What A Funny Guy Woody Is!

Known for movies such as "Annie Hall", "Husband and Wives", "The Mighty Aphrodite" and "Midnight in Paris", Woody Allen has been a pillar in the film community for decades.

Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Robert Weide follows the legendary writer, director, actor, comedian and musician for over a year and a half to document Allen's day to day life, something Allen has never let anyone do before. The documentary covers Allen's childhood and leads up to the writer/director he has become, averaging one film a year for more than 40 years.

The documentary includes interviews from actors, writers, friends and family such as Antonio Banderas, Owen Wilson, Diane Keaton, Chris Rock, Sean Penn, Scarlett Johansson Woody, Martin Scorsese, Doug McGrath, Allen's manager Jack Rollins and Allen's sister Letty Aronson.

Woody Allen: A Documentary, a two party documentary, airs Sunday, November 20 from 9-11 p.m. and Monday, November 21 from 9-10:30 p.m. on WPBT2 as a part of the 25th Anniversary season of American Masters.

 

WPBT2 Delves into the Heart of Israel

A small country with limited natural resources, known for their politics, conflict and violence, has become a world leader in global science, business, medicine and technology. More impressive is their ability to share these developments with the world.

On Israel Inside, Harvard lecturer Dr. Tal Ben Shahar takes a look at how Israel's techological, economic and humanitarian achievements have contributed to Jewish values such as freedom, education, family and responsibility.

Watch interviews with Professor Alan Dershowitz, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and others as they give their point of view on Israel and its people. 

Israel Inside premieres Tuesday, November 29 at 8 p.m. on WPBT2.

 

 

 

WPBT2 and FIU Present Women, War & Peace

WPBT2 and FIU's Women's Studies Center will screen the new PBS series, Women, War & Peace on Tuesday, September 27 at 9:30am-10:30am at the Graham Center (Room 243) on FIU's Modesto Maidique Campus.

A co-production of THIRTEEN and Fork Films, Women, War & Peace challenges the conventional wisdom that war and peace are men’s domain and places women at the center of an urgent dialogue about conflict and security. Featuring narrators Matt Damon, Tilda Swinton, Geena Davis and Alfre Woodard, the series reveals that the majority of today’s conflicts are not fought by nations and their armies, but rather by gangs, insurgent groups, and warlords armed with small arms and improvised weapons.  Women have become primary targets in these conflicts and though they are suffering unprecedented casualties they are simultaneously emerging as critical partners in brokering peace and as leaders in forging new international laws governing conflict.  With depth and complexity, Women, War & Peace spotlights the stories of women in conflict zones from Bosnia to Afghanistan, and Colombia to Liberia.

The event is free and open to the public.

You're Invited to the Optic Nerve XIII Film Festival!

In recognition of its 15th anniversary, the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami has broadened the scope of its annual Optic Nerve Film Festival featuring new short films and videos by artists. This year, in addition to selections from South Florida artists, films by artists from around the country will be screened.  

Optic Nerve XIII will be presented on Saturday, August 27 with two screenings at 7 pm and 9 pm at the Museum of Contemporary Art,  770 NE 125th Street,  North Miami, FL  33161.  The program includes 18 films by 15 artists and 2 artist collectives, all less than five minutes in length and made within the last two years which were selected from an open call for submissions.

One of the films will be purchased for MOCA’s permanent collection. The selection will be announced by MOCA Executive Director Bonnie Clearwater at the conclusion of the first screening.  Audience members will vote for their favorite film by ballot.    A reception will be held at 8 pm between the screenings with wines provided by Rex Goliath.

Optic Nerve XIII is free with museum admission ($5 adults; $3 seniors and students with ID; free for MOCA members, North Miami residents). Seating is very limited and RSVP is required.  For reservations, please call 305.893.6211 or email [email protected].

OPTIC NERVE XIII FILMS

John Bonafede, 21 Gestures, 2:50 min, New York, NY

An artist ascends into the frame with the statement "I'm Emerging." in both English and Japanese, cuing her companion to do another push up which in turn enables the artist to add another gesture to a portrait she is drawing above her head.  At the 21st attempt,  she is finished and he is exhausted.

