Diversity Documentaries at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival The Independent Television Service (ITVS) weighs in at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival with a whopping five out of the 16 documentaries in competition and a lyrical short. These five documentaries reflect the diversity of American life in a global village, tackling issues ranging from gay fathers adopting kids; transracial adoption and a woman’s search for identity in Vietnam; the legacy of African American writer Ralph Ellison; the still unsolved sex murders of young women in Juarez, Mexico; to the aftermath of the brutal dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas, as seen through the eyes of its black and white residents. Outlined below are the five ITVS films that appear at the festival and a schedule if you happen to be fortunate enough to attend. DADDY & PAPA Directed by Johnny Symons What if your most controversial act turned out to be the most traditional thing in the world? DADDY & PAPA explores the growing phenomenon of gay fathers and their impact on American culture through the stories of four families, including the filmmaker’s. Beyond the age-old struggles all parents face, DADDY & PAPA delves into the particular challenges that gay dads face. From surrogacy and interracial adoption, to the complexities of gay divorce, to the battle for full legal status as parents, DADDY & PAPA presents a revealing look at some of the gay fathers who are breaking new ground in the ever-changing landscape of the American family. DADDY & PAPA is produced by Johnny Symons for the Independent Television Service (ITVS) DAUGHTER FROM DANANG Directed by Gail Dolgin & Vicente Franco A Vietnamese mother and her Amerasian daughter are reunited after 22 years. Heidi Bub (aka Mai Thi Hiep), a young Vietnamese American woman from Tennessee, always dreamed of a joyful reunion. Unlike the cliché happy endings associated with most reunion stories, DAUGHTER FROM DANANG tensely unfolds as cultural differences and the years of separation take their toll. Journeying from the Vietnam War to Pulaski, Tennessee, DAUGHTER FROM DANANG is a complex and multi-layered film about a war in the past and making peace with the present. While many documentaries have been made about the Vietnam War, few have focused on the personal stories of civilians, particularly women and children, whose lives were forever changed by choices made during times of chaos and panic. DAUGHTER FROM DANANG will be broadcast on American Experience in 2003. DAUGHTER FROM DANANG is produced by Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco and is a presentation of American Experience and the Independent Television Service (ITVS) in association with the National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA) RALPH ELLISON: AN AMERICAN JOURNEY Directed by Avon Kirkland RALPH ELLISON: AN AMERICAN JOURNEY profiles the writer whose landmark first novel forever changed the way Americans think about race. Ellison’s Invisible Man, a brutally honest account of a young black man’s quest for identity in a chaotic society, won the National Book Award in 1953 and remains required reading in high schools and colleges. Ellison was a self-taught writer who virtually came out of nowhere to achieve literary celebrity, but little is known about his life. He never completed a second novel, a fact only partly explained by a widely publicized fire in 1967 that destroyed much of the work in progress. Ellison was no mere storyteller; he was also a first-class intellectual. While his fiction writer's block became legendary, he was in fact publishing visionary essays on race, African American and American identity that argued the critical importance of cultural pluralism in the formation of a vibrant democracy. Accused by black activists in the 1960s of being elitist, Ellison said, "I am a novelist, not an activist, but I think that no one who reads what I write or who listens to my lectures can doubt that I am enlisted in the freedom movement." Following heated attacks by black nationalists, Ellison himself virtually became invisible. When Ellison died in 1994, he left 2,000 pages of his unfinished saga. A portion of the manuscript was published as Juneteenth, Ellison’s second novel that created quite a controversy. RALPH ELLISON: AN AMERICAN JOURNEY explores Ellison’s life and controversies and offers the first-ever dramatic adaptation of scenes from Invisible Man (featuring actors John Amos and Jacques C. Smith.) Also featured are insights from scholars and writers Cornell West, Amiri Baraka, Terrance Rafferty and Stanley Crouch, among others, and a poignant reading from Juneteenth by Toni Morrison. RALPH ELLISON: AN AMERICAN JOURNEY will be broadcast as part of American Masters on PBS on February 19, 2002. RALPH ELLISON: AN AMERICAN JOURNEY is a production of New Images Productions, Inc. in association with Thirteen/WNET New York. It is co-presented by American Masters, National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) and Independent Television Service (ITVS) SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA (Missing Young Woman) Directed by Lourdes Portillo In the desert around Juárez, Mexico, a horrifying discovery has baffled police and stunned local residents. Since 1993, authorities have dug up the remains of more than 200 murdered girls. To this day, girls continue to disappear, with seemingly no hope of bringing the perpetrators to justice. SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA traces the inspirational struggle of a handful of the victims’ relatives—courageous women who will not rest until these crimes are solved. Visually poetic, yet unflinching in its gaze, the film unravels the layers of complicity that have allowed these brutal murders to continue. Relying on what Portillo comes to see as the most reliable of sources—the testimonies of the families of the victims—SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA documents a two-year search for the truth in the underbelly of the new global economy. The result is a shocking and brutal portrait of Ciudad Juárez, "The City of the Future." SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA (Missing Young Woman) is produced by Lourdes Portillo for the Independent Television Service (ITVS) in association with Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) TWO TOWNS OF JASPER Directed by Marco Williams & Whitney Dow TWO TOWNS OF JASPER is a feature-length documentary about the racially motivated murder of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas in 1998. Conceived as a collaborative effort between a black and a white filmmaker, the film records the divergent experiences of black and white Jasper residents during the three trials of the local men charged with chaining Mr. Byrd to the back of a truck and dragging him to his death. From just weeks after the murder through three tension-filled trials, an all white crew documented the white community exclusively, and an all black crew filmed the black community. The resulting film is a unique multi-perspective portrait of an American town at ground zero of the nation’s debate on race relations. TWO TOWNS OF JASPER is produced by Marco Williams and Whitney Dow for Independent Television Service (ITVS) in association with the National Black Programming Consortium (NBPC) BINTOU Directed by Fanta Régina Nacro Against all odds, a downtrodden housewife earns enough money to educate her daughter, to the great annoyance of her husband. Based on a true story, this comic tale sheds light on the battle between the sexes in a community where everyone knows everyone else’s business. BINTOU features actors Alma Salouka Kone and Hyppollo Quangrawa. Produced in Burkina Faso; in Moré with English subtitles. BINTOU is produced by Simon Bright & Claire Lajoumard and directed by Fanta Régina Nacro for Zimmedia & Winstar Productions and is a presentation of Independent Television Service (ITVS) If you happen to be attending the Sundance Film Festival, here is a schedule of the screenings for the films outlined above: DADDY & PAPA Screenings Friday, January 11, 9:00 PM Marriott, Park City Saturday, January 12, 4:30 PM Yarrow Theatre 2, Park City Sunday, January 13, 2:00 PM The Alley, Park City (press screening) Tuesday January 15, 9:00 PM Yarrow Theatre 1, Park City Wednesday, January 16, 6:45 PM Eccles Black Box, Park City Thursday, January 17, 9:00 AM Yarrow Theatre 1, Park City Friday, January 18, 7:45 PM Sugarhouse 10 Theatre 6, Salt Lake City DAUGHTER FROM DANANG Screenings Friday, January 11, 12 Noon Yarrow Theatre 1, Park City Saturday, January 12, 12:45 PM Sugarhouse 10 Theatre 5, Salt Lake City Sunday, January 13, 9:45 PM Eccles Black Box, Park City Tuesday, January 15, 10:30 PM Yarrow Theatre 2, Park City Wednesday, January 16, 11:00AM The Alley, Park City (press screening) Friday, January 18, 6:00 PM Yarrow Theatre 1, Park City Saturday, January 19, 10:30 AM Yarrow Theatre 2, Park City Saturday, Jan. 19, 3:00 PM Trolley Corners Theatre, Salt Lake City RALPH ELLISON: AN AMERICAN JOURNEY Screenings Sunday, January 13, 9:00 PM Yarrow Theatre 1, Park City Monday, January 14, 7:30 PM Yarrow Theatre 2, Park City Tuesday, January 15, 9:00 AM Yarrow Theatre 1, Park City Wednesday, January 16, 1:30PM Yarrow Theatre 2, Park City Thursday, January 17, 6:00 PM Sugarhouse 10 Theatre 6, Salt Lake City Friday, January 18, 11:00AM The Alley, Park City (press screening) Saturday, January 19, 1:30 PM Yarrow Theatre 2, Park City SEÑORITA EXTRAVIADA (Missing Young Woman) Screenings Friday, January 11, 6:00 PM Marriott, Park City Saturday, January 12, 3:00 PM Sugarhouse 10 Theatre 6, Salt Lake City Sunday, January 13, 11:00am The Alley, Park City (press screening) Monday, January 14, 6:30 PM Yarrow Theatre 1, Park City Tuesday, January 15, 1:30 PM Yarrow Theatre 2, Park City Wednesday, January 16, 9:00 AM Yarrow Theatre 1, Park City Thursday, January 17, 9:45 PM Eccles Black Box, Park City TWO TOWNS OF JASPER Screenings Friday, January 11, 10:30 PM Yarrow Theatre 2, Park City Sunday, January 12, 8:30 AM The Alley, Park City (press screening) Sunday, January 13, 4:30 PM Yarrow Theatre 2, Park City Wednesday, Jan. 16, 6:00 PM Yarrow Theatre 1, Park City Thursday, January 17, 1:30 PM Yarrow Theatre 2, Park City Friday, January 18, 5:00 PM, Sugarhouse 10 Theatre 6, Salt Lake City Saturday, January 19, 9:00 AM Yarrow Theatre 1, Park City BINTOU Screenings Friday, January 11, 6:45 PM Eccles Black Box, Park City Sunday, January 13, 10:30 PM Sugarhouse 10 Theatre, Salt Lake City Tuesday, January 15, 9:00PM Marriott, Park City Friday, January 18, 9:00 PM Egyptian, Park City Saturday, January 19, 6:00PM Sundance Resort About ITVS Unique in American public television, the Independent Television Service (ITVS) was established by Congress to fund and present programs that "involve creative risks and address the needs of underserved audiences, especially children and minorities," while granting artistic control to independent producers. ITVS has funded more than 350 programs for public television since its inception in 1991. Critically acclaimed ITVS programs include THE FARMER'S WIFE; AN AMERICAN LOVE STORY and SCOUT’S HONOR; Emmy Award winners BLINK; SING FASTER: THE STAGEHANDS' RING CYCLE; SCHOOL PRAYER: A COMMUNITY AT WAR; GIRLS LIKE US and NOBODY’S BUSINESS; the Peabody Award–winning documentaries TRAVIS; A HEALTHY BABY GIRL; COMING OUT UNDER FIRE and THE GATE OF HEAVENLY PEACE, and duPont Award–winners TAKEN IN: THE LIVES OF AMERICA’S FOSTER CHILDREN and STRUGGLES IN STEEL: A STORY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN STEELWORKERS. ITVS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. For information, visit the ITVS website at www.itvs.org. This website: Copyright © 2002 Dream World Media, LLC. / Urban Mozaik Magazine. All rights reserved. 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