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The New Day Newsletter
Fall, 2003
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Hello! For 32 years, New Day's independent filmmakers have produced award-winning educational films and videos on social issue topics. Our films have won an Academy Award, eight Academy Award nominations, four Emmys and top honors at film festivals around the world. In this newsletter, you'll find descriptions of our newest films and DVDs, notices of upcoming broadcasts and screenings and recent honors won by our films. CONTENT- New Films ------------ NEW FILMSBy Tasha Oldham The Smiths of Salt Lake City may have America’s most common surname, but their story is anything but ordinary. With two boys, a dog, a nice house and a strong commitment to the Mormon Church, Steve and Kim Smith believed they had achieved the American dream. But after nine years of marriage, shattering revelations of betrayal came — enough to test the strongest bonds of faith and love. When Steve confesses to infidelities with men, and they both find they are HIV+, Kim makes an unlikely choice. The Smith Family is a searing account of one family’s struggle to preserve family and faith, while redefining forgiveness in the face of daunting tragedy.
By Melissa Regan Uncle Bill is becoming a woman and his 6, 9 and 11 year old nieces are struggling to understand how and why. With just weeks until Uncle Bill’s first visit as Aunt Barbara, the sisters navigate the complex territories of anatomy, sexuality, personality, gender and fashion. Their reactions are funny, touching, and distinctly different. This film offers a fresh perspective on a complex situation from a family that insists there are no dumb questions.
Light in the Shadows By Shakti Butler This video is the second in a program called Heart-to-Heart Conversations. It follows our first video, The Way Home. Ten women of different races and ethnicities present issues that are rarely talked about in racially mixed groups. The results are an example of the types of dynamics that can cause these conversations to fall apart. Please note: this is not a video for people who are new to the conversation about race. The intention of this video is to create authentic dialogue that gives rise to new questions that transform, heal and invite change.
The New Old Country By Faye Lederman How did Guss’ Pickles, the abandoned Eldridge Street Synagogue, and Sammy’s kosher-style steakhouse become fixtures in Jews’ conceptions of the Lower East Side? This film follows the journey of American Jews who flock from across the country in search of their grandparents’ stories. Their tourist travels reveal an intricate web of nostalgia, collective memory, and the elusive nature of recorded history.
The Collector of Bedford Street By Alice Elliott At age 60, developmentally disabled community activist and fundraiser Larry Selman has only his 81-year-old uncle for support. In The Collector of Bedford Street, Larry’s neighbors create a trust fund for him that allows him to continue to live independently in the community. A story of community inclusion in the unexpected setting of New York City.
------------ NEW DVDSThree New Day films are now out on DVD! Daddy & Papa, by Johnny Symons, has 11 minutes of new footage. Fresh from its screening on PBS’s Independent Lens, Daddy & Papa, also has a new study guide. Daddy & Papa plays this fall at the Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival, the Berlin Bioethics Film Series, and the Oakland International Film Festival. Also now available on DVD — Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour — which includes 30 minutes of new footage, including 5 short Barbie films. Barbie Nation is by Susan Stern. Tony Silver’s Style Wars is also out on DVD in a 2-disc set with 34 minutes of new footage. The new, updated Style Wars is fresh from acclaim at the Tribeca Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Air Guitar World Championships in Finland.
------------ UPCOMING SCREENINGS Oct 28 -- Alice Elliott’s The Collector of Bedford Street is screening at the prestigious Hot Springs Documentary Festival in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
------------ HONORS The Smith Family has been nominated for an Emmy. The Smith Family Director Tasha Oldham was also named Filmmaker magazine’s “#1 New Face to Watch” and one of MovieMaker magazine’s “Fiercely Independent Women.” It’s Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School and That’s a Family! by filmmakers Debra Chasnoff and Helen S. Cohen, were honored with a resolution passed by the California legislature. ACR 85 praised the films for helping schools teach respect for diverse families. The Oprah Winfrey Show recently used clips from Melissa Regan’s No Dumb Questions to discuss transgender issues within families. Watch www.newday.com for the release of the No Dumb Questions study guide. Also about to be released — the study guide for Heidi Schmidt Emberling’s Tangled Roots No Loitering has been selected to be part of the Council on Foundations’ traveling 2003-2004 Film and Video Festival. This year the festival celebrates the power of collaboration, selecting No Loitering for the way the film creates a stereotype-breaking, and at times humorous, vehicle for the unheard voices of teens. Jay Rosenstein’s In Whose Honor? American Indian Mascots in Sports also screened this summer — at the Native Cinema Showcase in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Jane Gillooly, director of Leona’s Sister Gerri, has just been nominated for a Rockefeller Media Fellowship for her surprising new feature film, which gives new meaning to the term “chick flick.” Nancy Kelly’s Downside UP, recently seen on PBS’s Independent Lens, is screening this fall at the Beacon, New York Cultural Center and the Vermont Arts Council. See the Downside UP page at newday.com to find out more about how Downside UP is helping communities use art and culture for community development. Jonathan Skurnik’s A Day’s Work, A Day’s Pay, has been used by welfare rights activists to conduct more than 40 discussion groups with audiences ranging from upper-middle-class eighth graders to homeless seniors to teenage single moms. Following the screenings, audience members have joined community organizations, participated in letter-writing campaigns, and traveled to state capitals to make their voices heard. Joan Mandell’s Voices in Exile: Immigrants and the First Amendment is being used to inform conversations on the USA Patriot Act. Rick Goldsmith’s Everyday Heroes is helping activists fight to save AmeriCorps from another round of budget cuts. Faye Lederman’s Women of the Wall is finding renewed relevance as the Israeli women’s prayer group Women of the Wall faces court decisions blocking its right to pray at Jerusalem’s Western Wall. And activists are calling Shakti Butler’s new Light in the Shadows “a next step” in anti-racism work. Young people in America are the focus of a new collection organized by Sarah Feinbloom, director of What Do You Believe? The collection, which features study guides for all films, includes Scout’s Honor, El Corrido de Cecelia Rios, Poetic License, No Loitering and What Do You Believe? Another film about teens, next door, by J. Clements, depicts a family struggling with the alcoholism of the eldest child. Check newday.com to see when next door is available. Also by J. Clements: Means of Grace, Man Oh Man: Growing Up Male in America and Dear Lisa: A Letter to My Sister.Also in the pipeline: The New Patriots, Bob Richter’s documentary about US military veterans who have become peace activists. Richter is well known for Five Days to Change the World and Father Roy: Inside the School of Assassins. For the latest news on members, screenings, new films and discounts, as well as to order our print catalog, see www.newday.com. |