print a schedule of films (pdf)THURSDAY May 11, 2006
The Fire Next Time - Director and Producer: Patrice O'Neill Thursday May 11, 12 noon Student screening and open to general audience running time: 60 minutes The people of the Flathead Valley in Montana were used to thinking they live in "the last best place in America." Kalispell, the county seat and valley's largest town, means "prairie above the lake." But the last best place may become the next worst flashpoint in the country's running battle between the forces of economic development, environmental activism, and anti-government extremism. Green swastikas were burned to protest environmental laws. A radio talk show host regularly called for the "eradication" of "green slime" while broadcasting the addresses of local environmental activists. Lug nuts were loosened on a car belonging to an anti-hate campaigner's daughter. While loggers and mill workers were facing lost jobs and rising living costs, right-wing extremists plied them with racist and anti-government rhetoric. Most ominously — in news that flashed across the nation and even around the world — a shadowy terror group called Project 7 was discovered with a cache of arms and a hit list of local government officials, police officers and their families. With the premise that ordinary people can sometimes, through inaction, allow extremist violence to grow against friends and neighbors, "The Fire Next Time" seeks to find out how the contentiousness in the Flathead Valley could take such a bitter and destructive turn — and once taken, how a community can marshal the will to pull itself back. "We knew going in that what was disturbing the Flathead Valley involved some of the most critical issues facing the country today," says director/producer Patrice O'Neill. "What we also discovered was a striking example of modern talk radio polarizing the political atmosphere, and just how high the stakes are — for our whole political system when conflicts like this erupt in growing communities."
Homeland – Director:
Roberta Grossman Thursday May 11, 2:00 p.m. running time: 88 minutes
Having brutally occupied the homeland of Native Americans, the invading Europeans forced the indigenous population onto reservations - land that was specifically selected because of its apparent worthlessness. To add salt to wounds that are still open, multinational energy companies and others are coming back to extract the hidden mineral wealth of the reservations, and are leaving a trail of toxins that, if unchecked, will make the land unlivable for centuries to come. But Native American activists are fighting back, and their inspirational stories are chronicled in "HOMELAND: Four Portraits of Native Action" against the backdrop of some of the country's most spectacular landscapes. Reclaiming Water - Director: Angela Alston Thursday May 11, 3:30 p.m. running time: 35 minutes
Thousands of people arrived in Kyoto, Japan, last March for the Third World Water Forum. An enormous trade show, the WWF is also an opportunity for transnational corporations and governments to present far-reaching strategies for managing and financing water. This year, grassroots activists also attended, determined to present alternatives. "People do not drink words." -- Benedict Chacha, Tanzania
The Future of Food – Director: Deborah Koons Garcia Festival Opening Reception Thursday May 11, 7:00 p.m. running time: 88 minutes There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America -- a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat. The film offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade. From the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada to the fields of Oaxaca, Mexico, this film gives a voice to farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by this new technology. The health implications, government policies and push towards globalization are all part of the reason why many people are alarmed by the introduction of genetically altered crops into our food supply. Shot on location in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, THE FUTURE OF FOOD examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seek to control the world's food system. The film also explores alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture, placing organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crisis today. "If
you eat food, you need to see The Future of Food..." "The Future of Food provides an excellent overview of the key questions raised by consumers as they become aware of GM foods... [The film] draws questions to critical attention about food production that need more public debate." --- Film review by Thomas J. Hoban - Nature Biotechnology 23, 295 (March 2005). Speaker immediately following screening: Michael Hansen, Ph.D. , Senior Scientist, Consumers Union
FRIDAY MAY 12, 2006
The Flute Player – Director: Jocelyn Glatzer Friday May 12, 12 noon Student screening and open to general audience running time: 60 minutes The Flute Player" tells about the life and work of Cambodian genocide survivor Arn Chorn-Pond. Arn was just a boy when Cambodia's Khmer Rouge military regime took power in 1975. For four long years, Arn followed the strict orders of the Khmer Rouge — doing whatever it took to save his own life amidst torture, murder, starvation and brainwashing. While imprisoned in a labor camp, Arn participated in the execution of others in order to survive, and he played propaganda songs on his flute for his captors' entertainment. Arn was later forced by the Khmer Rouge to fight against the Vietnamese when they invaded Cambodia in 1979. After seeing his friends killed on the front lines, he escaped to the jungle, eventually finding his way to a Thai refugee camp. Two years later, an American refugee worker adopted Arn and brought him to the United States. At the approximate age of 16, Arn was living in rural New Hampshire, struggling to rebuild what was left of his shattered life. In an effort to reconcile with his past and to prevent future atrocities, Arn set out, flute in hand, to awaken the world to Cambodia's holocaust. Today at the age of 38, Arn has taken his very tragic past and turned it into something inspirational. He is striving to heal the deep scars of Pol Pot's genocide by bringing Cambodia's once outlawed traditional music back to his people. It is estimated that up to 90 percent of Cambodia's Master Musicians (the trained professionals) were killed or starved to death during the Killing Fields and the ensuing Vietnamese occupation. As the few surviving traditional Master Musicians grow old and fall ill, a way of life quietly sits on the brink of extinction. "One might expect a film about a genocide survivor to be depressing. But this poignant documentary has a liberating effect as a master musician helps save the indigenous music of Cambodia, nearly wiped out by the Khmer Rouge... Arn Chorn-Pond... tells his story with uncompromising honesty as he returns to his homeland and reaches out to other musicians who barely escaped genocide." -- M.S. Mason, Christian Science Monitor.
