In the film, Causey, who often went home in tears after grueling days of watching students fail to learn how to read, decided to go rogue. She dumped the curriculum she was supposed to use in favor of a structured literacy approach, one backed by decades of exhaustive scientific research. Her new curriculum worked wonders with the children, but she had to put her career at risk to make it happen.
Many literacy advocates are hopeful that the film will eventually land a wide distribution deal and succeed where myriad studies, reports and panels have failed over the years, by actually inspiring people to take action.
While the filmmaker has high hopes that many states will begin to follow the lead of Tennessee, Mississippi and Colorado and mandate literacy reforms, she also believes real change has to come from the ground up.
In 10 years when our 2nd grade class graduates, the results will show that the science and instruction are working as they should be. Our international level of incoming students will be fully literate and dedicated American citizens who will be helping to keep us moving forward in a global community. They are the future we need to teach and support. They will be the ones making the laws we will live by in our old age. We better make sure they not only know how to read, but also the expectations of a successful and equitable society in which all citizens have the right to the pursuit of happiness, expectations of safety (not having to worry about students being shot in school?) and living life to its fullest.
When the film was released, journalists feared it would spark race riots and hate crimes. There were even warnings issued to white people to avoid seeing the film. Instead, it caused a nation to reflect, and affirmed the black experience around the world. Despite critical and fan acclaim, the film was mostly snubbed by the Academy Awards in 1990, receiving two nominations for Best Writing and Best Supporting Actor (Danny Aiello).
The case dates back to May 26, 2019, when Abade Irizarry and three other men were filming a DUI traffic stop in Lakewood, Colorado. Police on the scene contacted Officer Ahmed Yehia and told him about the filming, who then promptly drove over. When he arrived, Yehia stood in front of Irizarry to block his view, then shined his flashlight into the camera lenses, saturating the sensors.
The highly anticipated fifth annual Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival (MCHRFF) today announced 20 films spanning five categories that have been nominated for its annual awards, including Documentary Short, Narrative Short, Documentary Feature, Narrative Feature, and Student Film. Dedicated to promoting understanding of global issues and artistic expression, the MCHRFF will take place from September 19-23, 2023 on the campus of Morehouse College. To purchase badges as well as view a complete list of early selections, official selections, and nominated films, visit morehousehumanrightsfilmfestival.com.
From the only known calving grounds to the shifting feeding grounds, Last of the Right Whales follows the North Atlantic right whale migration and the people committed to saving a species still struggling to recover from centuries of hunting. Now climate change is forcing right whales further north in search of food, putting them on a collision course with deadly ships and fishing gear.
Produced by HitPlay Productions with the participation of Telefilm Canada, in association with CBC and SWR/ARTE and with the participation of Ontario Creates, Rogers Documentary Fund, Canada Media Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit.
The entanglement case documented in Last of the Right Whales which Moira Brown responded to is that of NARW #4615. The first entangled right whale to be sighted in Canadian waters since 2019, the case made international headlines. A 5-year-old male 4615 was spotted near Miscou Island at the mouth of the Baie de Chaleur in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. When the Campobello Whale Rescue Team set out in search of him days later, government aerial footage showed him still entangled and his tail stock badly injured. Born during the 2016 calving season, 4615 is the second youngest of four known calves born to Harmony (NARW #3115). He was the first calf to be born that season about 10 nautical miles off Jekyll Island, GA. Interestingly, he was raised by a whale that was not his biological mother, after two moms apparently swapped calves before heading north!
It was the multiple deaths in 2017, what scientists called an unusual mortality event, that grabbed my attention. When I started researching this film, I had never heard of a North Atlantic right whale let alone so many dying, seemingly inexplicably, all at once. When I learned it was us that was unintentionally killing them and that we could change our behaviour to prevent those deaths, I had to tell this story.
The North Atlantic right whale has survived the threat of extinction more than once, both times with our help; when we banned hunting them in the 1930s and more recently when we moved shipping lanes, slowed ocean traffic and closed fishing zones in time with the whale migration. Now with a rapidly warming planet threatening their survival, we have a third chance to save this great whale from extinction.
Nadine Pequeneza is an award-winning Producer/Director/Writer best known for her character-driven films offering unique access to stories about a wide range of topics from criminal justice, to global finance, to the animal conservation. With more than 15 years international experience, she has garnered multiple awards and nominations, including; a Canadian Screen Award for Best Writing in a Documentary Program, nine CSA and Gemini nominations, Gold and Silver Hugos from the Chicago International Film Festival and a Silver Gavel Award honourable mention from the American Bar Association. Her films have screened at festivals around the world from Toronto, to Milan, to Auckland, to Sichuan, China.
Sholeh Fabbri has been producing award-winning content for two decades and has received three Canadian Screen Award nominations. For over seven years, as the Executive Producer of Entertainment Tonight Canada, Fabbri built the ET Canada brand by employing innovative growth strategies, producing engaging content, and developing integrated campaigns for broadcast and online. Her award-winning special Canada Together: In Concert showcased superstars including Shania Twain and Christopher Plummer to raise over $300,000 at the start of the Covid-19 shutdowns. In 2021 Fabbri launched Good Measure Productions, focusing her talents at the intersection of film production and impact. She is collaborating with HitPlay Productions on Last of the Right Whales.
Taking photographs and videos of things that are plainly visible from public spaces is your constitutional right. That includes federal buildings, transportation facilities, and police and other government officials carrying out their duties. Unfortunately, law enforcement officers often order people to stop taking photographs or video in public places, and sometimes harass, detain or even arrest people who use their cameras or cell phone recording devices in public.
When in outdoor public spaces where you are legally present, you have the right to capture any image that is in plain view (see note below about sound recording). That includes pictures and videos of federal buildings, transportation facilities (including airports), and police officers.
You have a right to capture images in public places, but you don't always have a right to record what people say. Pennsylvania's Wiretap Law makes it illegal to record private conversations - which can include conversations in public places - without the consent of all parties to the conversation. Conversations with police in the course of their duties are not private conversations, but many other things you may record on a public street are.
A: If you are using a pre-recorded song or another pre-recorded piece of music in your film, there are two rights you need to clear; that is to say, you need to get two different licenses to use the music.
A: If you intend to use these songs on a soundtrack album, you will need to negotiate additional soundtrack rights with the publisher and record label as you negotiate the synch and master use rights for your film.
A: License fees are determined based on various factors, including how the music will be used, the duration and number of times the music will be used and where the film will be performed. In all cases, the fees are negotiable and not all publishers and record labels charge the same amount. Students working on films that are only shown within an educational environment can often negotiate reduced fees. Independent filmmakers planning to show their films at film festivals can also often negotiate a reduced fee called a Festival Use License. These reduced rates are based on limited screenings of the film. Once the film has been sold for theatrical release, the fees will increase based on the significant increase in viewership and potential increased revenues. It is best to negotiate this increased fee in advance. Negotiating in advance for possible future performances in different types of media (theatrical, TV, cable, internet, etc) is often referred to as a Step Deal.
A: U.S. Copyright Law provides that you can be sued by a music publisher and/or record label, for using their property without their consent. Considering that you will work more and more with publishing companies and record labels as your career moves forward, not clearing the rights in advance is not a very professional way of starting your relationships with them. Clearing the rights and having step deals in place will also help you in the event that a distributor is interested in buying your film. If your rights are not cleared, the distributor is looking at an unknown expense tied to your film, and this can be a deterrent in a distributor's interest in acquiring an independent film.