'She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry' and the Mountain Tour!

Monday started off the third day of Southern Circuit, driving from Athens, Georgia to Johnson City, Tennessee, an epic adventure – thrilled by the mountains, lakes, and gorgeous scenery on I-26 W.  I wanted to stop and take it all in; however, it was hard to keep driving.  But there were students to meet!   

I arrived at Eastern Tennessee State University early that afternoon and met with two terrific classes on women’s issues and gender studies taught by Hilary Malatino. The students had great questions, and it was such a pleasure to get to talk with them.    

  

I enjoyed a delicious Thai dinner with some of the ETSU staff and students before screening 'She’s Beautiful' to a packed audience that night.

An additional treat, our youngest viewer ever, nine-month-old Charlie, was all eyes for the film!

The ETSU team did a fantastic job of publicizing the event.  Many thanks to Heidi Ehle and Phyllis Thompson, and Anita DeAngelis, the Director of Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, for sponsoring this whole event.  There was a lovely reception afterwards in a gallery with a brilliant installation on violence against women, the body and blood, by Native American contemporary artist Luzene Hill. What a powerhouse team! Many thanks to Lisa Gail Cutshaw for the great photographs.

As I was driving back down the mountain roads the next day, I became a fan of country music radio, especially the song, “Crash and Burn,” which I sang along with in the car because it’s on all the stations and no one could hear me!  My next stop would be Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. I drove through so many fascinating places, including Maggie Valley, and realized that the South can be habit-forming. Yes, I love the Smoky Mountains!

At Western Carolina University, I met with the next dynamic duo Francis Ann Ortiz from Campus Programs and Maven Mayfield, her student associate – what an amazing team! 

They made the screening fun and interactive with a wall poster for students to write about their views on feminism as well as a special frame for photos, not to mention popcorn!! There was a great Q & A after the screening and then more discussions about the film and feminism in the hallways.

By then it dawned on me - every site on Southern Circuit is full of more than great audiences, but also deeply dedicated staffers who are making sure that it’s a wonderful experience for everyone. Lucky me! 

Two more stops on the road to go,  TO BE CONTINUED……..

All best,   

Mary Dore

Kit Gruelle from Private Violence - The Tennessee Valley Art Association, Western Carolina University, & Robinson Film Center

From Kit Gruelle of Private Violence:

In Shreveport at the Robinson Film Center on 2/19/15 from left to right (Sgt. Lindsey Bonner - Shreveport Police Department Domestic Violence Unit; the one and only Kit; Angela Henderson - Project Celebration Sexual Assault Executive Director & Domestic Violence Advisor; Petrina Jenkins - Project Celebration Domestic Violence Community Educator & Public Relations Coordinator.

I attended three screenings of Private Violence on the Southern Circuit tour – one in Sheffield, Alabama, one in Shreveport, Louisiana and one here in my own state of North Carolina, at Western Carolina University. Each event and audience was completely different, but the common thread between them was clear: the people who came believe wholeheartedly that domestic violence is something that everyone should care about and get involved in preventing. It is not an issue that is just the domestic violence agency’s “problem.” It is not a “private” problem. And it will take greater collaboration with everyone across our communities, not just with our criminal justice professionals, to get there. Domestic violence is, in fact, a societal problem that, directly or indirectly, touches everyone.

I was inspired by talking to so many people, and was especially moved by the young people who were passionate about getting into this work. I talked to several young women and men out there who are just starting their work on ending violence against women, and they were not afraid of what they are getting into. I was thrilled to see law enforcement so actively engaged at the screening in Shreveport. I loved that half of the people who attended the WCU event were men. There is much to be hopeful about. And yet, I still heard stories from advocates in the audience that made my skin crawl and my jaw drop. One lamented the fact that a particular judge in a neighboring county refuses to issue any protective orders period because he, “doesn’t want to come between a man and his gun.” This is 2015! We have the power to change communities with this film and its community outreach initiative and we appreciate Southern Circuit for giving us the opportunity to nurture these conversations.


When people come together to watch the film and participate in its outreach and collaboration initiative, they learn about the complex realities battered women and children face in their communities. Important relationships get formed, which leads to a more comprehensive and community-based response. No one person or agency can do this work alone, but together, much good can be accomplished.

