“Docu-liberals” is how my former distribution colleague referred to them—the generally educated, generally white, left-leaning folks who like documentaries, and will go to see one with an inner city theme faster than an inner city audience will.
So I was thinking of this as I was watching Pressure Cooker, Mark Becker and Jennifer Grausman’s film about an aggressive culinary arts high school teacher in Phillie who successfully coaches her inner city students in a scholarship competition.
Then I thought about Nel, my smart, artistic teenaged “little sister” from Harlem who I’ve mentored for three years in the Big Sisters program. If she had seen this film when she was 12 or 13, I think it would have made a big impact on her life. Those early teen years are pivotal. There is nothing like seeing the kids in the film get focused and work towards a goal, with a tough but caring mentor. This is a film for a younger version of kids like them.
Sunday evening, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary celebration for the IFP, I was standing at the edge of a balcony on a vertiginous penthouse suite on the Bowery. There at the Cooper Square Hotel, co-host and producer Anthony Bregman (Synecdoche- New York, Sleep Dealer) announced a new annual IFP initiative to address global issues through documentary film, in conjunction with the UN. This year the Envision program will take place May 14-15 at the DGA in New York, and it will focus on women’s issues.
In attendance at the celebration were a number of local filmmakers, as well as co-host and producer Hunter Gray (Half Nelson, Momma’s Man), and the evening’s event chair—whose indie credits (Pieces of April, Thank-You for Smoking) trump her Hollywood credits (a good thing)—an elegant and taller-than-I-expected, Katie Holmes.
This is the second in my series of posts on films that take on social issues, that started with FOOD.
I had hoped to make this a weekly series, but doctor visits, occupational therapy, and getting to know my pharmacist really, really well have taken up so much of my time and energy recently (since the pit bull attack on Christmas morning) that this is going to be monthly, instead.
The film that inspired the issue of safe and clean water for me was FLOW: For Love of Water. Don’t let the lack of polish and organization in this film slow you down—the information conveyed is startling. Watch it, and like me, you will start avoiding bottled water and support the public water system.
Les Guthman responded to my call out to filmmakers who have films on the subject. He made The Hudson Riverkeepers and The Waterkeepers with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. They are available on the XPLR channel on Snagfilms and DVD.
Guthman says, “The story of the 40-year fight to clean up the Hudson, in particular, is a seminal story in the history of the environmental movement in this country. The Hudson River Fishermans Assocation lawsuit against Con Ed in the 1960s went to the U.S. Supreme Court - and its decision in their favor paved the way for all of the environmental legislation of the 1970s - the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, etc. The next 30 years on the Hudson are a powerful story as well. ‘The Waterkeepers’ profiles six river, bay and soundkeepers around the country, part of Kennedy’s ‘Waterkeeper Alliance,’ which took the Hudson Riverkeeper model and spread it to fight water pollution around the world.”
Laura Dunn’s highly lauded, The Unforeseen, is worth a watch to see the story of Austin’s Barton Springs via lyrical filmmaking.
Finally, in my online reserach I came across this PDF which lists several more pertinent films compiled by the Jane Goodall Institute.
Drill down into these links and you will see lots of ways to get involved in the essential human right of safe and clean (and free) water.
Next Topic: Down with inefficient autos! Up with TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES!
CALL OUT TO FILMMAKERS: Please write me at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you’re working on a film or have one finished on the topic of TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES, so I can include it in the next column.
Last year SnagFilms bought indieWIRE, the host of my blog, Week of Wonders. While doing research for this post, I found that one of the best films I’ve seen on the subject, The Future of Food, is now in the SnagFilms library! Very exciting! I highly recommend it. Deborah Koons Garcia (widow of Jerry) looks beyond the dinner table to the corporate sources of the food supply, and then offers alternatives. Here is the film:
Also on Snag are Supersize Me wherein filmmaker Morgan Spurlock eats only at McDonald’s for a month, and Peter Jennings Reporting: How to Get Fat Without Really Trying which I haven’t seen, but sounds intriguing.
From my call-out to filmmakers to send word of their related work, I heard from Nina Gilden Seavey whose award-winning A Short History of Sweet Potato Pie and How It Became a A Flying Saucer has played in several festivals. Seavey says, “It comes at the issue of food, creativity, and aging from a very unique perspective.” The film continues to screen at food film festivals and African American film festivals, as well as cultural and comedy events.
I haven’t seen Food Fight by Chris Taylor, but the film’s website has lots of links to great organizations.
I really enjoyed Taggert Siegel’s The Real Dirt about Farmer John when it was released. Check out that website, too.
On a personal note, I celebrated my birthday a couple of weeks ago with a multi-course banquet at the Blue Hill farm-to-table restaurant on Stone Barns Farm. (You may recall that I visted the farm last summer.) Every meal is personalized based on your tastes, allergies, etc. and the ingredients come directly from the surrounding farm or local suppliers. That night, the waitstaff was particularly proud of their winter-harvested beets because of the sugars that concentrate at this time of year. My favorite courses included the sunchoke soup and the gnocchi with wild mushrooms and ice spinach, along with a dessert accompaniment of chocolate-mint herbal tea.
Eating local/ organic/ or homemade feels more like self-improvement or even indulgence than it does changing the world. What a simple way to start taking action! Demand it, buy it, serve it, and talk it up. The films I’ve recommended are an inspiration to get informed and then get involved.
Next Topic: Safe and clean WATER
CALL OUT TO FILMMAKERS: Please write me at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you’re working on a film or have one finished on the topic of WATER, so I can include it in the next column.
In a previous post, I mentioned that I’m starting a regular series on my “Week of Wonders” blog for issue-oriented documentaries. The first topic is something we can all relate to: safe and healthy FOOD. If you are a filmmaker with a film on this topic, please write to me so that I can include it. Distributors and exhibitors are also welcome to write me. I already have a few really great docs to recommend, and some links to guide us on how to get involved. (This is going to be a journey into my own activism, too!)
CALL OUT TO FILMMAKERS: Please write me at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you’re working on a film or have one finished on the topic of FOOD, so I can include it in next week’s column.
Syndicate this site