Torture Inc. Americas Brutal Prisons - Director: Deborah Davies Friday May 12, 2:30 p.m. running time: 48 minutes
Savaged by dogs, Electrocuted With Cattle Prods, Burned By Toxic Chemicals, Does such barbaric abuse inside U.S. jails explain the horrors that were committed in Iraq? The findings were not based on rumor or suspicion. They were based on solid evidence, chiefly videotapes that the filmmaker collected from all over the U.S. In many American states, prison regulations demand that any ‘use of force operation’, such as searching cells for drugs, must be filmed by a guard. The theory is that the tapes will show proper procedure was followed and that no excessive force was used. In fact, many of them record the exact opposite. They are just some of the victims of wholesale torture taking place inside the U.S. prison system that Davies uncovered during a four-month investigation for BBC Channel 4. It’s terrible to watch some of the videos and realize that you’re not only seeing torture in action but, in the most extreme cases, you are witnessing young men dying. No
one should doubt that the vast majority of U.S.
prison officers are decent individuals doing their
best in difficult circumstances. But when horrific
abuse by the few goes unreported and uninvestigated,
it solidifies into a general climate of acceptance
among the many.
Dangerous Living: Coming out in the Developing World – Director: John Scagliotti Friday May 12, 3:30 p.m. running time: 60 minutes
DANGEROUS
LIVING examines the struggles and triumphs of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the Global
South. On May 11th, 2001, 52 men in Cairo were
arrested, tortured and imprisoned for simply gathering
at a discothèque on the river Nile. There
is no law against homosexuality in Egypt so the
Egyptian Government officially accused the men
of committing crimes of debauchery. The 52 were
later tried, convicted, and sentenced to 3 years
in prison. The issues surrounding the GLBT population in Egypt garnered some western press attention. However, most occurrences of oppression around the world receive no media coverage at all. In Honduras, Dilcia Molina, who had the courage to participate in her city’s pride march without her face covered, had her family attacked by military police: “One of the men grabbed my son and cut his face with a knife. Those men were looking for me. They were going to rape me to take the lesbian out of me.”
La Sierra – Director: Scott Dalton and Margarita Martinez Friday May 12, 5:00 p.m. running time: 84 minutes More than 30,000 people have been killed over the last ten years in Colombia’s bloody civil conflict, in which left-wing guerillas fight against the government and illegal right-wing paramilitary groups. Recently, as guerillas and paramilitaries sought to control marginal city neighborhoods, urban gangs aligned themselves with each side. In this way, the national conflict was translated into a brutal turf war that pitted adjacent barrios against each other. The documentary La Sierra explores life over the course of a year in one such barrio (La Sierra, in Medellin), through the prism of three young lives. La Sierra is an intimate, unflinching portrait of three lives defined by violence, and a community wracked by conflict. Over the course of a year these lives, and the life of the barrio itself, each undergo profound changes, experiencing victory, despair, defeat, death, love, and hope. In a place where journalists are seldom allowed, Scott Dalton and Margarita Martinez spent a year filming, interviewing, and building trust. The result is a frank portrayal that not only includes startling scenes of graphic violence and its aftermath, but also reveals intimate moments of love and tenderness, and shows the everyday life that manages to coexist with conflict.