Hao Wu, The Road to Fame - West Carolina University, Madison-Morgan Cultural Center, & Hapeville, Georgia

From Filmmaker Hao Wu of The Road to Fame:

I guess it could be depressing when an audience came up to you after a screening of your film, and told you that your film made him depressed. The stories of young people struggling to make it in showbiz was too close to home, he said. He was a college student studying filmmaking at West Carolina University (Cullowhee, NC) and the prospect of becoming a successful filmmaker was looking remote.

I quoted a line from the veteran musical director featured in my film - "Only those who really want this can survive" - and wished him good luck in figuring out the industry, and himself.

And then I was elated. I had done my job right, I thought, that I could move an American youth this way with a story about Chinese kids feeling the same stress in the faraway Beijing. What more could we ask for as filmmakers telling stories close to our hearts?

In Madison GA, much younger audiences watched the film. Fifth graders. They were into performing arts and couldn't stop talking about the film after the screening at the beautiful Madison-Morgan Cultural Center. They had a long road ahead of them, and their optimism was innocent, and pure.

In Hapeville, Georgia, the city held the screening at The Historic Christ Church Building & Carriage House. The atmosphere felt like a cozy community party. One audience said afterwards that The Road to Fame was his first time watching a subtitled film. Now he realized that he'd missed out on a lot of good foreign films.

The Southern Circuit Tour was an intense experience with lots of flying, driving and meeting different people from different states. But for an independent filmmaker, it was such a rare opportunity to see the beautiful land in the south, to meet curious and engaging audiences who embrace good storytelling regardless of differences in language, culture and geography. Many asked me during the tour when I could be back with my next film. I replied soon, hopefully soon.

Upward and onward on the road to storytelling!

Shelli Ainsworth, Stay Then Go - Cullowhee NC

We have the latest blog post from Shelli Ainsworth, tourng her film Stay Then Go on the Southern Circuit:

Hello from Cullowhee, NC, and the gentle, glinting Tennessee River.

Our 4th screening of STAY THEN GO was at Western Carolina University. While they were folks there from the community outside the university, which was great, they were also many students - many film students in attendance. Subsequently, the Q&A was more centered on creative process, working with actors,  production woes / triumphs, and a lot of inquiry about the characters in STAY THEN GO, their intentions, their arcs.

The focus of the film program here is storytelling. Learning how to do that. Certainly dear to my heart! The faulty that we met are long time filmmaking veterans who left Malibu, left LA, to live in a lovely small town in the mountains in North Carolina. (There's a movie idea there?!) It was great to meet and talk with their students. I loved their palpable energy, ambition, and curiosity. Keeps the truth coming forward. Our next stop: Madison, Georgia = heaven.

Looking forward to the STAY THEN GO screening at Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC.
Francis Ann Ortiz, Assistant Director of Campus Programming and Shelli.

Francine Strickwerda, Oil & Water - Cullowhee, NC

The latest update from filmmaker Francine Strickwerda, touring the Southern Circuit with her film Oil & Water:

Gratitude, Y'all

After eight long years making OIL & WATER, it feels unbelievably good to be taking the film on the road. I’m on the Southern Circuit film tour this week, taking eight flights to get to screenings and meet-ups in three Southern states in just six days.

I write this from a rocking chair at Ashville Regional Airport in North Carolina. This morning I ate grits for breakfast, and last night’s entertainment was the music of Blue Ridge Mountain bugs and a swim in my motel pool with one of the biggest insects I’ve seen since I was last in the Amazon. And I’m just so grateful to be here.

Gratitude is big this week as I travel solo on the Circuit.  I rarely spend much time alone anymore now that I have a three-year-old son whom I love to bits.  Thanks to my son’s amazing daddy (and OIL & WATER editor) Tracy Dethlefs, who’s doing double duty at home in Seattle, I get to be here. Every night before bed, Tracy holds storybooks up to his smart phone so I can read to our son via Skype. This calms my worrying mom brain so that I can continue to launch our new film “baby.”