Brian Bress, Alone, 1:02 min, Los Angeles, CA

 The artist uses a found photograph of a deserted, sparse landscape as the backdrop over which he video-collages his own totemic portrait as a woeful expression of loneliness.

Brian Bress, Its Been A Long Day, 2:13 min., Los Angeles, CA

What begins as care for an oozing wound turns into a lesson in painting and a portrait of deception. 
Jennifer Campbell, Unbridled :18 min,  Seattle, WAThe artist constructs images by posing with a variety of props in ways that de-contextualization of both the body and the object.

L. Ashwyn Collins, Remake, 3:50 min, Gifford, NH

Remake is a compilation of 16 distinct videos sourced from YouTube consisting of  the original shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller, Psycho and 15 amateur recreations of the same scene. 

Christina Corfield, Hot Circuit, 5:00 min, San Francisco, CA

This film uses a traditional narrative to mimic a penny arcade machine - even to the extent that the characters within the story are themselves robotic, endlessly repeating the same actions and same story, raising  questions about our growing  dependence on new technologies and myths.

Kasia Houlihan, Hold On, 1:39 min, Chicago, IL

With a nod and a knowing half-smile, a girl suddenly breaks into a spasmodic dance of disorienting leaps, jerky falls, and floating zigzags. As the camera tries to follow  her sporadic dance, and keep its subject in the frame, it becomes a duet between camera and subject, subject and viewer.

Eunjung Hwang, Feature Creatures, 5:00 min, New York, NY

 This film is part of a series of experimental animations, which explores the complexity of cryptic images from dreams and the subconscious.  The main aspect of the project is to produce visionary narratives inspired by the illusion of fragmented realities and compile them into a usable pictorial catalogue.

Karlo Andrei Ibarra, Crossover, 3:11 min, Miami Beach, FL

This video which depicts random Puerto Rican citizens singing the Star Spangled Banner, amplifies the socio-cultural distance between Puerto Rico and the United States.   Many long for statehood yet often do not know the language of the country in which they wish to assimilate.

Richard Jochum, Twenty Angry Dogs, Group Bark, :59 min, New York, NY

This one minute video is a single channel appendix to the sound and video installation “Twenty Angry Dogs", in which the artist asked 20 people to bark like an angry dog. 

Jennifer Levonian, Her Slip Is Showing, 4:12 min, Philadelphia, PA

This cut out watercolor animation of a suburban bridal shower explores the persistence of traditional gender roles, social awkwardness and the way in which friendship has evolved over time.

Jillian Mayer, I Am Your Grandma, 1:03 min, Miami, FL 

This autobiographical video diary log (vlog) which the artist created for her unborn grandchildren was posted on YouTube, inspiring copycats and creating fans. Envisioned as an authentic solution to fleshing out the detached model of the family tree, the artist hearkens to bygone times when ancestors could glimpse one another through a locket or lock of hair. By placing the video in a public forum, the film becomes a study of why people ultimately share their personal feelings with anonymous strangers, and whether this sharing effects the actual emotional significance of the piece. 

Ruben Millares & Antonia Wright, Job Creation In A Bad Economy, 2:15 min, Coral Gables, FL

This new video series by the collaborative Ruben Millares and Antonia Wright, is a playful commentary on the somber issue of the devaluation of the arts and education in our society.  The artists physically and metaphorically tackle the bureaucracy and walls that uphold these systems and leaving the viewer feeling sympathy for Millares and Wright, yet laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.  

Tara Nelson, Hull, 5:00 min, Jamaica Plains, MA 

This film is a journey between layers of corporal consciousness, exploring the physical memory of trauma and the psychological repercussions of a surgical disaster.

Zachary Ordonez, Resistance - Release - Recover, Part II, 4:30 min, Cutler Bay, FL

Using strength, endurance and willpower, various men compete to see who can last the longest hanging onto a pair of ropes.

Carlos Charlie Perez, Billy The Kids, 4:40 min, New York, NY

Billy The Kids depicts a group of teenagers pretending to be famous actors questioning life's meaning through a quirky "Cat In The Hat" rhyme scheme.

Perfect Lives, Marfa, 4:57 min, Oakland, CA

Artists D. Sadja and S. Martinez fuses elements of narrative film, music video and performance art in this story about two unsuspecting cowboys.  Marfa was shot in a single 18 hour period in Marfa, TX and is part of a larger body of video postcards depicting situations and narratives in various locations.