Rize – Director: David LaChapelle Friday May 12 Dance Performance by Princeton Capoeira at 7:30 p.m. Screening of Rize at 8:00 p.m. running time: 84 minutes
“Rize” reveals a groundbreaking dance phenomenon that’s exploding out of South Central Los Angeles. Originator Tommy the Clown and his fellow dancers have created a revolutionary form of artistic expression borne from oppression. The aggressive and visually stunning dance modernizes moves indigenous to African tribal rituals and features mind-blowing, athletic movement sped up to impossible speeds. The style is called Krumping and was created by Tommy Johnson in response to the 1992 Rodney King riots. The kids use dance as an alternative to gangs and hustling: they form their own troupes and paint their faces like warriors meeting to outperform rival gangs of dancers or just to hone their skills. For the dancers, Krumping has become a way of life for its most dedicated fans. Rize illuminates an entire community by focusing on an art form as a movement that the disenfranchised have created. Surrounded by drug addiction, gang activity and impoverishment, they have managed to somehow rise above. "Rize is a compelling, bittersweet hybrid of a movie, one celebrating an enormous and hitherto unsung underground talent, while suggesting that art goes only so far in solving the enormous challenges of the underprivileged life." -- Chicago Tribune.
SATURDAY May 13, 2006 Cartoons for Peace and Justice 10 a.m. - noon The morning films are suitable for children ages 8 – 12 years, teens and general audiences. Black Dawn running time: 18 minutes "We got independence so long ago and we are still not free." This quote taken from the uplifting, animated documentary Black Dawn is one of the many important statements this film explores for all those fortunate enough to see it. The delightful story begins with the two classic Haitian folk characters, Bouki and Ti Malice who are traveling to the market along with their very stubborn mule. When the mule, on its own accord, refuses to move another inch, the two men, each at opposite ends, try to push or pull the animal in opposite directions, hoping it would move. After several unsuccessful attempts, they sit in the shade of a nearby mango tree and begin to talk of the history of the Haitian people, beginning with the merciless removal from their African homeland where "the animals and the people lived happily." Using cutout and other animation techniques, the filmmakers transform paintings by prominent Haitian artists into a visually exquisite tribute to the first black republic - and second independent country in the New World. Featuring hypnotic African-Caribbean rhythms and chants, solid historical background, and a vibrant animation style, this award-winning film conveys a complex social movement through a visual language accessible to everyone. Showpeace Series – National Film Board Canada:
Bully Dance- Director: Janet Perlman running time: 10 minutes
Elbow Room - Director: Diane Obomsawin running time: 9 minutes
Dinner for Two - Director: Janet Perlman running time: 7 minutes Short, nonverbal, animated films that are designed as flexible tools to explore conflict resolution. Young children to senior executives can identifywith the characters and gain valuable insight into dealing creatively with disputes and anger at school, at home, in the workplace, and in the community.
My Brown Eyes – Director: Jay J. Koh running time: 19 minutes
A ten-year-old boy rises early and prepares for his first day of school in America. Clever & resourceful, he makes his own lunch and also breakfast for his immigrant parents who work until early morning, but he is unprepared for the challenge that awaits him at school. The rest of the film depicts the child who becomes excluded and silent at school: children laugh at the little boy's name and make fun of the lunch he has prepared. This is a beautiful and poignant story of immigrant life as told from the point of view of a child.
Crown Heights, Dangerous Myths – Produced collectively by student filmmakers from MS 390 Crown Heights, Brooklyn, at Working Playground. This screening is for youth and a general audience. Saturday May 13, Noon. running time: approx. 10 minutes Created as part of Working Playground's thematic program called "Dangerous Myths" where students are challenged to identify common beliefs, stereotypes and myths, that when left unattended, could become dangerous for themselves and their communities. Some of the questions the students asked themselves and their community: "Is Crown Heights a dangerous neighborhood?", "Why are people violent?", and "What instigates violence?" When asked "Why are youth violent?" a neighbor answers, "Hurt people hurt people, you get it?"
