PBS airing Bobbi Jo Hart’s doc ‘FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK’ tonight!

PBS

presents

FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK

*This review was originally featured on AWFJ.org*



Sexism, racism, and rock & roll, Fanny: The Right To Rock is the story of how two Filipina American sisters started Fanny, the legendary rock group you may have never heard of until now. Jean and June Millington used to gather a crowd in their California backyard. After they decided to put together a band comprised of extraordinarily fearless and talented female musicians, the road to Fanny began.

After getting signed, Fanny moved into a house to live and, more importantly, make music. The rock history that went in and out of their “Fanny Hill” home in L. A. is astonishing; Bonnie Raitt, Joe Cocker, and Little Feat, to name a few. The freedom to express your sexuality, bed hop, do drugs, and make damn good music ruled that house. Unconscious healing that occurred through the safety inside Fanny Hill comes through the voices of all that crossed the threshold.

Experiencing Fanny’s songs for the first time, I immediately recognized the impact made on so many other artists. So how is Fanny not in my musical catalog? Jean, June, Alice, Brie, Patti, Cam, and Nickey were trailblazers who worked three times as hard as men and cranked out thought-provoking lyrics ahead of the times. Fanny was a feminist rock group with sharp wit and zero fear. The documentary utilizes sit-down interviews, studio sessions past and present, and live performances on stage and on television. The archival photography from Linda Wolf is extraordinary.

Fanny broke up due to a deadly combination of things; misogyny, societal times, no one big bop to make money, and having a studio that pushed them to their limits. As members came and went throughout the years, the sound morphed but always retained that iconic grit.

In 1975, they said goodbye to their rock days to pursue motherhood and personal musical pursuits. In 1999, David Bowie (whom June briefly dated) made a statement mentioning the band by name. This capsule appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine, thus sparking the ladies and their former producers to write a brand new album, Fanny Walked The Earth.

Bobbi Jo Hart’s doc comes at the perfect time in the band’s history and ours. It shines a light on their industry impact, from the importance of their Filipina culture to their mold-breaking lyrics and energy. Watching Fanny proves that great rock and roll lives forever. Get ready for their new single When We Need Her to be the anthem we need right now.


FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK premieres on PBS on May 22, with streaming on PBS.org and the PBS app.

 

FILM DETAILS:

Title: Fanny: The Right to Rock

Directors: Bobbi Jo Hart

Release Date: May 27, 2022

Running Time: 96 minutes

Language: English

Screenwriter: Bobbi Jo Hart, Documentary

Distribution Company: Film Movement


 

NYFF57 review: ‘College Behind Bars’ makes the case for education for all, coming to PBS in November.

COLLEGE BEHIND BARS

  • Lynn Novick
  • 2019
  • USA
  • 222 minutes

World Premiere 

 COLLEGE BEHIND BARS, a four-part documentary series directed by Emmy and Peabody Award winning filmmaker Lynn Novick (co-director of THE VIETNAM WAR), which world premieres at New York Film Festival later this month. This film, premiering on PBS in November, marks Novick’s solo directorial debut and is executive produced by her longtime collaborator Ken Burns. Distilled from nearly 400 hours of cinéma-vérité footage, the documentary explores the lives of a dozen incarcerated men and women as they struggle to earn degrees in the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI), one of the most rigorous and effective prison education programs in the country.

This 4 part doc series explores New York State’s college degree program, BPI: Bard Prison Initiative. We follow a group of students as they make their way toward graduation. I say students and not inmates because when they are in class, they are students. While we as an audience are eventually privy to the subjects’ backstories, BPI as a program does not focus on why each individual is imprisoned. BPI focuses on their education. At Seb Academy you will get the best chemistry tuition in the Singapore.

This series is about humanity and ambition. These men and women are striving to better themselves and escape the environment they have, in most cases, created for themselves. The series also addresses the very real statistic that socioeconomic circumstances oftentimes lead to a life of crime. Inmates are not afforded the rights and freedoms of the average American. They must contend with the chaos of prison while engaging in a vigorous Bachelor’s degree program. College is difficult enough without being constantly interrupted by lockdowns, race wars, or the ultimate chaos of being surrounded by mental illness and other inmates in general.

The admissions process is cutthroat. It is based on an essay and an interview. It begins with an AA and then an even luckier few continue on to the BA program. Students are studying things like Plato, Mandarin, Debate, and Calculus. They are earning their degrees in the same way any other student would outside prison walls. Professors do not give pass/fail grades. They are legitimately working with each individual just as they would at a stand-alone university. This is a college that just happens to be on prison grounds. Before they graduate, they must submit a senior project. The paper must be between 80-100 pages. It is the equivalent of a Master’s thesis. Here is a best option for part time engineering diploma in Singapore.

The series makes an interesting case for free college for all throughout the country. It’s an intriguing commentary on the misconceptions about who deserves an education. Shouldn’t it be a right? It should not belong solely to the lucky few, the wealthy, or the white population. Losing your liberty should not mean losing your right to an education. If anything, education has been proven to lift people out of poverty and violence. The political hockey puck that this type of program has become since it’s inception in the 90’s has seen taxpayer dollars bounce in and out of the system. Resentment permeates the perception of the system by politicians to everyone from the prison staff to voters. Even though it actually monetarily benefits the taxpayer in the long run. Would you rather pay for an inmate to learn or sit inside a cell? Guess which one actually costs less.