Sarada Rauch, Pile of Demon Heads, 1:51 min, Brooklyn, NY

This film is based on the 2nd episode of the Devil Mahatmyam Epic, and takes its aesthetic from the original Star Trek series.  It is the last fight scene between Our Hero and the Demon.  The world was under attack by the most powerful demon, who took many forms, including that of a buffalo.  The gods, fearing total annihilation, endowed Our Hero with their powers and sent her into battle.  During their long battle the demon changes forms many times, and each time our hero chops his head off.  The heads that Our Hero has chopped off accumulated in a field of daisies and created pile of demon heads.

All films featured at this event will be available to view on uvuvideo.org.

 

WPBT2 premieres Secrets of the Dead: The Silver Pharaoh on May 18th at 10:00 pm

The royal tomb of Pharaoh Psusennes I is one of the most spectacular of all the ancient Egyptian treasures - even more remarkable than that of Tutankhamen. So why hasn’t the world heard about it? What mysteries does it contain? And what does it reveal about ancient Egypt? The tomb was discovered filled with lavish jewels and treasure almost by accident in 1939 by the French archaeologist Pierre Montet while he was excavating in northern Egypt. The royal burial chamber came as a complete surprise, no Egyptologist had anticipated a tomb  of such grandeur in this area. Unfortunately, the tomb was found on  the eve of World War II in Europe and attracted little attention. One of the most startling discoveries inside the tomb was the sarcophagus in which the body was held: It was made of silver with exquisite detail and craftsmanship. No other silver sarcophagus has ever been found  and it is now recognized by many Egyptologists as one of the most exquisite artifacts of ancient Egypt ever to be found. The elaborate tribute within the tomb suggested it was the burial site of someone very important but as archaeologists, using the hieroglyphs inside the tomb, pieced together the identity of the pharaoh, they were left to wonder who Psuesennes I was and why he received such grand treatment. The investigation reveals political intrigue, a lost city and a leader who united a country in turmoil and became the Silver Pharaoh.

WPBT2 premieres American Experience: Freedom Riders on May 16th at 9:00 pm.

In 1961, segregation seemed to have an overwhelming grip on American society. Many states violently enforced the policy, while the federal government, under the Kennedy administration, remained indifferent, preoccupied with matters abroad. That is, until an integrated band of college students, many of whom were the first in their  families to attend a university, decided, en masse, to risk everything and buy a ticket on a Greyhound bus bound for the Deep South. They called themselves the Freedom Riders, and they managed to bring the president and the entire American public face to face with the challenge of correcting civil-rights inequities that plagued the nation.

These Freedom Riders experienced many trials and tribulations along the road. At many bus stops there would be gangs of people waiting there to beat them up or harass them Through their no violent protest the Freedom Riders were finally able to get the attention the Civil Rights Movement needed. The film goes into details as the Freedom Riders make their stops along the road to the Deep South. Witness the different ambushes the Riders faced and the jail time they received. The most uplifting part is when more and more people joined the Ride. It was a time when Americans began to realize that every man was equal, no matter what color they were.

WPBT2 premieres Secrets of the Dead: China’s Terracotta Army on May 4th at 10:00 pm.

The extraordinary story of China’s 8,000 terracotta warriors begins two centuries before the birth of Christ. The first emperor of China was preparing an extravagant tomb for his journey into the afterlife, and decreed that he be protected forever by a monumental army. Since then no one has seen these ancient warriors in their original splendor, brightly painted and fully armed, ready to protect their Emperor for all eternity. Now this once mighty army will be returned to its former glory for the first time. Row upon row of life-size, lavishly painted warriors will rise from the dust of two millennia. But how was a terracotta army of this size made in less than two years using the technology of 2200 years ago? Led by archaeologist Agnes Hsu,  SECRETS OF THE DEAD shows that the Chinese may have Henry Ford beat by more than 2,000 years with their own assembly line used to produce the 8,000-strong Ghost Army.

WPBT2 premieres Independent Lens: A Film Unfinished on Tuesday May 3rd at 11:00 pm.