Siberian Dream - Director/Producer: Janet Gardner Saturday May 13, 12:30 p.m. running time: 86 minutes The film takes audiences on a journey of faith between New York and Siberia, culminating in a cleansing ritual as llamas bless her new baby. She calls him Solongo, which in Buryat means "rainbow." To her surprise, she finds a spiritual home at Tibet House in New York, a place where she can teach her children and pass along her Buddhist faith. Speaker: Janet Gardner, local director/producer, will talk following the screening.
I Know I'm Not Alone – Director: Michael Franti Saturday May 13, 2:30 p.m. running time: 86 minutes
Michael Franti, world-renowned musician and human rights worker, travels to Iraq, Palestine and Israel to explore the human cost of war with a group of friends, some video cameras and his guitar. A true armchair travel film pulling the audience into these war zones in the company of Michael’s guitar, eloquence and wit – you feel the humanity, artistic resilience and sometimes horrific experience of what it’s like to live under the bombs and military occupation.
Franti: "When I arrived in Iraq I had little planned except that I knew I wanted to play guitar and sing on the street, in homes, hospitals, military outposts or anywhere people were ready to receive it. My intention was to not only capture emotions on film but to record them in song. I wrote several songs used in the film while I was on the trip itself and then wrote 15 more as I poured over two hundred of hours of footage. I divided my time equally between writing and recording songs downstairs in my music studio, and directing upstairs in the video bay.
Although war is the most politically weighted subject one could ever take on, I did not want to make a political movie. Instead, I wanted to make a film about people, and the things they do to overcome the stresses of war and occupation: chief among these being friendship, humor, art and music.
I tell stories through my songs and spoken word, and approached the film in the same way. We let the images and music flow together as I re-told the story with voiceover and lyrics inspired from the journey. In taking this organic approach, I believe we gave unique insight into what people are facing in the Middle East today.
The most powerful thing I learned throughout the whole experience is how the gift of music opens all of our hearts and how in these times, that gift is more meaningful than ever." An OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2005 Slamdance Film Festival.
Darwin’s Nightmare - Director: Hubert Sauper
Saturday May 13, 4:00 p.m. running time: 107 minutes
Some time in the 1960's, in the heart of Africa, a new animal was introduced into Lake Victoria as a little scientific experiment. The Nile Perch, a voracious predator, extinguished almost the entire stock of the native fish species. However, the new fish multiplied so fast, that its white fillets are today exported all around the world.
Huge hulking ex-Soviet cargo planes come daily to collect the latest catch in exchange for their southbound cargo…Kalashnikovs and ammunitions for the uncounted wars in the dark center of the continent.
This booming multinational industry of fish and weapons has created an ungodly globalized alliance on the shores of the world’s biggest tropical lake: an army of local fishermen, World Bank agents, homeless children, African ministers, EU-commissioners, Tanzanian prostitutes and Russian pilots. "Filming with a skeleton crew - basically himself and another camera operator - Mr. Sauper has produced an extraordinary work of visual journalism, a richly illustrated report on a distant catastrophe that is also one of the central stories of our time. Rather than use voice-over or talking-head expert interviews, he allows the dimensions of the story to emerge through one-on-one conversation and acutely observed visual detail." -- New York Times.
Aristide and the Endless Revolution – Director: Nicolas Rossier May 13, 5:30 p.m. running time: 83 minutes
One
hour away from Miami the elected president of the
western hemisphere's poorest nation was twice removed
from office with the complicity of the international
community. “ARSITIDE and the Endless Revolution” is
a feature documentary that explores through investigative
lenses the events that led to the removal of Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, the democratically elected President
of Haiti. Filmmaker Nicolas Rossier takes the viewer
into a journey of political intrigues, armed criminals
posing as freedom fighters and economic fiascos.
What emerges is a young democracy being constantly
tested and ultimately destroyed.
"Informative
and very moving. An excellent film about the sad
recent political history of Haiti that not only
provides a rich, well-detailed context for understanding
the rise and fall and rise and fall of Aristide
but also offers a provocative meditation of the
role of outside, especially American, forces and
interests in his tumultuous career.”
“Informative
and enraging film. Highly recommended for anyone
interested in the fate of the world's downtrodden”. Speaker: Gerry Groves, local physician and human rights advocate.
