INDEPENDENT TELEVISION SERVICE (ITVS), KQED,
(San Francisco, CA)—The Independent Television Service (ITVS), KQED, Goethe-Institut and Film Arts Foundation (FAF) present THE BEST OF INPUT, an annual exhibition of 14 television programs selected from last year’s INPUT. THE BEST OF INPUT will be screened at KQED, 2601 Mariposa Street in San Francisco, Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22.
The program on Friday, March 21 runs from 5:00-10:00P.M. and includes a networking dinner. Tickets are $12 general / $10 KQED/FAF/Goethe members.
The program on Saturday, March 22 runs from 10:00A.M.-6:00P.M. and includes a networking lunch. Tickets are $15 general / $12 KQED/FAF/Goethe members. Discounted tickets can be purchased for both days at $25 general / $20 KQED/FAF/Goethe members. For tickets and general information, please call Film Arts Foundation at 415.552.8760, or for info only, point your browser to www.filmarts.org.
This year’s Best of INPUT features films and shorts from Canada, China, Columbia, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, Palestine, Russia, South Africa and Sweden. Scheduled to attend and hold informal Q&A’s following their screenings are Barry Stevens, Filmmaker Offspring (Canada); Carl Ludwig Rettinger, co-writer/co-producer, The Tale of The White Whale (Germany); and O. Simonsson and J.S. Nilsson, Filmmakers Music For One Apt. and Six Drummers (Sweden). All participating films and shorts have either been broadcast on public television in their respective country or are scheduled for broadcast.
Commenting on another year of showcasing THE BEST OF INPUT in San Francisco, ITVS’s David Liu said, “INPUT is one of the best kept secrets in television. It is a forum for international television programming, not a market or a festival, but a place where makers and programmers meet to talk about creative and broadcasting issues. This will be an unusual opportunity for both media makers and the general public to sample the atmosphere and the top notch programming of the annual INPUT conference.”
INPUT (the acronym is derived from INternational PUblic Television) is an annual weeklong television showcase where the rules of broadcasting are challenged and redefined. Now celebrating its 26th year, this event is the only international conference that focuses specifically on the innovative programs produced by public as opposed to commercial broadcasters. INPUT exists to give exposure to programs for their own merit, without regard to national pride or commercial interest; to stimulate discussions with critical emphasis on the role of the producer and broadcaster as socially responsible communicators; and to further the flow of quality cultural programming in recognition of television’s potential to promote better understanding among the world’s different cultures. More than 1,000 submissions from over 65 member countries are reviewed by an international jury of peers each year, and 85-100 of the most innovative, provocative productions are shown over five full days.
Producers, directors, journalists, film makers and program managers from all over the world attend INPUT to screen, discuss, debate, critique, challenge and learn from each other. INPUT delegates are wildly passionate about the responsibilities and possibilities of television in public broadcasting. Most importantly, they envision a worldwide audience for these supremely informative, challenging and entertaining programs.
The programs contained in THE BEST OF INPUT were selected from the 2002 INPUT conference in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. INPUT 2003 will take place in Aarhus, Denmark, May 11 – May 26, 2003.
Downloadable images of programs featured in MINI INPUT 2003
are available to press at www.itvs.org/pressroom/photos
BEST OF INPUT 2003
SCHEDULE
Friday, March 21, 2003
5:00 – 6:00P.M.
Reception & Light Dinner
Dinner sponsored by KQED-TV
6:30 – 10:00P.M.
Screening and Discussion
OFFSPRING by Barry Stevens
(Canada, 53 minutes)
An anonymous donor, half a century ago, regularly masturbated into a cup and made a gift of his sperm to women he’d never met. Part mystery story, part road movie, Barry Steven’s quest for the man he refers to as “the ancient masturbator,” is poignant, strange and entertaining.
MUSIC FOR ONE APARTMENT AND SIX DRUMMERS by O. Simonsson / J.S. Nilsson (Sweden, 10 minutes) Six percussionists execute a music attack in a suburb. By using everyday utensils, and household items, they present a Concerto for Six Percussionists and a Small Apartment.
PAPER AIRPLANE by Zhao Liang / Fan Junyi
(China, 75 minutes)
They are the generation born in China during the 70s. They don’t want to live the same way as their parents did. They escape from home to chase the ideal life, rent apartments with friends, fall in love play music and sell smuggled CDs to make a living. They pay a cruel price for their carefree youth.
REPEATING GRANDPA by Pernille Rose Gronkjaer
(Denmark, 28 minutes)
The filmmaker goes on a five day road trip with his grandpa across Northern Jutland as an opportunity to strengthen their relationship. This is a story of two generations meeting in spite of their differences. A grandchild and a grandpa, who are tormented by loneliness, take a difficult journey.