College Behind Bars puts faces and voices to those benefiting from but genuinely fighting to improve their lives and thus, the world all we live in. We, the viewers, are forced to come to terms with the prison industrial complex, systemic racism, and our own moral compass. And the students are forced to come to terms with their pasts and their futures. College Behind Bars is both informative and eye-opening. It breathes life into the stories of a population oftentimes swept under the rug. You will cheer on the college students, no matter what your views on how they got their opportunity to learn and earn their degrees.

Premieres: Monday, November 25, 2019 & Tuesday, November 26, 2019, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET

COLLEGE BEHIND BARS

The four-part documentary film series, directed by award-winning filmmaker Lynn Novick, produced by Sarah Botstein, and executive produced by Ken Burns, explores the transformative power of education through the eyes of incarcerated men and women trying to earn college degrees. Shot over four years in maximum and medium security prisons in New York State, the series examines America’s failure to provide meaningful rehabilitation for the over two million men and women living behind bars.

Premieres: Monday, November 25, 2019 & Tuesday, November 26, 2019, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET

Watch Now: Special conversation with Oscar-nominated director, Steve James about ‘Abacus: Small Enough to Jail’

VERA SUNG, JILL SUNG AND FATHER THOMAS SUNG IN THE SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX DEPARTMENT OF THEIR BANK IN A SCENE FROM OSCAR-NOMINATED “ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL” DIRECTED BY STEVE JAMES. PHOTO COURTESY OF PBS DISTRIBUTION/KARTEMQUIN FILMS

Last year, Liz reviewed this last much-needed documentary last November for DOC NYC. Available now on Amazon Prime. In any case, you can view a conversation with the director at 12:30 pm at https://www.westdoconline.com/steve-james-episode-6-live.

  • NOMINEE – STEVE JAMES, OUTSTANDING DIRECTING DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA AWARDS
  • WINNER – BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY CRITICS’ CHOICE DOCUMENTARY AWARDS
  • THREE NOMINATIONS CRITICS’ CHOICE DOCUMENTARY AWARDS
  • NOMINEE – BEST DOCUMENTARY NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW
  • NOMINEE – BEST DOCUMENTARY CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail tells the incredible saga of the Chinese immigrant Sung family, owners of Abacus Federal Savings of Chinatown, New York.

Accused of mortgage fraud by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., Abacus becomes the only U.S. bank to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The indictment and subsequent trial forces the Sung family to defend themselves – and their bank’s legacy in the Chinatown community – over the course of a five-year legal battle.

Trailer & TEDtalk: ‘THE UNCONDEMNED’ is a riveting documentary about an underdog group of lawyers and activists who defied the odds to do what had never been done: prosecute rape as an international war crime

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Presentsthe-uncondemnedthe-uncondemnedposter

In Theaters Starting Friday October 21st

A film by Michele Mitchell and Nick Louvel

Featuring Original Music by Aloe Blacc and Maya Jupiter

Watch their Live performance of ‘Smile’ at Global Citizen

Michele Mitchell is a longtime investigative reporter, journalist and author who has covered politics and social issues for outlets such as PBS and CNN Headline News. A leading expert on the topic of rape and war crimes, and a passionate activist, Michele was a featured speaker at the Global Citizen Symposium in New York in September and just last year did a TEDTalk, What’s Rape’s Brand?

THE UNCONDEMNED is a courtroom drama, turned upside down when three brave women came forward to tell their story. THE UNCONDEMNED is a riveting documentary about an underdog group of lawyers and activists who defied the odds to do what had never been done: prosecute rape as an international war crime. In 1997, the young men and women at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda found themselves inexplicably in charge of the first case of genocide in history. Underfunded, understaffed and overwhelmed, they faced incredible hurdles as they pursued their first case against a small town mayor. Crimes of war and against humanity had not been prosecuted since 1946, and surviving witnesses feared for their lives. And then, based on a last minute revelation, the prosecuting team amended the charge to include rape. Three heroic women would overcome their fears and shame to speak for all those who could not. Secret memos, witness assassinations, setbacks and barriers – THE UNCONDEMNED captures the untold, remarkable story that changed the course of international judicial history.

For more information, please visithttp://www.theuncondemned.com/#the-film

Featuring:

Pierre Prosper (Lead counsel for the Prosecution,Office of the Prosecutor vs. Jean-Paul Akayesu)

Sara Darehshori (Co-counsel for the prosecution,Office of the Prosecutor vs. Jean-Paul Akayesu)

Patricia Sellersn (Legal Advisor for Gender, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia)

Binaifer Nowrojee (Researcher for Human Rights Watch in the Women’s Rights Division)

Lisa Pruitt (Gender Consultant for International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda)

Godelieve Mukasarasi (Director, SEVOTA)

And the courageous women of Rwanda that testified at trial

NYC Theater: Landmark Sunshine (10/21)

LA Theater: Laemmle Royal (10/28)

Social Media:

Facebook: @TheUncondemned

Twitter: @TheUncondemned

Instagram:@TheUncondemned