The Take - Producer/Director: Avi Lewis, Writer: Naomi Klein, author of NO LOGO Saturday May 13, 8:00 p.m. running time: 87 minutes In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave. All they want is to re-start the silent machines. But this simple act - The Take - has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head. In the wake of Argentina's dramatic economic collapse in 2001, Latin America's most prosperous middle class finds itself in a ghost town of abandoned factories and mass unemployment. The Forja auto plant lies dormant until its former employees take action. They're part of a daring new movement of workers who are occupying bankrupt businesses and creating jobs in the ruins of the failed system. But Freddy, the president of the new worker's co-operative, and Lalo, the political powerhouse from the Movement of Recovered Companies, know that their success is far from secure. Like every workplace occupation, they have to run the gauntlet of courts, cops and politicians who can either give their project legal protection or violently evict them from the factory. The story of the workers' struggle is set against the dramatic backdrop of a crucial presidential election in Argentina, in which the architect of the economic collapse, Carlos Menem, is the front-runner. His cronies, the former owners, are circling: if he wins, they'll take back the companies that the movement has worked so hard to revive. Armed only with slingshots and an abiding faith in shop-floor democracy, the workers face off against the bosses, bankers and a whole system that sees their beloved factories as nothing more than scrap metal for sale. With The Take, director Avi Lewis, one of Canada's most outspoken journalists, and writer Naomi Klein, author of the international bestseller No Logo, champion a radical economic manifesto for the 21st century. But what shines through in the film is the simple drama of workers' lives and their struggle: the demand for dignity and the searing injustice of dignity denied. Reviews: "...a compelling and suspenseful cautionary tale documenting the consequences of globalization... universal in its implications." -- Los Angeles Times. "...Lewis and Klein have done something extraordinary..." -- The New Yorker.
SUNDAY May 14, 2006
Films about Children and Human Rights & Justice Issues:
These two short films will be screened from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. and will be followed by a panel discussion on issues related to the films: Gypsy Blood – Director: Daniel Lanctot
Sunday May 14, 12:30 noon running time: 15 minutes
In July 2000, WHO (the World Health Organization) urgently appealed to the UN administration in Kosovo to close their three Roma (Gypsy) IDP (internally displaced peoples) camps in the Mitrovica area because they had been built on highly toxic wasteland. More than six years later, the UN has still not evacuated these camps, nor sought medical treatment for the life-threatening lead levels in the blood of those living there. The International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Society for Threatened Peoples, Refugees International (and many other humanitarian organizations) have demanded in writing to the UN the immediate evacuation of these three camps. This film encourages the international community to intervene. Unable to return home or obtain refugee status in a third country, these Gypsies remain trapped on toxic land where every child conceived will suffer irreversible brain damage.
Children of Leningradsky - Directors: Hanna Pollack and Andrzej Celinski Sunday May 14, 12:45 running time: 34 minutes
It
is the dead of winter in Moscow, and more than
30,000 children are living on the streets. Theirs
is a marginal existence. They sleep in railway
stations, stairways and sewers. They spend their
days begging, playing, sniffing glue, drinking
vodka, and missing their mothers. Many will never
see past their 15th birthdays.
After spending time with these children, Hanna Pollack directed a documentary film about their lives, which was just nominated for an Oscar. Hannah takes us inside the train stations and the dark warm corners where the children live. She delivers a picture of their lives that is both brutal and deadly.
Nominated
for the 2004 Academy Award® for Best Documentary, "In their brilliant documentary short, Children of Leningradsky, filmmakers Hanna Polak and Andrzej Celinski offer a remarkably honest, compelling journey into the hidden world of Moscow’s homeless children." -- Cindy Drukier & Jan Jekielek, The Epoch Times.
Señorita Extraviada – Director: Lourdes Portillo
running time: 74 mins.
Someone
is killing the young women of Juárez, Mexico,
one of the world's largest border cities. Since
1993, over 270 young women have been raped and
murdered in a chillingly consistent and brazen
manner. Authorities blame the women for being prostitutes — though
many were workers and students — and follow
outlandish leads while relatives of the women demand
justice. Most disturbingly, evidence of police
complicity remains uninvestigated as the killings
continue.
