, War and Peace: Peace Unveiled,” Gina Reticker’s profile of three Afghan women determined to ensure that women have a seat at the table when the post-U.S. surge government under Hamid Karzai begins peace talks with the Taliban. The film, written by Abigail Disney and narrated by Tilda Swinton, is also part of a larger multi-year public media initiative called Women and Girls Lead that will focus, educate and connect citizens worldwide in support of the issues facing women and girls.
Combining independent documentary film, television, new media, and global outreach partnerships, Women and Girls Lead amplifies the voices of women and girls acting as leaders, expands understanding of gender equity, and engages an international network of citizens and organizations to act locally and reach out globally.
Nashville organizations serving girls and women are attending a Women and Girls Lead information session prior to the September 17 screening of “Peace Unveiled.” Organizational leaders will join ITVS regional coordinator Allison Inman, NPT president and CEO Beth Curley at 1:30 p.m. for lunch and a chance to preview clips from this season’s Women and Girls Lead films and the Community Cinema Nashville season, and learn about free resources organizations and individuals can use to further the missions of empowering girls and women here Nashville. RSVP to Allison_inman@itvs.org required. At 2:30 p.m., a catered reception will be open to the public in the conference room adjacent to the auditorium. Representatives from women’s grassroots peace and social justice initiative CODEPINK will be on hand demonstrating the More Than Warmth quilt project, inviting Community Cinema participants to help make quilts for the people affected by war around the world.
Films that are joining “Women, War and Peace: Peace Unveiled” at Community Cinema Nashville that are also part of the Women and Girls Lead initiative include “Women, War and Peace: Pray the Devil Back to Hell” (Gina Reticker / USA); “Taking Root” (Alan Dater, Lisa Merton / USA); “Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock” (Sharon LaCruise, Noland Walker / USA); and “Strong!” (Julie Wyman / USA).
Rounding out the season are “Deaf Jam” (Judy Lieff / USA); “We Still Live Here: Âs Nutayuneân” (Anne Makepeace / USA); “More Than A Month” (Shukree Hassan Tilghman / USA); “Revenge of the Electric Car;” (Chris Paine / USA); and “Hell and Back Again” (Danfung Dennis / USA, UK, Afghanistan).
Community Cinema Nashville, coordinated by Allison Inman, began in 2008 and has steadily built to an audience ranging from 70-200 per screening, with dozens of community partners contributing each month to reception activities and panel discussions. Other organizations that have participated in Community Cinema Nashville include the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Community Food Advocates, Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, YWCA Nashville and Middle Tennessee, Oasis Center, Islamic Center of Nashville, Kilowatt Ours, Scarritt Bennett’s Wisdom House, eXile International, PFLAG Nashville, Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, Pakistani American Association of Nashville, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Nashville Musicians Association, Earth Matters Tennessee, Sustain VU, Middle Tennessee School for the Blind, Belmont University Copyright Club, Metro Beautification and Environment Commission, Metro Nashville Human Relations Commission, National Kidney Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Zeitgeist Gallery, and more.
“The Women and Girls Lead Initiative adds an exciting new element to this year’s season, both with the film choices and the engagement possibilities,” says Inman. “Last summer’s Women’s Empowerment Film Festival at the Library reached hundreds of girls and women, so I know our audience is hungry for these kinds of stories.”
ITVS Community Cinema Nashville 2011-12 Season:
All screening take place at (except where noted):
Nashville Public Library
615 Church Street
Screening 3:00 p.m. / Reception (hosted by the Nashville Public Library Foundation) 2:30
September 17, 2011
Women, War and Peace: Peace Unveiled
(Gina Reticker / USA)
When the U.S. troop surge was announced in late 2009, women in Afghanistan knew that the ground was being laid for peace talks with the Taliban. “Peace Unveiled” follows three women who immediately began to organize to make sure that women have a seat at the negotiating table. One is a savvy parliamentarian who participated in writing the Afghan constitution that guarantees equality for women; another, a former midwife who is one of the last women’s rights advocates alive in Kandahar; and the third, a young activist who lives in a traditional family in Kabul. Convinced that the Taliban will have demands that jeopardize women’s hard-earned gains, they maneuver against formidable odds to have their voices heard in a peace jirga and high peace council. We go behind Kabul’s closed doors as the women’s case is made to U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer, General David Petraeus and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who promises the women that “peace and justice can’t come at the cost of women and women’s lives.” But will this promise be kept? Narrated by Tilda Swinton. “Peace Unveiled” is one of five films in the upcoming PBS special “Women, War and Peace.”