Saturday March 22, 2003
9:00 – 10:00A.M.
Coffee
10:00A.M. – 1:00P.M.
Screening and Discussion
OCHRE AND WATER HIMBA CHRONICLES FROM THE LAND OF KAOKO
by Craig Matthew / Joelle Chesselet
(South Africa, 53 minutes)
This is a David and Goliath story of globalization – The Himba people of North Namibia’s are threatened by a hydroelectric dam development that would destroy the basis of their pastoral nomadic culture.
ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX by Niamh Walsh
(Ireland, 25 minutes)
This is a documentary of the 2001 Irish tour of the Relics of The Saint.
Over the course of 12 weeks, 3,000,000 people turned out to venerate the Relics. This documentary tells the story from the point of view of the people on the ground and the tour organizers.
THE TALE OF THE WHITE WHALE by Stephan Koester
(Germany, 52 minutes)
“Moby” caught the attention of the whole world as he was discovered swimming into the European mainland through the Rhine. The journey of this whale caused such upheaval that it changed the course of German politics.
ROGELIO by Guillermo Arriaga
(Mexico, 5 minutes)
Life never really ends.
THEM AND ME by Stephane Breton
(France, 63 minutes)
New Guinea is all the rage. The savage dresses up in traditional garb and has to keep still for the photo. People look at Papuans in the same way as birds of paradise. They have forgotten that they use speech and select words. This film aims to reverse this approach and show how the “native tribe” views the person studying it.
1:00 – 2:00P.M.
Networking Lunch
Sponsored by KQED-TV
2:00 – 6:00P.M.
Screening and Discussion
LIVE FROM PALESTINE by Rashid Masharawi / Patrice Barrat
(Palestine, 53 minutes)
The film presents the voice of a Palestinian radio station, based in Ramallah until it was destroyed by Israeli tanks on December 13. The film deals with the issue of the Palestinian media in the first year of the second Intifada through what they transmit to their listeners and what happens behind the scenes. The film crew accompanies the station correspondents to friction points with the Israeli soldiers and at events surrounding the anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba catastrophe.
DOWN TO THE BONE by Rene Castillo
(Mexico, 12 minutes)
This is the story of a man and his arrival in the land of the Dead, where he is greeted by a worm, smiling skulls and The Catrina (Posada’s famous fancy skeleton) herself. Gradually, our character discovers that, barring some inconveniences, being dead isn’t so bad.
STRINGER by Eduard Dzhafarov
(Russia, 40 minutes)
Stringers are freelance reporters. The stringers in this film are skilled in filming the most dangerous situations. This is not a very popular occupation. Only 70 Stringers exist over the world, and fifteen are Russian.
THERE’S NO COUNTRY by Guillermo Arias
(Columbia, 45 minutes)
This video, that stands between the genres of documentary video, tries to present the voices of documentary video, tries to present the voices of some Colombian citizens in the middle of a conflict where the only voices heard are those of the media.
MOTHER V by Shahar Rozen
(Israel, 52 minutes)
Hana Vazana, a religious woman in her 60’s, leaves Dimona to visit her son who is locked up in solitary confinement in Ashkelon, charged with revealing state secrets. She sets out to persuade her son to apologize to his father who is in intensive care. Along the way she joins up with a
Bedouin youth, who helps her to learn the truth and her son.
About ITVS
Independent Television Service (ITVS) funds and presents award-winning documentaries and dramas on public television, innovative new media projects on the Web, and the weekly series Independent Lens on Tuesday nights at 10 P.M. on PBS. ITVS is a miracle of public policy created by the vision of media activists, citizens and politicians seeking to foster plurality and diversity in public television. ITVS was established by a historic mandate of Congress to champion independently produced programs that take creative risks, spark public dialogue and serve underserved audiences. Since its inception in 1991, ITVS programs have revitalized the relationship between the public and public television, bringing TV audiences face-to-face with the lives and concerns of their fellow Americans. Contact ITVS at itvs@itvs.org or visit www.itvs.org.
ITVS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,
a private corporation funded by the American People.
Wilson Ling
ITVS Communications and Publicity Assistant
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San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 356-8383 ext. 231
fax: (415) 356-8391
http://www.itvs.org
Find out how blue-collar locals and art world luminaries transformed a dying industrial town into MASS MoCA, America’s largest center for contemporary art. Watch DOWNSIDE UP on PBS February 25 at 10:00 p.m.
Check local listings and more at http://www.pbs.org/independentlens
* INDEPENDENT LENS *
Independent films, uncommon TV
Contact: Suzanne Baum at 510/235-2524 or Suzanne@publicitygirl.com
Wilson Ling at 415/356-8383, x 231 or Wilson_Ling@itvs.org
