Saturday, March 28 from 4:00 - 5:15 pm
DIVE at Shooters in the Curtis Building

Filmmaker Diane R. Thompson says of the creation her new documentary Don’t Fall Down in the Hood that it was her way of seeking to make some sense out of the senseless violence that is prevalent in Philadelphia. El Sawyer (Beirut Boys) gives cameras to young African American men, the self-dubbed “Beirut Boys” of the Fairhill neighborhood, to give a voice to a generation often misunderstood or not heard at all. And Michael J. Dennis (Ursula Rucker: Poet) combines documentary storytelling and live performance into a fierce portrait of poet Ursula Rucker whose trademark sweet “song speak” crackles with socio-political urgency on all topics from womanhood, oppression, love and sexism. Moderator Joni Helton, WHYY Director of TV Programming and PIFVA board member, will talk with these Festival of Independent featured filmmakers about how their work and how they represent Philadelphia’s African American community through their film sensibilities.

PANELISTS

Michael J. Dennis (Ursula Rucker: Poet) is an award winning filmmaker and co-hosts and curates Reelblack Presents, Philadelphia's longest-running film screening series devoted to African-American film. He is currently at work on Philly Soul Now a documentary feature about the legacy of Black Music in the City of Brotherly Love.

El Sawyer (Beirut Boys) is a filmmaker with deep roots in community and youth media. Since 2003 he has worked at the Village of Arts and Humanities developing the digital arts program for young people. He is collaborating with Eugene Martin on two projects - a documentary on the only all girls African-American soccer club in the US and a feature length version of Beirut Boys.

Dianne R. Thompson (Don’t Fall Down in the Hood) is an award winning freelance filmmaker in the Philadelphia area. She is a master story-teller and has won acclaim for her documentary, corporate/industrial and broadcast television productions. She is the founder of DRThompson Film Productions, a multi-media company that focuses on socially conscious productions that impact, inform and empower the individual.

Moderator: Joni Helton is the Director of Television Programming at WHYY TV 12 and board member of PIFVA.

Saturday, April 4 from 4:00 - 5:15 pm
DIVE at Shooters in the Curtis Building

Austin, Buffalo, Seattle, Miami all nurture regional filmmaking communities with a definable aesthetic -- thrift shop, high fashion, D.I.Y, sun drenched or rain soaked. What do Philadelphia independent filmmakers subconsciously absorb? Is there a “Philadelphia Aesthetic?” Did time spent during their formative years in Philadelphia influence the creative minds of the Brothers Quay, David Lynch, Susan Seidelman or Lee Daniels? How does living in a racially diverse, working class city, rich in history and culture and home to creative thinkers and change agents seep into the collective cinematic conscious of local makers and get translated to the screen? Join film critic Sam Adams, filmmaker and Small Change Films programmer Ted Passon (This One Time in Paris), filmmaker and Leeway Foundation Communications Director Maori Karmael Holmes, MiND TV’s “Philadelphia Stories” Producer Hébert Peck, and Tom Quinn, director of The New Year Parade winner of Best Indie Feature PFF 2008, for a conversation about “Philly Style” moderated by Gretjen Clausing, PIFVA board member.

PANELISTS

Hébert Peck has been the producer of MiND TV’s 13-hour original series, Philadelphia Stories for seven seasons. His personal work has been broadcast on PBS and screened at film festivals internationally.

Tom Quinn’s The New Year Paradewas selected for the IFP Narrative Rough Cut Labs, won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative at Slamdance, Best Acting Ensemble at The Ashland Independent Film Festival, Best Independent Feature at The Philadelphia Film Festival, and Best Narrative at The DeadCenter Film Festival. Tom was recently listed one of "Ten Young Writer-Directors to Watch," by MovieMaker Magazine and "25 New Faces of Independent Film" by Filmmaker Magazine. He was selected for the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival Talent Lab and is currently working toward his MFA at Temple University.

Ted Passon is an award-winning film and video maker whose work focuses on the humor, struggles, and revelations involved in merging the world around us with the world that we choose to create. Named an "Up and Coming Young Artist to Watch" by the Philadelphia Weekly, his work has been exhibited in film festivals, galleries, colleges, DIY spaces, and other venues around the US and abroad. He is also a co-founder of both the Small Change film screening series, which presents monthly screenings of experimental films and videos in a wide range of venues.

Maori Karmael Holmes Maori works primarily as a filmmaker, taking on the roles of producer, director, editor, costume designer, and screenwriter. Her documentary Scene Not Heard, explores the history of women's participation in hip-hop culture in Philadelphia. Maori volunteered as director of the “Black Lily Film & Music Festival”, which builds upon the roots of the Black Lily music series featuring voices of underground and politically conscious women artists.

Sam Adams is a Philadelphia based film critic who writes for the Philadelphia City Paper, Film Comment, LA Times and Philadelphia Inquirer

Moderator: Gretjen Clausing has worked for 20 years in independent media exhibition as a media arts programmer/curator in Philadelphia and is a media activist committed to rethinking public media and securing citizen’s access to media, notably public access television, since 1997. Currently she is the Program Director of Scribe Video Center (www.scribe.org) where she oversees programming of workshops, screenings and events for this nationally recognized community media center and PIFVA board member.

2009 TLA Entertainment Group, Inc. / 2009 Philadelphia Cinema Alliance