September 28, 2011
Women, War and Peace: Pray the Devil Back to Hell
(Gini Reticker / USA)
(Special Co-Presentation with Lipscomb’s HumanDocs series; screening is at Lipscomb University’s Ward Hall)
8:30 p.m.
A winner of the best documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival, “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” is the astonishing story of the Liberian women who took on the warlords and regime of dictator Charles Taylor in the midst of a brutal civil war, and won a once unimaginable peace for their shattered country in 2003. As the rebel noose tightened around the capital city of Monrovia, thousands of women – ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts and daughters, both Christian and Muslim – formed a thin but unshakeable line between the opposing forces. Armed only with white t-shirts and the courage of their convictions, they literally faced down the killers who had turned Liberia into hell on earth. In one memorable scene, the women barricaded the site of stalled peace talks in Ghana and refused to move until a deal was done. Their demonstrations culminated in Taylor’s exile and the rise of Africa’s first female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Inspiring and uplifting, the film is a compelling example of how grassroots activism can alter the history of nations. “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” is one of five films in the upcoming PBS special “Women, War and Peace.”
October 15, 2011
Deaf Jam
(Judy Lieff / USA)
National poetry slams for youth have been gaining momentum but few, if any, deaf teens have ever been included in these contests. In “Deaf Jam” a group of New York City deaf teens reveal their passions, frustrations, and senses of humor as they discover American Sign Language poetry — eventually stepping into the world of the youth poetry slams with their hearing peers.
November 26, 2011
We Still Live Here: Âs Nutayuneân
(Anne Makepeace / USA)
The Wampanoag nation of southeastern Massachusetts ensured the survival of the first English settlers in America, and lived to regret it. “We Still Live Here: Âs Nutayuneân” tells the story of the return of the Wampanoag language, the first time a language with no Native speakers has been revived in this country. Spurred on by an indomitable linguist named Jessie Little Doe, the Wampanoag are bringing their language and their culture back.
December 17, 2012
Taking Root
(Alan Dater, Lisa Merton / USA)
How does the simple act of planting trees lead to winning the Nobel Peace Prize? Ask Wangari Maathai of Kenya. In 1977, she suggested rural women plant trees to address problems stemming from a degraded environment. Under her leadership, their tree-planting grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, defend human rights and promote democracy, earning Maathai the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
January 14, 2012
Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock
(Sharon LaCruise, Noland Walker / USA)
As a black woman who was a feminist before the term was invented, Daisy Bates refused to accept her assigned place in society. “Daisy Bates: First Lady of Little Rock” tells the story of her life and public support of nine black students to attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, which culminated in a constitutional crisis–pitting a president against a governor and a community against itself.
February 11, 2012
More Than a Month
(Shukree Hassan Tilghman / USA)
Shukree Hassan Tilghman, a 29-year-old African American filmmaker, is on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month. Through this tongue-in-cheek journey, “More Than a Month” investigates what the treatment of history tells us about race and equality in a “post-racial” America.
March 17, 2012
Revenge of the Electric Car
(Chris Paine / USA)
Revenge of the Electric Car presents the recent resurgence of electric vehicles as seen through the eyes of four pioneers of the EV revolution. Director Chris Paine (“Who Killed the Electric Car?” 2006) has had unprecedented access to the electric car research and development programs at General Motors, Nissan, and Tesla Motors, while also following a part time electric car converter who refuses to wait for the international car makers to create the electric cars the public demands. As more models of electric cars than ever before start to arrive in showrooms and driveways across the world, Chris Paine’s film offers an inspiring, entertaining and definitive account of this revolutionary moment in human transportation. “Revenge of the Electric Car” follows these auto makers as they race each other to create the first, best, and most publicly accepted electric cars for the new car market.