The Southern Circuit is an amazing logistical feat, and I’m astonished by the territory covered and the people I’m getting to meet. This year the good people at South Arts are touring 18 films in communities all over the South.  And earlier this week on my first Circuit stop, Western Carolina University staff, students and faculty welcomed me to campus.  (Shouting out to Francis Ann Ortiz, Mike Corelli and Arledge Armenaki – ya’ll rock.)

I’ll admit, I was nervous. We’ve got many more festivals coming up, and a (PBS) World Channel broadcast next week (Sunday, Sept. 21, check your local listings!), but we’re really just getting started.  The Western Carolina students, these bright young people, put me right at ease and reminded me why I started making documentaries in the first place.

One young woman asked how to get people to really care about environmental problems like the ones in OIL & WATER. I’ve been mocked for being too earnest most of my life, and am pleased that I’m thrilled by this question.  My answer to her: pick something, even one thing that you care about, and find a way to push on it. And don’t give up.

Am I hopeful things can be turned around? I’m hopeful for Hugo Lucitante and the Cofan people whose struggle is explored in OIL & WATER. They number only about 1,000 people in Ecuador and another 1,000 in Columbia, and the dangers loom large. It’s not just the oil beneath their feet that the outside world wants to take; it’s all the natural resources on their land. But the Cofan should not be underestimated. They have a sophisticated understanding of the problems they are dealing with, and a powerful strategy for survival. Anything could happen, but I’m betting on the Cofan.

Another student asked what I liked most about making OIL & WATER. My favorite moments come from the time I spend with the camera behind me in what I call the “yummy cone of light” when someone opens up and tells me their story.  I am always humbled by the privilege it is to be entrusted with people’s stories, and following OIL & WATER’s stars Hugo Lucitante and David Poritz for eight years has been so satisfying. I’m grateful to them for the work they’re doing and for letting us shadow them for so long. And we know we were needy, noisy shadows sometimes, especially in the jungle. Thanks for hanging in there with us, guys. And to my co-director Laurel Spellman Smith, thank you for sharing this great adventure with me.

Lastly, I like being able to update audiences on new OIL & WATER news since we finished the film. This past summer there was another sizable oil spill near the Cofan village of Dureno. Now, for some good news. David’s company, Equitable Origin, has “fair trade” certified their first oil field in Columbia. The field will yield 250,000 barrels of EO certified oil a day, the equivalent of 25 percent of Columbia’s oil production. This is big news and I’m excited to see what Equitable Origin will do next.


Thanks again to the Southern Circuit and South Arts for giving filmmakers opportunities like these to reflect on their own journeys, and for making such an enriching experience possible. It’s a spectacular treat to be able to visit communities and have meaningful conversations about stuff that matters. And the grits, rocking chairs, and southern hospitality are pretty wonderful, too. I am grateful.

Jeremy Seifert - Western Carolina University

The latest update from Jeremy Seifert, touring his film GMO OMG:

Tucked in the mountains of the Nantahala National Forest, just south of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, lies the tiny town of Cullowhee, NC, home of Western Carolina University. For this second screening of the Southern Tour, the whole family packed into the rental car and drove through the gray, dormant forest through wisps of icy snow. This was the second cold snap of fall and the temperature dropped to 26 degrees! Very cold for transplants from Los Angeles.

It was another fantastic screening, with many students in attendance, and a lively half hour discussion afterward. We ended up talking about the need for students to wake up to this issue and take a stand, like in the good ol' days of campus revolution again Vietnam.

Many students on campuses across the country truly do not have a choice when it comes to food. The meal programs, many of them run by companies like Aramark, serve up GMOs and preservative-packed crap to a captive student body. We need for students to take the lead on getting good, organic, local, fresh food on campuses. How amazing would it be if the college population of this country said NO to the corporate slop and YES to real food?

I heartfelt thank you to senior Jeffrey Ray for driving me around and helping with t-shirt sales. Wearing only a t-shirt in the bitter cold, without one goose bump on his smooth black skin, I learned a thing or two about being a real man, too! Thanks for that, Jeffrey!

Jeremy
www.gmofilm.com

'Birth of the Living Dead' -- a hit at Western Carolina University

From Rob Kuhns

October 22, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC

The drive from Johnson City, TN to Cullowhee, NC was probably the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The mountains and the fall foliage were utterly  spectacular. 

