This blog will present news items about the motion picture business, with emphasis on lower budget, independent film in most cases. Some reviews or commentaries on specific films, with emphasis on significance (artistic or political) or comparison, are presented. Note: No one pays me for these reviews; they are not "endorsements"! Starting in May 2016, many of the reviews for new feature films have been done on a hosted Wordpress site, and this blog now mostly does shorts and older films.
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My legal name is "John William Boushka" or "John W. Boushka"; my parents gave me the nickname of "Bill" based on my middle name, and this is how I am generally greeted. This is also the name for my book authorship. On the Web, you can find me as both "Bill Boushka" and "John W. Boushka"; this has been the case since the late 1990s. Sometimes I can be located as "John Boushka" without the "W." That's the identity my parents dealt me in 1943!
"Rise: The Promise of My Brother's Keeper" previews at AFI-Docs before airing on OWN and Discovery
“Rise: The Promise of My Brother’s Keeper”, 50 minutes,
directed by Dawn Porter and produced by the Discovery Channel, played at the
ASI-Docs at a screening this evening at the Newseum in Washington DC. There is
a subtitle: “A National Initiative to Improve the Life Outcomes of Boys and
Young Men of Color”.
The film examined a mentoring program supported by the White
House, specifically in Chicago (Urban Prep Academies), Yuba City-Marysville CA
(Youth Build), and Baltimore (Halstead Academy of Art and Science), all part of
“BAM” or “Becoming a Man”.
I have a couple of personal reactions. One is that this sounds like a moral
imperative for all of us (including the childless) to become involved. Indeed,
in the QA, one of the speakers mentioned the “Brother’s Keeper” passage in
Genesis. I asked about the personal aspect and here is the answer.
The other is that I don’t see “helping people” as something
that should be conceived in terms of racial or religious groups.
One of the panelists described the role of technology in improving educational opportunities for those of color. But that it a different issue from the personal one. There was a general consensus from the panelists that everyone should "do what she could" and keep things real when interacting with others.
One member of the panel had a relative shot yesterday in Charleston, SC in a tragic incident mentioned before the film started.
In Washington DC, a charter school related to a program like
this runs a boarding school and hires teachers and mentors to run the
residential program.
The film will be aired on OWN Sunday June 21 and streamed on Facebook.
Update: September 1, 2015
The White House has a YouTube video with President Obama speaking about "My Brother's Keeper" here.
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