Final Selection Awards Eleven Projects for Funding
Los Angeles, CA (November 27, 2006) – Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB), a non-profit organization funded by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, announced its eighth annual Open Call newly funded programs. The funding initiative invites independent producers to submit proposals for funding on Latino-themed programs or series.
“The results from this year’s Open Call truly reflect the rich and diverse span of our Latino identity. Through these stories LPB will have the opportunity to enlighten viewers on the various cultural and social issues that make us unique. We are pleased to help these projects move forward and provide a window that showcases our achievements, contributions and struggles,” said Luis Ortiz, Managing Director, LPB.
Every year LPB invites independent filmmakers to submit proposals in various stages, from research and development, to production, post-production and outreach. All proposals are reviewed by a selected group of public television professionals, local stations programmers, independent filmmakers, academics and executives from other funding organizations.
This year eleven (11) proposals were selected for funding. California filmmakers account for 64% of the awarded projects, followed by New York with 18%, and Massachusetts and Texas with 9%. The funding category percentages are as follows: Research and Development – 36%; Production – 18%; Post-production – 46%. The breakdown of funded producers is equally split between male and female.
Emerging filmmakers comprise 40% of total funded producers; mid-level producers make up 17%; veteran filmmakers constitute 43%. As far as funding history, 73% of awarded producers have never been funded by Latino Public Broadcasting before – a direct result of an extensive outreach program for independent filmmakers throughout the nation.
The 2006 awarded projects (alphabetically) are as follows:
Archeology of Memory
Producers: Claudio Duran/Marilyn Mulford
Documentary, 1 Episode/90 Min
Navigates a landscape of dreams and nightmare, transformation and healing, all this while creating powerful art to tell his story of torture under the regime of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile.
Bronx Burning
Producer: Edwin Pagan
Documentary, 1 Episode/60 Min
The story of the tragic events and misguided policies which almost led to the complete destruction of a major U.S. city.
Chicano Rock!
Producer: Jon Wilkman
Documentary, 1 Episode/90 Min
A musical biography of generations of artists including Lalo Guerrero, Ritchie Valens, Thee Midniters, Romancers, El Chicano, Tierra, Santana, Los Lobos and their audiences.
A Class Apart
Producers: Carlos Sandoval/Peter Miller
Documentary, 1 Episode/60 Min
The little known story of how a band of underdog Mexican-American lawyers take their case, Hernandez v. Texas, all the way to the Supreme Court and win the first decision to begin dismantling Jim Crow – issued two weeks before Brown v. Board of Education.
A Girl’s Life
Producers: Dawn Valadez/Kristy Guevara-Flanagan
Documentary, 1 Episode/90 Min
A journey into the lives of four pre-teen girls of color as they transition from childhood into adolescence and how girls today negotiate the process of growing older in a complex urban environment.
The Judge and the General
Producers: Elizabeth Farnsworth/Patricio Lanfranco Leverton
Documentary, 1 Episode/90 Min
Looks at the multinational effort to bring Augusto Pinochet and his top lieutenants to justice, creating new international human rights law in the process.
Making Viva Max
Producer: Jim Mendiola
Documentary, 1 Episode/60 Min
A seemingly simple story of the controversial making of Viva Max, a now over-looked Hollywood movie shot in San Antonio, Texas in 1969.
New Muslim Cool
Producer: Jennifer Maytorena Taylor
Documentary, 1 Episode/90 Min
Explores faith and culture through the story of 29 year old Puerto Rican hip-hop artist and staunch Muslim convert Jason “Hamza Pérez,” his small upstart religious community of Latino and African American Muslims, his family, and his cultural collaborators and friends.
Our Disappeared/Nuestros Desaparecidos
Producer: Juan Mandelbaum
Documentary, 1 Episode/90 Min
A filmmaker’s personal search for the souls of friends who disappeared in Argentina during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.
She Wants to Be a Matador
Producers: Gemma Cubero/Celeste Carrasco
Documentary, 1 Episode/90 Min
A documentary about women who choose the profession of bullfighting, challenging gender roles and rigid social traditions.
Two Trinities
Producer: Sandra J. Guardado
Documentary, 1 Episode/60 Min
A profile of the Trinity Foundation and Ole Anthony in their holy quest to investigate and bring down televangelists who prey on the poor and the desperate using the lure of the “heavenly lottery.”
About Latino Public Broadcasting Created in 1998 by Edward James Olmos and Marlene Dermer, Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB) is a non-profit organization funded by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. LPB’s mission is to support the development, production, post-production, acquisition and distribution of non-commercial educational and cultural television that is representative of or addresses issues of particular interest to U.S. Latinos. These programs are produced for dissemination to public broadcasting stations and other public telecommunication entities. Mr. Olmos is presently LPB’s Chairman of the Board of Directors.
CONTACT
Luis Ortiz, Managing Director
Latino Public Broadcasting
323.466.7110
luis.ortiz@lpbp.org