Jeffery Ray (photo, right), a film and business student at WCU, greeted me on the WCU campus and took incredibly great care of me during my trip. At one point I had lost my glasses and Jeffery very patiently helped me find them. The university put me up in the Chancellor Bird Alumni House – gotta say, it was really nice to stay in a house after so many days on the road in hotels. Thank you, WCU! My first stop was a discussion with Arledge Armenaki's film class. The students were equally interested in documentary and fiction and among them were, of course, zombie and Romero fans. Esther and I have discovered they are absolutely everywhere, and continue to spread like a merciless plague. I was delighted to find out that one student shared our love of Romero’s, Martin (1976). WCU clearly has a remarkable film program. Arledge told me they were one of the few schools Sony gave their latest 16K camera to. The screening was very well attended – about 80 people, Jeffery told me. Most were students, but there were a handful of faculty as well. One student, a self-proclaimed horror film fanatic (his parents introduced him to horror at the tender age of eight!), asked where my interest in the genre began. I said that it probably started when I saw Planet of the Apes when I was 10 years old. While the film is not a horror film – technically, it’s Sci Fi – the ending (spoiler alert!) when the astronaut Taylor discovers the destroyed Statue of Liberty on the beach – he’d been on earth all along! – shocked me profoundly. It shocked me in very much the same way as the ending of Night of the Living Dead. I thought it worth noting that Planet of the Apes and Night of the Living Dead came out in the same year – 1968.  So did 2001, A Space Odyssey, which changed sci fi in the same revolutionary way that Night changed horror. After the screening I met a couple from Pittsburgh who were happy to see such a tribute to their hometown (Night was made near Pittsburgh, and Romero’s commercial production company was in downtown Pittsburgh).  They commented on how the sheriff in Night, (“Yeah, they’re dead. They’re all messed up”) was such a wonderfully typical Pittsburgher. I was sorry to say goodnight to this welcoming group of people and hope we can visit WCU again soon.

Hidden In The Mountains of North Carolina

Drove from Tennessee to North Carolina on Tuesday morning to land on the campus of Western Carolina University, where Lori Davis took Kalin and I under her wing. The campus is beautiful surrounded by mountains. Almost 75 people attended the screening--the diverse audience of students, faculty and community members enjoyed the film and most stayed behind to participate in the question and answer session. One student asked me about the Little Rock Nine suffering from post traumatic Stress Syndrome. That question continues to resonate with me because during the course of my research on the film and after meeting many of the Little Rock Nine I had come to the same conclusion. At the end of the Q&A an older woman walked up to me with her son. In a very quiet and sad voice she told me that she attended Central High School and she handed me her graduation ring. She said that I deserved it after working on the film for so long and so hard. I tried to return the ring but she wouldn't accept it--we hugged as I thanked her profusely and promised to take good care of it.

One last word from Jeb Berrier

by Jeb berrier, Bag It

Hi All

Wow, what a tour!

Just got home from the Southern Circuit and am still reeling from such an amazing trip showing Bag It throughout the South.
When I last wrote I had just left Manteo, NC and was headed to Miramar, FL and then on. Miramar’s screening was the second time I had been there with ‘Bag It’ and the turn out was even better than the first. I think Jessica and Joyce had been working hard getting the word out and it paid off big time. We also had a very fun Q and A where I met, and had pictures taken with a bunch of folks, one high school student who had written an essay for school on the subject of plastic, a young man with a theater company, people who wanted to get involved in a local bag ban, and more.
The Miramar cultural center is a quite beautiful, new facility that hosts arts performances of all sorts in the city center. I also got to finally meet Theresa Hollingsworth from South Arts, who puts the whole tour together. Big high five to you Theresa for bringing us around the region with our films. Thanks!!!

Next I headed to Jacksonville for a show at the Aurora Stage Theater. Aurora Stage has been in existence for around eight years and is actually a theater inside and old JC Penny, inside a mostly empty shopping mall in Jacksonsville. The idea came from a man named Daryll Ruben Hall as a way to revitalize an area that had been hit hard by economics and crime. The place hosts not only sold out theatrical productions but also arts camps for kids and a community center of sorts. I was treated to some very fine BBQ afterwards by my host, which was delicious. Just a side note about this tour, be prepared to eat well!

