Interested in developing the skills to plan, produce and edit new documentary media works? Then apply for Scribe’s Film Scholars program, a series of courses designed to guide emerging documentary filmmakers from conceptualization through completion of their projects. To be eligible you must be a Scribe member, submit an application, and commit to participating in all four courses; Blueprint for Documentaries, Production Management, 14 Week Production Workshop, and Editing in Adobe Premiere Pro, beginning in December 2019 and concluding in August 2020.

Join us for a discussion on the cinematic possibilities of video installation, media works that are created for a specific location. Acclaimed cinematographer, Bradford Young, best known for his work on such films as Selma, When They See Us, A Most Violent Year and Arrival, will discuss his technical and aesthetic approach to installation as well as the process of creating the newly commissioned work, Back and Song.

STATES OF VIOLENCE (1978-2016, 103 min)

The debates and politics surrounding the American criminal justice system are complex. States of Violence approaches this urgent topic from those directly affected by policing, incarceration, domestic violence, and war.

Ain’t Nobody’s Business (1978, 11 min) New Orleans Video Access Center Workshop, New Orleans Video Access
Inside Women Inside (1978, 28 min) Christine Choy and Cynthia Maurizio, Third World Newsreel
M4BL: Ceremony (2016, 5 min) Movement for Black Lives

AND, MUCH MORE!

COOKED: SURVIVAL BY ZIP CODE by Judith Helfand Productions and Kartemquin Films (USA, 2018, 76 min). In July 1995, a heat wave overtook Chicago: high humidity and heat-retaining pollution drove the heat index up to 126 degrees. City roads buckled, electric grids failed, thousands became ill and people began to die — by the hundreds. Balancing the serious and the somber with her respectful, albeit ironic style, filmmaker Judith Helfand explores this drama rooted in long-term crisis of pernicious poverty, and social isolation and racism. Cooked is a story about life, death, and the politics of crisis in an American city. FILMMAKER JUDITH HELFAND IN PERSON

WAGES OF WORK (1970-2019, 98 min)

Citizens and communities approach issues surrounding job opportunities, occupations, wages, unemployment, and underemployment in a myriad of ways. They reclaim stories about what is not spoken, repressed, or suppressed.

Finally Got the News (1970, 55 min) Stewart Bird, Rene Lichtman, Peter Gessner, League of Revolutionary Black Workers
The United Mine Workers of America: A House Divided (1971, 14 min) Dan Mohn and J. Benjamin Zickafoose, Appalshop
AND, MUCH MORE!

This workshop will focus on the fundamental principles of animation for video. Using After Effects, students will learn how to create titles, kinetic typography, and simple compositing to enhance their videos. Whether you want to get started as a motion graphics artist or just want to take your videos to the next level, this workshop is a great place to start.

NO! The Rape Documentary by Aishah Shahidah Simmons (USA, 2006, 94 min)
Produced and directed over eleven years by Aishah Shahidah Simmons, NO! broke taboos that hid the rape and sexual assault of Black women in Black communities. The film brought together leading Black scholars, theologians, artists, activists, and survivors to break silences and commit themselves to reshape patriarchal cultures of violence against women and queer communities. FILMMAKERS IN PERSON

The best documentary interviews are those that create a human connection and offer insight into lives beyond the surface of the frame. Join renowned documentary cinematographer, Michael Chin (American Experience, POV, American Masters), for a special hands-on workshop and discussion about aesthetic approaches to the lens and lighting techniques to create portrait interviews.

In this workshop, participants will study the fundamentals of narrative screenwriting, focusing on finding story ideas, character development, story structure, what makes strong film-writing, and finally, the basics of script format (and why we use this format). The goal of this workshop is for participants to complete an outline for a short script and to write the first few scenes so that they have the tools to continue the screenwriting process on their own.

Thursday, November 21, 2019, 7:00 PM
Bacchanal Time: The People’s Carnival (USA, 2003, 60 min)

Friday, November 22, 2019, 7:00 PM
Mother Dot’s Philadelphia (USA, 2002, 26 Min) by Malkia K. Lydia and Ryan Saunders
Mother Dot’s Philadelphia: The Music Continues (USA, 2004, 26 Min) by Malkia K. Lydia and Ryan Saunders

Saturday, November 23, 2019, 7:00 PM
Steelpan Now! Notes on Where Pan Gone (USA, 2019, 45 Min excerpt) by Ryan Saunders and Aaron R. Astillero
Operating Outside the Lines (USA, 2013, 24 Min) Community Visions Project Facilitator