The Philadelphia Independent Film and Video Association presents
locally made films funded with PIFVA completion grants
Saturday September 26, 7pm
Fordham SDS (Bert Schultz 20 min)
The 1960s on college campuses are usually portrayed in movies and documentaries as an idyll of peace and love, punctuated by antiwar mad bombers from Ivy League schools. Lost to this narrative are the gritty struggles against capitalism and the Vietnam War waged by blue-collar kids in commuter schools. Mixing dramatic 16mm black and white footage of anti-war protestors from a 1969 campus building takeover with contemporary interviews, Fordham SDS explores the struggle of working class college students in this Jesuit university in The Bronx, and how their participation in violent confrontations with authorities altered the course of their lives.
Broken Pots (Maris Gillette, 20 min)
Broken Pots examines the experiences of workers in China’s ceramic industry as they shift from a planned to a market economy. Jingdezhen, a small city in southeast China, is dominated by a large ceramics industry. Private entrepreneurs operate hundreds of tiny ceramic workshops replacing what had been the city’s large state-run porcelain factories. Residents hope that the market will give them the opportunity to get rich and depend on market success for basic provisioning. Following the lives of four individuals as they adjust to marketization, money and anxiety about insecurity is on everyone¹s mind.
Gabriel Rising (Emmanual Elan Gepner, 20 min.)
Gabriel Rising tells the story of the restoration and transformation of a historic African American neighborhood in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, guided and led by the priest and nun at the local Roman Catholic parish. It also tells the story of a group of volunteers who themselves were transformed by the experience of doing reconstruction in the church and helping parishioners gut and rebuild their homes. Fueled by faith and his love for the community, a beloved pastor leads his parishioners home through the ongoing storm of post-Katrina New Orleans. Without insurance money or government assistance, his determination and spirit inspire thousands to come from across the nation and be transformed through participation and service.
Continent of Light (Nikki Brake, 20 min)
The Continent of Light is an observational documentary that weaves a story demonstrating the triumph of the human spirit. The documentary challenges stereotypes of Africa through the eyes of three Western volunteers. They were all there for different reasons. Be it altruism, curiosity, or rebellion, they look for answers to discern the truth about Africa. The characters allow themselves to embrace the differences in culture and realize that they each have lessons to learn as their barriers dissolve and they form their own opinions about Africa based upon their collective experience.. Westerners have been traveling to the dark continent for ages. Armies, thrill seekers, hunters, missionaries, relief workers and an assortment of others have ventured here hoping to unlock Her mysteries. Our discovery is an amalgamation of the two.