April 21, 2012 (Nashville Film Festival Screening)
April 28, 2012
Hell and Back Again
(Danfung Dennis / USA, UK, Afghanistan)
What does it mean to lead men in war? What does it mean to come home – injured physically and psychologically – and build a new life? “Hell and Back Again” asks and answers these questions with the conflict in Afghanistan as the backdrop. Two overlapping narratives intercut: the life of a Marine on the war front, and the life of the same Marine in recovery at home – creating a realistic depiction of how Marines experience this war.
May 19, 2012
Strong! (Julie Wyman / USA)
A formidable figure, standing at 5’8″ and weighing over 300 pounds, Cheryl Haworth struggles to defend her champion status as her lifetime weightlifting career inches towards its inevitable end. “Strong!” chronicles her journey and the challenges this unusual elite athlete faces, exploring popular notions of power, strength, beauty and health.
ITVS COMMUNITY CINEMA is a monthly screening series featuring upcoming selections from the Independent Lens season. Presented in partnership with local public television stations and leading community organizations, ITVS Community Cinema holds preview screenings in over 90 cities across the country making a real contribution on a range of current social issues by connecting communities with organizations, information, and the opportunity to get involved.
ABOUT ITVS AND INDEPENDENT LENS
ITVS is a leading funder and presenter of award-winning documentaries and dramas on public television, innovative new media projects on the Web, and the Emmy Award-winning weekly series Independent Lens on Tuesday nights at 10 PM on PBS. Independent Lens is jointly curated by ITVS and PBS and is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private corporation funded by the American people, with additional funding provided by PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Mar
29
At Saturday’s Community Cinema screening of “Pushing the Elephant,” audience members participated in an activity designed to help them envision forgiveness. “Pushing the Elephant” tells the story of Rose Mapendo’s remarkable emergence from violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo as an advocate for the rights of women and the power of forgiveness and reconciliation. Dr. Bethany Haley and Quincee Gideon from Nashville nonprofit eXile International, along with Marie-Aimee Abizera from African Leadership Refugee Ministry, passed out stones prior to the screening, explaining that the stone represents the burden of unforgiveness. Following the panel discussion with Haley, Gideon and Abizera, audience members were encouraged to release their stones in a basket next to a candle that symbolized hope or renewal.
Prior to the screening, Haley, Gideon and Abizera informally led the forgiveness exercise while audience members mingled over refreshments outside the auditorium. Community Cinema coordinator Allison Inman introduced Nashville Public Television’s Joe Pagetta, who promoted the Nashville Film Festival’s upcoming screening of “Fambul Tok,” a documentary about formal forgiveness and reconciliation ceremonies in Sierra Leone. NPT’s president and CEO, Beth Curley, announced a new public media initiative from ITVS and PBS targeting issues affecting girls and women globally. During the panel discussion, Curley also pointed audience members to NPT’s ongoing “Next Door Neighbors” series, which tells the stories of Nashville’s immigrant communities.
The screening was presented by series partners Nashville Public Television, Nashville Public Library, Nashville Film Festival and Hands On Nashville, with special presenting partners eXile International and YWCA Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
Dr. Bethany Haley of eXile International discusses the insiduousness of rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo by Frank Keesee.
Marie-Aimee Abizera, a survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, encourages the audience to get to know the immigrants and refugees in their community. Photo by Frank Keesee.
eXile International displayed art made by war-affected children in the DR Congo. Photo by Frank Keesee.
Marie-Aimee Abizera passes out stones to the audience in an exercise on forgiveness. Photo by Frank Keesee.
The broadcast premiere of “Pushing the Elephant” is today (March 29) at 9 p.m. on Independent Lens.
Jan
25
More than 100 people joined us at the downtown Nashville Public Library on January 22 for our screening of Jim Bigham and Mark Moormann’s inspiring documentary For Once in My Life. Thanks to all who came out! And special thanks to event partners Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee.
