Independent Lens

 

How well do we ever know our parents? This thought occurred to me when I spent time with my mother and her friends over the weekend. I was with them in a social setting on their turf, and it was almost like seeing Mom as a person – not just a mother – for the first time. I chatted with many of her friends and felt as if I'd finally arrived as an actual adult. I was privy to candid stories, confessions and insecurities. From the corner of the room, I observed complicated dynamics among friends, husbands, wives, others. These could be my own friends, I thought.
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My friend Paul (not his real name) remembers being taunted as a kid in Chicago. He was an all-American kid whose grandparents were from India. His family was Sikh and his grandfather wore a turban and beard in keeping with traditional Sikh practices. Kids at school called Paul a range of derogatory names, including one in particular that still causes him to grit his teeth.
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In the last couple of years, Rocky Mountain PBS has placed great importance in hosting free public screenings and discussions of programs that will later be on TV. Although television is our medium, public screenings give our viewers a chance to meet each other, learn more about a program, hear from experts and share ideas with others.
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How do other capitalist democracies balance health care and profits? What's the American government's role in the country's obesity epidemic? Find out in an informative and entertaining double feature of health care programs Tuesday, April 15, starting at 9 p.m.

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Is corn, the all-American staple, truly the cause of some all-American obesity? The makers of the new documentary "King Corn" think so.

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I eat documentaries for breakfast. Seriously, I can't see enough. Once I saw "Hoop Dreams" in 1994, I was hooked, and I've spent the years since catching up on the greats  – "Hearts and Minds," "Grey Gardens," "Gates of Heaven," etc. – and seeing all the new ones. It's why I love my job at Rocky Mountain PBS and why I love coordinating our ITVS Community Cinema screenings. It is extra exciting to me, then, to see two local filmmakers enjoy serious success with their ambitious, thoughtful documentaries.
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I wanted to change the subject this week. I really did. But then I saw Charles McGrath's New York Times editorial – "Is PBS Really Necessary?" – and the comment avalanche that followed on the Times' site. It's at 836 at the moment. (Three cheers for new media – I often enjoy reader comments more than the articles themselves.)
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People, I love all 115 of you who braved that awful weather Wednesday night to join us for our January ITVS Community Cinema screening of "Banished." I had friends/coworkers who reluctantly came to the screening because they knew the subject matter would be difficult, and it was. But, thanks to a powerful and insightful discussion with our panel, there was some hope in the air as we said our last goodbyes.
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In the documentary "Banished," when the notion of reparations comes up, those with the burden to repair often say something like "I don't know if any amount of money will ever be enough."
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Join us for a free screening! How did three U.S. towns make African Americans disappear? Marco Williams, award-winning filmmaker of "Two Towns of Jasper," visits some of the whitest counties in the country to confront the legacy of "banishment" – a wave of racial purging that tore through the South 100 years ago.
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