An audience member asks a question during post film discussion (photo credit: Alex Akamine
Another fantastic season of ITVS’ Community Cinema has come to a close! We opened our 2011-2012 season in September with Women, War and Peace and continued with exciting Independent Lens film selections each month through May 2012 – including: Deaf Jam, More Than a Month, and Hell and Back Again.
Community Cinema screenings are always free and open to the public in more than 100 cities nationwide. Find screenings in your area.
Deaf Jam
St. Louis
St. Louis audience at Deaf Jam Screening
Instead of a panel discussion, we chose an ASL performance, which we felt the students and the deaf audience could relate to and would give the hearing audience the experience of what it is like to see a performance without words. One poet chose an interpreter and one chose to let the audience figure out what her art was saying with their eyes.
It was wonderful to see the signing and talking before and after the film screening. Instead of a panel discussion, we chose an ASL performance, which we felt the students and the deaf audience could relate to and would give the hearing audience the experience of what it is like to see a performance without words. The poets, both deaf, told the most interesting stories through ASL. One story in particular was beautiful and the crowd cheered and clapped. It was very moving. Her story, “I was a little girl with bright and shiny dreams. She wanted to be a teacher. She wanted to be equal to the hearing world but as she grew up and went out into the hearing world her dreams got left behind in the dust. The dust grew thicker and gathered in piles. But the girl went back and found her dreams in the dust and she found the dream again through signing and it made a beautiful world where hearing people could communicate with her and she with them.”
The audience loved this poem and they asked her questions about her SLAM poetry. She is from a fourth generation deaf family but the family members loved stories and poems and they shared silly stories and she found that SLAM became a natural form of expression for her. She usually prefers no interpreters. She wants people to use their eyes and interpret for themselves. - Producing Partner, Sydney Meyer (KETC)
More Than a Month
Castaic, CA
This was a screening for the male inmates in the M.E.R.I.T. program at the Pitches Detention Center in Castaic. The men are serving time for crimes ranging from drug abuse to violent crimes. Shukree was a guest at this screening at the crowd was very welcoming and excited to have him visit. The men asked questions about the making of the film, experiences that happened off camera such as with the Black Panther. They men also questioned Shukree’s true intentions to see Black History Month end. One inmate commented that the film reminded him of his love of history, and encouraged him to seek out more educational reading while being detained. Another inmates responded that the film made him angry because he felt that everyone should have a better understanding of black history and he thought the film should have gone even deeper in telling important historical stories. While there was the occasional response that dismissed the need to teach black history at all, most responses were positive. Multiple responses indicated that they had been unaware of the politics of black history month, and they had no idea how much history they had missed in their education, and on that note, many said that they would make an effort to learn more. – National Engagement Consultant, Desiree Gutierrez
Hell and Back Again
Houston, TX
Sgt. Nathan Harris and Ashley Harris speak to guests about the film and answers questions about plans for the future
We had Sergeant Harris and his wife, Ashley as special guests for our screening event. About 130 people came out; about 90% of audience was at Community Cinema for the first time. Houston PBS partnered with Houston Marine Moms for the event; after the discussion, one woman came up with tears in her eyes and shared, ‘My son just came back from Afghanistan, but he won’t tell me what happened… now I understand why.” The audience gave Nathan and Ashley a standing ovation at the end of the evening- this is the first time in 4 years that’s ever happened at one of our events. Overall, it was an incredible event and people stayed after to share that even though the film was ‘hard to watch’ that it is so important. They were grateful to have the experience and felt honored to have Sergeant Harris and Ashley Harris in attendance to share their stories may feel. An audience member who said he was a Vietnam vet found the film powerful but disturbing to watch and compared the “current American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to Vietnam”, and wondered how long would “our country continue to send us to fight boogeymen in the name of profit.” Sergeant Harris agreed that he himself also had trouble viewing the film and that it took him seven tries over a long period of time “to through the first 10 minutes.” – Producing Partner, Julie Coan (Houston PBS)
Thank you for supporting another great season of Community Cinema. Join us again in September, when we kick off the 2012-2013 season with Half the Sky.