Speaker: Zenaida Mendez, National Organization for Women
Waging a Living – Director: Roger Weisberg Sunday May 14, 3:15 p.m. running time: 85 minutes The term "working poor" should be an oxymoron. If you work full time, you should not be poor, but more than 30 million Americans—one in four workers—are stuck in jobs that do not pay the basics for a decent life. "Waging a Living" chronicles the day-to-day battles of four low-wage earners fighting to lift their families out of poverty. Shot over a three-year period in the northeast and California, this observational documentary captures the dreams, frustrations, and accomplishments of a diverse group of people who struggle to live from paycheck to paycheck. By presenting an unvarnished look at the barriers that these workers must overcome to lift their families out of poverty, "Waging a Living" offers a sobering view of the elusive American Dream. Speaker: Zenaida Mendez, National Organization for Women
The Untold Story of Emmett Till – Director: Keith Beauchamp Sunday May 14, 5:00 p.m. Running time: 68 minutes
In August 1955, Mamie Till-Mobley of Chicago sent her only child, 14 year-old Emmett Louis Till, to visit relatives in the Mississippi Delta. Little did she know that only 8 days later, Emmett would be abducted from his Great-Uncle’s home, brutally beaten and murdered by one of the oldest Southern taboos: whistling at a white woman in public. The murderers were soon arrested but later acquitted of murder by an all-white, all-male jury. Keith Beauchamp's groundbreaking film is the result of a 10-year journey to uncover the truth behind the nightmarish murder of an innocent African-American teenager. Emmett’s brutal murder - and his family’s brave actions in the horrifying aftermath- served as a major impetus for America's civil rights movement and led to Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to make decisions that changed the course of history. Discover for yourself why the Chicago Tribune wrote, "If you don’t believe film can change the world, you haven’t seen The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till."
"Told with both legal precision and heart-crushing empathy." -- New York Magazine. "A triumph of activism nine years in the making." –- Joshua Land, Village Voice.
LaLee’s Kin: The Legacy of Cotton - Directors: Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson, and Albert Maysles
Sunday, May 14, 7:00 p.m. running time: 88 minutes
For generations, the legacy of the cotton industry for African-Americans in the Mississippi Delta has been hardscrabble poverty and virtual illiteracy. This compelling program focuses on the family unit in crisis and the urgent need for education reform through the stories of two remarkable individuals. LaLee Wallace, a former cotton picker retired on disability, is a great-grandmother struggling to support and encourage her family, while Reggie Barnes, a crusading superintendent, strives to save the failing West Tallahatchie school system from takeover by the state. Can the economic decline and erosion of human dignity that have come to characterize the region be reversed? Reggie Barnes, superintendent of the embattled West Tallahatchie School System. The film explores the painful legacy of slavery and sharecropping in the Delta. 62 -year old Wallace grew up in a family of sharecroppers; she began picking cotton at the age of six, stopped attending school a few years later, and still cannot read. As happened throughout the South, sharecropping gave way to low-paid labor, but with the enforcement of minimum wage laws and increasing mechanization, even those jobs were hard to come by. Without education or skills, Wallace and other residents of Tallahatchie County had few options, and the poverty and hopelessness they felt was passed down to the generations that followed. The film also profiles educator Reggie Barnes, who is determined to stop this cycle. Barnes was hired as Superintendent of Schools in West Tallahatchie in an effort to get the school district off probation, where it was placed by the Mississippi Department of Education because of poor student performance on statewide standardized tests (the Iowa Test for Basic Skills, ITBS). If Barnes fails to raise the school from its current Level 1 status to a Level 2, the state of Mississippi has threatened to take over. Barnes and his faculty oppose this, fearing that administrators in far-off Jackson would not do as well in addressing the special needs of the community. "It's a different world," he says. "We get kids in kindergarten who don't know their names; we get kids in kindergarten who don't know colors; we get kids in kindergarten who have never been read to." He adds, "If we can educate the children of the illiterate parent, we stop this vicious cycle." “By tying together the legacy of slavery and sharecropping with inferior education, illiteracy and poverty, the filmmakers make the case that dire community conditions faced today are a result of the past as well as the present. They remind us that not all slavery ended with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. … (the film) is less concerned with fashion and more concerned with reality, and covers that reality with scenes that are inspiring, moving and sometimes depressing.” Consider "Lalee's Kin" as a "Film Exhibit A" in rgument favoring reparations." -- Seeing Black.
Speakers: Filmmaker Susan Froemke and Reggie Barnes, the school superintendent featured in the film. print a schedule of films (pdf)
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