Guests enjoyed snacks at a reception hosted by the Nashville Public Library Foundation, and music by the VSA/Blair Dulcimer Choir, which features local youth, including students on the autism spectrum. ITVS Community Cinema organizer Allison Inman welcome the audience, as did Nashville Film Festival executive director Sallie Mayne. Following the screening, audience members engaged with a panel comprised of disability advocate Lorre Mendelson, Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee’s Career Solutions development director Debbie Grant and music therapist Tina Haynes. Vicki Yates of NewsChannel5 moderated.
To learn more about the film, visit the Independent Lens website. Tune in to Nashville Public Television on February 1 at 9:00 p.m. for the national broadcast.
Photos by volunteer photographer extraordinaire Frank Keesee and and NPT/NaFF’s Joe Pagetta as indicated.
Panelists from left: music therapist Tina Haynes; moderator Vicki Yates of NewsChannel5; disability advocate Lorre Mendelson and Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee's Career Solutions development director Debbie Grant. Photo by Frank Keesee.
Photo by Frank Keesee
Photo by Frank Keesee
Tara Bumgarner and ITVS Community Cinema coordinator Allison Inman. Photo by Joe Pagetta
Photo by Joe Pagetta
Suzanne Kay-Pittman and Niketa Hailey-Hill of Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee. Photo by Joe Pagetta
Photo by Frank Keesee
NPT's Joe Pagetta. Photo by Frank Keesee
Sunshine! Photo by Joe Pagetta
Photo by Joe Pagetta
Robert Meyers and Nashville Film Festival's Sallie Mayne. Photo by Joe Pagetta
The VSA/Blair Dulcimer Choir. Photo by Frank Keesee
Jan
22
Actually, I already did.
Nothing makes me cringe like hearing a typically thoughtful friend mutter the “R-word.” It seems like the ugly word has made a comeback in recent years, just when I thought it was gone for good. Surely people don’t realize the hurt the word can cause to people who have, or care about someone who has, an intellectual disability.
Working on screenings for the January Community Cinema film, For Once in My Life, about musicians with disabilities, I learned about the Special Olympics/Best Buddies “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaign. They’re rallying people to stop the derogatory use of the words “retarded” and “retard,” and they’ve already got more than 146,000 pledges.
Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame joined the cause. Here’s what he has to say about it.
Will you take the pledge to help stop the use of the R-word?
I took the pledge to force myself to be more vocal about it. Hope you will too.
Dec
08
We love our Community Cinema panel discussions, but this month’s film calls for something different. The Calling — which tells the story of four people studying to become religious leaders from Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths — is 80 minutes instead of our usual 60, so we don’t have enough time at the end for a quality discussion before the library closes. Instead we’re offering an hour-long, pre-screening reception featuring foods from various faith traditions. Our hope is that the interfaith dialogue we were seeking can happen more casually — over food!
The Calling will screen Saturday, December 18, at 3 p.m. at Nashville Public Library’s main branch in the auditorium. The interfaith reception will start at 2 p.m. in the library gallery, adjacent to the auditorium (both are found down the hall past the elevators on the mail level).
Danny Alpert’s The Calling is a four-hour special that will air on PBS’ Independent Lens Monday, December 20, and Tuesday, December 21, 8-10 p.m. The complete series profiles seven young Americans — Christian, Muslim and Jewish — who are part of a new generation of religious leaders. The series follows them as they navigate the challenges of training and face the inevitable doubts and setbacks.
The abridged Community Cinema version, which we’ll screen on December 18 at the library, focuses on four of the seven characters: Rob Pene, a Samoan studying at the Haggard School of Theology at Azusa Pacific University; Shmuly Yanklowitz, a student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in Riverdale, New York; Tahera Ahmad, an outspoken young Muslim scholar, schoolteacher, and student in Hartford Seminary’s Muslim Chaplaincy program in Connecticut; and Steven Gamez, who recently became a pastor at St. Philip of Jesus Catholic Church in San Antonio.
We’re excited to partner with Community Food Advocates, Scarritt-Bennett’s Wisdom House, and the Interfaith Alliance of Middle Tennessee.
If you’d like to attend the free screening of The Calling December 18, please RSVP to Allison Inman at allison_inman@itvs.org by December 15 to help us with food planning. Audio description and closed captioning for the film are available by request — also by December 15. We are working hard to make our screenings more accessible. Email or call 615-585-8321.
