Storyville

image: 

Location(s)

Yo! Taxi A film by Termite TV Collective
Anula Shetty, Deborah Rudman & Michael Kuetemeyer
2009, 28 minutes
Seas of taxis block the streets and blast their horns in protest outside the headquarters of the Philadelphia Parking Authority. Yo! Taxi is a firsthand account of the real issues, struggles and circumstances on the job from members of the Unified Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania. Taxi workers of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities share stories of their lives allowing the passenger (or viewer) to get behind the driver¹s seat and better understand who is at the wheel. Created as part of Termite TV¹s Life Stories Project.

Driving the American Dream: Philadelphia Taxi Industry's Need for Workers' Comp
A film by Media Mobilizing Project
Chris Filippone and Chris Rogy
2009, 15 minutes
An exploration into the role and effect lawmakers and state regulators play in the lives of Philadelphia's taxi drivers, "Driving the American Dream" reveals the very real and lived experiences of poor and working-poor drivers who struggle each day to provide for their families.

----------------------------------------------------

Submit your films to Storyville
For more information and to download the call for works visit www.scribe.org or call 215. 222.4201 or email inquiry@scribe.org.

Storyville is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

image: 

Location(s)

Cuban Pete Dances Philadelphia
Directed by Barry Dornfeld
2007, 27 minutes
This documentary profiles Pedro Aguilar, considered the "the greatest mambo dancer ever." Known as “Cuban Pete”, Aguilar began dancing in the late 1940s in New York, and rode the mambo craze through the '50s and '60s. This documentary takes you on the journey of him choreographing, rehearsing and performing several shows during his residence with the School of Dance at The University of the Arts. It also draws on historic footage, still photographs and scenes of Aguilar’s interviews about his life and his experience translating this art form to a contemporary setting. Sadly Cuban Pete passed away on January 14, 2009.

Plenty of Good Women Dancers
Directed by Germaine Ingram, Debora Kodish & Barry Dornfeld
2001, 53 minutes
This documentary features exceptional local African American women tap dancers whose careers spanned the 1920s-1950s. Restricted to few roles, often unnamed and uncredited, these women have largely remained anonymous within (and outside) of the entertainment industry and sometimes even within the communities in which they reside. Glamorous film clips, photographs, and dancers own vivid recollections provide a dynamic portrait of veteran women hoofers prominent during the golden age of swing and rhythm tap. The film features many greats including Libby Spencer, Hortense Allen Jordan, LaVaughn Robinson, Germaine Ingram, and Cora LaRedd.

--------------------------------------------------------

image: 

Location(s)

Education is one of the most important elements to a child’s future. But how that child is educated is even more important. These three films bring a different perspective to how African American children from different socio-economic backgrounds share in the same struggles.

Mainline Monologues
Directed by Ellen Sall and Co- Produced by Crystal Blunt & Loraine Carter/Concerned Black Parents
2005, 40 minutes
This film features interviews with six generations of African American men and women who all went through the Lower Merion School District. They talk about how they were treated differently from the white students and told that they would never amount to anything let alone get a college degree. Each story is unique but resonant from one generation to the next.

Freedom School
Directed by Amitanshu Das and produced by the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education
2009, 26 minutes
This story profiles the Children's Defense Fund's Freedom School Summer Program in West Philadelphia. The documentary follows a team of young African American educators and college students toiling to instill a love of learning and self-esteem in middle school children growing up in one of Philadelphia's toughest neighborhoods. The film showcases a unique model for anyone interested in empowering children, teaching them to be civically engaged and producing in them a life-long connection to the simple joy of reading.

Trying Something New
Directed by Edward Basile
2006, 23 minutes

image: 

Location(s)

Directed by Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater
2009, 58 minutes

Presented in partnership with HIAS and Council Migration Service of Philadelphia, Nationalities Service Center, and Women’s Campaign International

This documentary explores issues of human rights and asylum in a film about a mother’s journey to protect her daughter. Declared a "heart-wrenching testament to the integrity and solidarity of women in the face of staggering adversity" by Ed Gonzalez in the Village Voice, Mrs. Goundo’s Daughter explores a Malian mother’s struggle for political asylum in the U.S. so that she can keep her two-year-old daughter healthy and whole. To avoid deportation, Mrs. Goundo must convince a judge that she is unable to protect her daughter, Djenabou, from her well-intentioned grandparents in West Africa, who believe all girls should undergo female genital cutting. Djenebou's situation is not isolated – an estimated three million girls each year are subjected to this procedure.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater are 2005 recipients of the Pew Fellowship in the Arts. Since 1990, Attie and Goldwater have collaborated on award-winning documentaries for national and international broadcast.

image: 

Location(s)

Fordham SDS directed by Bert Shultz

In 1969, the members of the Fordham University Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) took over the administration building in protest to the Vietnam War and the militarism of the nation. Bert Schultz, an activist and student leader, documented the events with a 16 mm film camera. Fordham SDS is a remembrance of that pivotal moment in time, which shaped the lives of the many young who took part in that struggle. (2009, 30 minutes)

Broken Pots, Broken Dreams directed by Maris Gillette

The lives of pottery workers in Jingdezhen, a center of ceramic production for over 500 years, are examined in this documentary by anthropologist-filmmaker, Maris Gillette. Changes in China’s economic systems from a system, one with worker benefits and protections, to the current system where each worker must fend for him/herself, has required pottery workers of Jingdezhen to re-deine their lives. (2009, 27 minutes)

--------------------------------

Submit your films to Storyville
For more information and to download the call for works, follow this link: Storyville or call Joni C. Helton, Scribe’s Program Consultant at 215 222 4201 or email joni@scribe.org.
------------------------------

Storyville is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and Juliette Goodfriend.

image: 

Location(s)

Directed by Barbara Ettinger

Imagine a world without fish. It’s a frightening premise, and it’s happening right now. A Sea Change follows the journey of retired history teacher Sven Huseby on his quest to discover what is happening to the world’s oceans. After reading Elizabeth Kolbert’s “The Darkening Sea,” Sven becomes obsessed with the rising acidity of the oceans and what this “sea change” bodes for mankind. His quest takes him to Alaska, California, Australia, and Norway as he uncovers a worldwide crisis that most people are unaware of.

In Person - Benjamin M. Kalina, Associate Producer

------------------------------------------------

Submit your films to Storyville
For more information and to download the call for works, follow this link: Storyville or call Joni C. Helton, Scribe’s Program Consultant at 215 222 4201 or email joni@scribe.org.
------------------------------