Off to Winder, GA where we screened in what was once an old industrial building and is now a theater/tv studio for the city of Winder, which can be used by schools and groups throughout the region. I see a theme in these place of taking what was old and abandoned and using the arts as a way to revitalize.

After Winder I was back in the Tar Heel State for a show at Western Carolina U with a huge college crowd, some of whom were there for extra credit, but still!!!! Rachel my host did a great job of getting the word out and packing the place on a school night. Once again a great Q and A followed ‘Bag It’ with questions about the film and also quite a few about how people could affect change in their community and on a larger scale. One young man told me the film had changed his life and he was determined to go to law school so he could work at the higher levels of power to really get at the root of issues with environmental law. Wow!

Savannah was one stop I was looking forward to as it’s a place with lots of beauty and history to take in. ‘Bag It’ was screened in the historic Lucas Theater which was just unveiling its new LED, energy efficient marquee. We had a champagne toast and were told that the lights, over the course of their expected 20 year life-span, would save an estimated $80,000. I think it was worth it. And they look great!
I took in the sights, learned that the civil war was a bit more complicated than my Yankee upbringing had lead me to believe, and headed to my last stop, Alexandria, LA.

It was here that I was hosted by the delightful David and Nicole Holcombe, who have hosted every filmmaker since the beginning of the Southern Circuit. The Holcombe’s live in a wonderful art filled home and wined, dined and conversed with me in grand style. Our screening took place in downtown Alexandria before which I took a stroll with David around town and got to see the Bently Hotel, which was the headquarters for all the generals planning D Day back in WWII, as well as the river, art museum and an Irish Pub, which I visited again during ‘Bag It’. What, I’ve seen it a few times. J. The Bentley is now empty with talk of something moving in to once again help revitalize the downtown area.

After the screening I was treated to a very nice reception where I got to meet and talk plastic with most of the film attendees. 

The next day the Holcombes put me on a plane and I was on my way back home to Portland.
The trip was a whirlwind and such an amazing chance to get to see places, talk to people and share the message of our film, Bag It, with yet more people who can help be catalysts for change in our world that desperately needs it.

Thank you Theresa, Alison, and all responsible for my great time on the Southern Circuit!

"Encounter" a hit in the Smoky Mountains

East Tennessee State University and Western Carolina University journal.....

Driving up from Georgia, my mother and I ran into some serious fog...those beautiful Smoky Mountain views alluded us. But, fingers crossed, we'll get to see the lovely vistas and the colorful leaves tomorrow as we head down to Cullowhee and Western Carolina University.  We did however feel somewhat compensated when we checked into the magnificent Carnegie Hotel.

This evening, after a yummy Mexican meal with Shara Lange (professor in the Radio/Television/Film Dept at East Tennessee State) and her husband, we drove to the theater on campus where the film was to be shown.

There I got to meet Anita DeAngelis, who did such a great job organizing my visit.

As she said, ETSU strives to really take care of its visiting artists, and that was abundantly clear to me when I saw AN ENCOUNTER WITH SIMONE WEIL projected in the theater. It was by far one of the best projections we've had, surpassed only by those that were projected from HDCAM tape.

The post-screening questions were thoughtful, challenging, and profound. One audience member even asked me what I thought about the future of humanity. I felt as if I was being elevated to heights far beyond those usually occupied by documentary filmmakers. Afterward at the reception, many people expressed how much the film had moved them, which were deeply gratifying words for me to hear.

It's those moments that, after laboring on something for years, make it all so worthwhile, those moments when I feel as I've really communicated to someone and touched their heart in some way. Most people came not knowing anything about Simone Weil, or my own personal journey in the film, and they said they left with a reinvigorated sense of purpose and hope.  THANK YOU ETSU!

The next day, the weather cleared up and we were treated to beautiful sunshine and hospitality at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. Our host and organizer of the event was Lori Davis (pictured below), who got a large crowd out to see the film.
She also helped us sell a record number of DVDs and T-shirts!

