documentary

Former Black Panther, Mama Charlotte Hill O'Neal is an accomplished poet, musician and visual artist, and Founding Director of Tanzania's United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC), a community-based organization which promotes community development in rural Africa. The UAACC has a number of independent media projects as part of its powerful community work including hip hop, music production, photography, videography, poetry, theater and the development of an independent radio station. Four decades after leaving this country for exile in Tanzania, Mama Charlotte Hill O'Neal returns to share the inspirational story of how she and her husband's past as Black Panthers affects their work among the urban and village youth of East Africa and America.

7PM Screening of "Captured"  

Since 1979 Clayton Patterson has dedicated his life to documenting the final era of raw creativity and lawlessness in New York City's Lower East Side, a neighborhood famed for art, music and revolutionary minds. "Little brother is watching big brother"--traversing the outside edge, he's recorded a dark and colorful society, from drag to hardcore, heroin, homelessness, political chaos and ultimately gentrification.

PLEASE NOTE: The Director, Dan Levin has informed us that due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict, he will be unable to attend the screening for a Q & A.

Orgasmic Birth brings the ultimate challenge to our cultural myths by inviting viewers to see the emotional, spiritual, and physical heights attainable through birth. Director Debra Pascali-Bonaro shares what she calls the "best-kept secret" as we witness women in the ecstatic release of childbirth.

Panel after the film--

Founded in 2000, BirthNet is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the public about maternity care in order to improve it.

BirthNet's goal is to encourage all women and families to learn about their rights and options during the childbearing year. Birth options, such as where, with whom, and how to give birth, are reproductive rights.

We work to improve maternity care for women of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, races, religions, abilities, sexual orientations, and socio-economic circumstances.

BirthNet coordinates programs with our Speakers Bureau. Our primary programs include:

Wake up and smell the global economy with acclaimed filmmaker Su Friedrich as she takes you from Guatemala to South Carolina to New York City to see how her morning cup of coffee has passed through the hands, and lives, of countless people. Co-sponsored by the Honest Weight Food Co-op.

Our press release:

Filmmaker Su Friedrich Screens Her Coffee Epic
"From the Ground Up" at the Sanctuary

The Kahnawake Mohawk ironworkers who helped to build the famed bridges and skyscrapers of New York City lived with their families in 10 square blocks in Brooklyn—a neighborhood known as Little Caughnawaga. Reaghan Tarbell traces her family roots to create a portrait of this vibrant community and the women who sustained it.

Our press release:

Native American Filmmaker Visits the Sanctuary

On Wednesday December 3, , we welcome video/web artist and all-around culture jammer Frank Lopez of Submedia.TV (coming to us from Vancouver, BC)! His work includes the post- Katrina music video "George Bush Don't Like Black People" (downloaded over one million times and counting) and the vlog "It's the End of the World as We Know It and I Feel Fine" (which highlighted the Wafaa Bilal incident last spring). He'll be presenting "Ground Noise & Static," a powerful documentary filmed in the midst of the protests at last summer's 2008 political conventions.

7PM Show - followed by a Q&A discussion

Admission by donation ($10 suggested)

PLUS.....BYOB Bye Bye Bush afterparty with best of the Anti-Bush Era Videos

wear some anti-bush clothing

About Ground Noise & Static

In November, one or the other of the corporate candidates will
win, and then, as always, it will be what the people do, not the
politicians, that counts.

A stunning portrait of a battle with manic-depressive (bipolar) disorder that puts a human face on an illness that affects millions of American families. As this dramatic story unfolds, it also becomes a unique tale about friendship and the ethical responsibilities of a documentary filmmaker.

The intent was to make a film about successfully living with, and managing, a mental illness—but when the Hollywood ending proves too elusive, the filmmaker and the subject are forced to ask themselves, "When do you turn off the camera?"

Filmmaker Ben Selkow will be on hand to introduce this film and lead a discussion afterwards.

Watch the trailer for A Summer in the Cage.

From its inception, Human Rights Watch’s International Film Festival has embodied the power of film to make a difference. Courageous and committed filmmakers produce impressive documentary and feature films, which stimulate passionate conversations about human rights and inspire new generations of human rights activists. Through the universal language of film, we connect the experiences of survivors and activists with our own experiences—a critical step in influencing public opinion and policy makers.

Part of iEAR presents!, co-sponsored by the Arts Department at Rensselaer.

From its inception, Human Rights Watch’s International Film Festival has embodied the power of film to make a difference. Courageous and committed filmmakers produce impressive documentary and feature films, which stimulate passionate conversations about human rights and inspire new generations of human rights activists. Through the universal language of film, we connect the experiences of survivors and activists with our own experiences—a critical step in influencing public opinion and policy makers.

Part of iEAR presents!, co-sponsored by the Arts Department at Rensselaer.

From its inception, Human Rights Watch’s International Film Festival has embodied the power of film to make a difference. Courageous and committed filmmakers produce impressive documentary and feature films, which stimulate passionate conversations about human rights and inspire new generations of human rights activists. Through the universal language of film, we connect the experiences of survivors and activists with our own experiences—a critical step in influencing public opinion and policy makers.

Part of iEAR presents!, co-sponsored by the Arts Department at Rensselaer.