This haunting film about a film examines a classic Nazi propaganda film used by historians for decades to provide insight into the realities of life in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942. The recent discovery of a second reel in an East German archive has thrown the  veracity and intent of the Ghetto footage into question. It becomes clear as film and war  historians examine the outtakes reel that Nazi propagandists and the SA had staged elaborate scenes to mislead the general public about what was really happening in Warsaw.

WPBT2 premieres American Experience: Road to Memphis on May 2nd at 10:00 pm.

"We were never concerned with who killed Martin Luther King, but what killed Martin Luther King," says former King aide Andrew Young in this film, which tells the wildly disparate yet fatefully entwined stories of an assassin, James Earl Ray, and his target, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., against the backdrop of the seething and turbulent forces in American society that led these two men to their violent and tragic collision in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. Based on the book by Hampton Sides (Ghost Soldiers), the program relies on eyewitness testimony from King's inner circle and the officials involved in Ray's capture and prosecution following an intense two-month international manhunt.

Louisa May Alcott’s Life and Work Discussed at Broward County Libraries!

 

Louisa May Alcott is recognized around the world for her novel Little Women, but few know Alcott as the bold, compelling woman who grew up in the innermost circle of the Transcendentalist and antislavery movements, served as a Civil War army nurse, and led a secret literary life writing pulp fiction. Louisa May Alcott was her own best character and her life was her own best plot.

The Broward County Library’s public programs shed light on Louisa May Alcott by exploring her life and the historical and cultural context that inspired her remarkable body of work. Alcott’s childhood was characterized by chronic economic difficulties and frequent uprooting due to her father’s utopian experiments. Despite her family’s financial hardships, Alcott experienced a rich intellectual life influenced by family friends such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller. When slavery threatened the nation, the Alcott home was an Underground Railroad stop for fugitives; during the Civil War, Alcott wanted to fight, but as a woman she could enlist only as a nurse.

To support Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, a documentary film co-produced by Nancy Porter Productions, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET New York’s American Masters, Broward County Library will present six programs from May through September 2011. The six series program will re-introduce audiences to Louisa May Alcott’s story. Louisa May Alcott programs in libraries are sponsored by the American Library Association Public Programs Office with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional sponsors are the Florida Center for the Book, the Broward Public Library Foundation, the Friends of the Fort Lauderdale Libraries and WPBT2.

The six programs are located at the following libraries in Broward County:

Saturday, May 7th, 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center at Nova Southeastern University, 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Gallery 2nd Floor

Louisa May Alcott: Through Her Eyes. A community-wide library event focusing on the life, works, and times of Louisa may Alcott. View film clips from the documentary film, Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women with commentary by Nova Southeastern University Scholar Dr. Christine Jackson.

Wednesday, June 8th, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Main Library, 6th Floor, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Louisa May Alcott Wrote That?  Reading and Discussion of Louisa May Alcott’s lesser know works with Scholar Dr. Christine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University. The project scholar will facilitate a discussion exploring these short works, which together help display the range of Alcott’s writing and exemplify her strong and dynamic connections to the culture in which she lived. Copies of her stories will be available at the program.

Tuesday, August 9th, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

South Regional/ Broward College Library, 7300 Pines Blvd. Pembroke Pines

Louisa May Alcott: Literary Phenomenon and Social Reformer

Scholar led program with Dr. Chrisitine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University focusing on Louisa May Alcott as a self-trained and successful professional writer. The discussion will center on how Alcott used her writing to advance many of her era’s ideas for social reform, such as Abolitionism and women’s rights.

Thursday, September 15th, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

Main Library, 6th Floor, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Reading and discussion of the biography – Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women.

A scholar-led discussion by Dr. Christine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University of the biography; documentary film clips will be presented during the discussion.

Wednesday, September 21st, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

West Regional Library Auditorium, 8601 West Broward Blvd, Plantation, Florida

Film Screening and Discussion – Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. Discussion led by scholar Dr. Christine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University.

Thursday, September 22nd, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Main Library, 6th Floor, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Make your personal Louisa May Alcott journal with writer and artist Susan Buzzi. Susan Buzzi will talk about Louisa May Alcott as a young writer and have teens decorate and design their own journals.

WPBT2 will broadcast the documentary Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women during the libraries program series. The first presentation of the 1-1/2 hour documentary is May 1st at 6:00 pm on WPBT2.2 Create (Comcast 202).