I got some great questions in the Q & A. People were interested to know what Weil would be doing today if she were still alive. While it's hard to predict, I said, I imagine she might well be involved with the Catholic Workers, a progressive Catholic group that does direct action protesting government repression throughout the world.

I left with fond memories and a sense of gratitude for all the hard work that went into making the evening such a success!

Meet John Henry Summerour

Welcome John Henry Summerour to the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers! John will be touring with his film, Sahkanaga. The first stop is Friday, April 6th at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art in Charleston, South Carolina. The show starts at 8 pm so don't miss a moment!

Sahkanaga will also show in the following communities:

Cullowhee, NC

Montgomery, AL

Winder, GA

Savannah, GA

Tupelo, MS

Clemson, SC

Alexandria, LA

Thomasville, GA

Johnson City, TN

View the film trailer below:

Day 11 and 12 for We Still Live Here

Day 11: Eastern Tennessee State University

I woke up in my brother Roger's sunny house to the sound of oatmeal boiling and the Big Pine Creek rushing along (he literally lives up the creek).  Worked for a while in a hopeless attempt to keep up with obligations, phone calls etc.  At noon we headed across the French Broad River for lunch and then to Hot Springs for a hike up Lover's Leap. Hiking along the Appalachian trail, I was pondering the fact that hundreds of miles north this same trail winds through Salisbury CT for 13 miles, passing less than a mile from my home in Lakeville.  Made me homesick for Charles and Cassius.

We had a good Thai dinner in Johnson City with film professor Shara Kay Lange and her husband Dan, both lovely and friendly and interesting folks that I wished I had had more time to get to know, then headed to the auditorium. The audience, a mix of students, professors, and people from the community, were really enthusiastic and engaged in the film and the issues it raises.  After the lively Q+A and a 90 minute drive, I was still wired when we arrived back at my brother's house to sleep.

Day 12: Cherokee and Western Carolina University

 We woke up to a rainy day in the mountains, drove down to Marshall for tea and emailing at actor/producer Tony Torn's Good Stuff Cafe, then headed out for a day of adventure.  First stop, Cherokee, the commercial and governmental center for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, looking forward to seeing the New Kituwah Cherokee language immersion school that we featured on the Our Mother Tongues

website, a companion site for We Still Live Here.  (Please visit www.OurMotherTongues.org).

We met Gill Jackson, director and one of the founders of New Kituwah, for lunch, then headed to the school.  There, all classes are taught in the Cherokee language, and English is not allowed.  We were thrilled and honored to be invited to visit the school.

These second grade students have been part of New Kituwah since they were babies when it was founded.  It was fun  to watch them engage with their teacher during a lesson about half notes, full notes, quarter notes, all in Cherokee.  New Kituwah has become a model school for many Native communities working to preserve and revitalize their languages.  The Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project, featured in We Still Live Here, is hoping to found an immersion school in 2015, where all subjects will be taught in Wampanoag.  Like New Kituwah, the plan is to begin with kindergarten and add a grade every year so that students can continue their education in their language as they move up through the grades.

Cherokee elder Myrtle Driver is translating Charlotte's Web into the Cherokee syllabary!  They are planning to record all of the voices and have already cast the roles according to the personalities the school's staff.  This should be a delightful addition to the curriculum.

We also met with Bo Lossie, a teacher at New Kituwah who is also featured on the  Our Mother Tongues Videos page, where he talks about discovering the true meaning of his grandfather's words.  Here he is holding a picture here of that same grandfather.

After our great visit to Cherokee, we headed down to our screening at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina.  We had a great dinner at Guadalupe's with our host Lorie Davis and with Tom Belt, Cherokee elder and language instructor at the WCU, and linguist Hartwell Francis, Director of the  with the two professors who teach the Cherokee Language Program there.  Then as we were pulling in to the University Center for the screening, there was Gill Jackson, come down to join us.  He is incredibly busy, so it was a terrific surprise to have him there.

We had a great screening and discussion, and a very comfortable night at our comparatively posh digs at the Chancellor's Guest House.  No rest for the weary though - we left at dawn the next morning for Asheville airport and my flight to Savannah.

Stay tuned for the next blog entry - screenings in Savannah, Georgia and Alexandria, Louisiana; then home at last to Charles and Cassius.