August news
Last week I had a privilege to be a mentor in the National Association of Independent Latino producers, academy(http://www.nalip.org/) . The producers academy is an annual event that is designed to help emerging Latino producers and directors to improve their projects so they could reach wider audiences. For 3 days I was privileged to work with a diverse talented group of emerging directors and producers from around the country, whose dedication, talent and commitment to their projects is inspiring. I intend to accompany and help several of the projects till completion. They will be featured on our site and I hope you all can get involved. They are refreshing, diverse and promising new voices so badly needed in this country.
Started in the fall the Web site will undergo a “face lift” and will begin to feature a much bigger variety of upcoming projects, updates and Internet initiatives but until than here is a quick list of news :
SIX DAYS
was shown on July 30, August 2nd in Fort Lauderdale Int’ Film Festival
It will be shown in November in San Jose Jewish film Festival and in the Middle East Studies Association national convention. In a newly designed part of the site I will list more up coming screenings in the fall. Please check the film’s site (www.sixdaysmovie.com) as we will keep adding resource and background material.
IN THE NAME OF THE VICTIMS
Together with LINK TV ( www.linktv.org) ,we are designing a special web site that will be available in the early fall. The site will provide information, background material and links to organizations struggling on behalf of Holocaust survivors. The controversy of what has been done with the billions of dollars raised “in the name of the Victims” and the growing destitution of elderly Holocaust survivors is growing. We hope our film and our Web site will help to draw attention to this shameful episode .
IN THE NAME OF THE VICTIMS was broadcast on the French /German channel ARTE and will premiere on November 10 both in Israel (Channel Eight) and on Link TV (US). The US version is narrated by Ed Asner
Stay tuned for more in the fall.
…and finally the controversy surrounding the broadcast on SIX DAYS on PBS ( June 5 , 2007) is catching on.
The question why American audiences did not see the same version that was shown to the rest of the world has becomes a “news’ issue.
It appeared first in Canada in a series of articles:
Globe and Mail : “ FiveTakes on six Days”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070602.SIX02/EmailTPStory/TPEntertainment
The Tornoto Star: “Viewers get whitewashed version of history”
(http://www.thestar.com/News/article/222996) .
These stories were picked up by the PBS Ombudsman ( http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2007/06/versions_of_a_war.html ).
The story will now appear in the September 1st issue of Columbia Journalism Review. (http://www.cjr.org/) I will use the timing of the CJR article to dedicate a full blog to the issue, provide you with useful links and lots of background documentary evidence so you will be able to explore for yourself this growing controversy. The issue is far more important than the fate of one program and goes to the heart of how the Middle East is presented on television in the US.
This is it for now. I rush for a short ( and much needed ) vacation . I will be back with more by the end of the month.
take care
Ilan
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