Founded in 2000 BDC™ BLAST!        BDC Members are on a Roll in February!     * The Schomburg Celebrates Pioneers   Bill Greaves and Bill Miles    * Orlando Bagwell Returns to Directing #welcomeback! *MIST Cinemas, MOMA's Documentary Fortnight, CCNY Documentary Forum, Stranger Than Fiction and More    Become a Member of the BDC  Visit us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter: @BDCNewYork  Sabrina S. Gordon, Chair Rafee Kamaal, Chair February 19, 2012 BDC Founder, St. Clair Bourne "I'm trying to take the form somewhere.  Much like African-American musicians did with music, I'm trying to do that with the documentary." BDC News Orlando Bagwell leaves the Ford Foundation to make his own documentaries once again.  (click below to read The New York Times article)     #welcomeback  *  *  *  BDC Events (in date order) CCNY Documentary Center Honors Independent Cinema Director Shirley Clarke  Anjanette Levert, Program Coordinator THIS Friday, February 22 Multiple events beginning at 4pm  (click image below for details)     Dancer/choreographer turned filmmaker, Shirley Clarke studied filmmaking in the 1950s with the legendary Hans Richter at the City College of New York.  She soon became part of the  downtown independent film scene that included avant garde pioneers Maya Deren and Jonas Mekas.  A founder of the New American Cinema movement, The New York Times calls her "one of the great undertold stories of the American independent cinema."    A Co-Presentation of the CCNY Documentary Forum, the Black Documentary Collective (BDC), the Rifkind Center for the Humanities, the Music Dept., the MCA Dept. Cinema Studies Program, the Women's Studies Program and the Black Studies Program of CCNY *  *  *  Creatively Speaking Screening Series at MIST Harlem Cinemas  February 22 - 25, NYC   Featuring Promised Land by Yoruba Richen   and Jesse Owens by Laurens Grant   (click image below for details)      Jesse Owens, Feb 23, 3pm   The most famous athlete of his time, his stunning triumph at the 1936 Olympic Games captivated the world even as it infuriated the Nazis. The story of the 22-year-old son of a sharecropper who triumphed over adversity to become a hero and world champion, Jesse Owens is also about the elusive, fleeting quality of fame and the way Americans idolize athletes when they suit our purpose, and forget them once they don't.  Promised Land, Feb 24, 5pm Though apartheid ended in South Africa in 1994, economic injustices between blacks and whites remain unresolved.  Promised Land follows two black communities as they struggle to reclaim land from white owners, some of whom who have lived there for generations. Amid rising tensions and wavering government policies, the land issue remains South Africa's "ticking time bomb," with far-reaching consequences for all sides. Co-presented by Creatively Speaking and the Black Documentary Collective (BDC) *  *  *   An Oversimplification of Her Beauty  Directed by Terence Nance Stranger Than Fiction at IFC   Tuesday, February 26, 8pm, NYC  (click below for details)   Terence Nance dazzled audiences at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival with this bold debut that's hard to define as fact of fiction.  As both director and subject, Nance brings a delightful sense of humor and vulnerability to chronicling his relationship with a lovely young woman, teetering between platonic and romantic. Co-presented by Stranger than Fiction and the Black Documentary Collective (BDC)      * * * Celebrating Black Independent Film Pioneers   Bill Greaves and Bill Miles   Wednesday, February 27, 6:30 - 8pm  @ the Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture  Langston Hughes Auditorium FREE, click image below to register:     Before Spike Lee, Henry Hampton, Stanley Nelson, St. Claire Bourne, and many other successful black documentary makers, there was Bill and Bill. Steeped in black history and culture, the work of these two pioneers laid a firm foundation for many of today's black filmmakers who continue a proud tradition of storytelling that began with Oscar Micheaux, Spencer Williams, and others.  Join us as we explore the work, legacy, and lives of Bill Miles and Bill Greaves. Co-Presented by Firelight Media and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture * * *  Homegoings  Directed by Christine Turner MoMA Documentary Fortnight  Thursday, February 28, 8pm, NYC (click for more details)   Through the eyes of funeral director Isaiah Owens, the beauty and grace of African American funerals is brought to life. Filmed at Owens Funeral Home in New York City's historic Harlem neighborhood, the film takes an up-close and unusual look at the rarely seen world of undertaking, one of the few occupations black Americans could enter into freely after slavery. Combining cinéma vérité with intimate interviews and personal photographs, Homegoings paints a portrait of the dearly departed and the man who serves them. Featuring a special performance by composer and violinist Daniel Roumain, introduced by Simon Kilmurry, executive producer, POV, followed by a discussion with Christine Turner and appearances by Isaiah Owens and others. *  *  * Little Brother  a documentary series   by Nicole Franklin and Jasmin Tiggett Get the DVD and Love It Forward!   Black History Month and Valentine's Day are both in February,   and this is the third year of the    Valentine for Little Brother Campaign!    For a $25 donation, purchase one DVD chapter of Little Brother for home video and a second DVD that will be shipped to the Library, Educational Institution, Community Organization or House of Worship of your choice.    Go to Little Brother for more information.    BDC Catalog & Directory is accepting submissions    The BDC Catalog & Directory is a searchable database of BDC members' work and contact information available to production companies, networks, press, distributors, educators and others interested in purchasing, screening, distributing member films and hiring our members.    This BDC-exclusive resource is an invaluable opportunity to reach audiences, increase visibility, promotional opportunities, as well as get work and generate revenue.  We have already received requests from CBS, The Documentary Channel, ASPiRE, Magic Johnson's new cable network, to name a few.  But they can't reach you and we can't refer you if you're not in it, so please submit your information now!  Please send an email for further instructions to:  Catalog@bdcnewyork.org ONLY!    (Please do not send emails to Sabrina or Nicole's personal emails.  Thanks!) You MUST be a current BDC Member to be included.  Click below to join the BDC or renew your membership. Become a Member    *  *  * The Black Documentary Collective (BDC) was founded in 2000 by the late great documentarian St. Clair Bourne, as the singular networking and mentorship organization for documentary film, video, and media professionals of African descent. The BDC has a monthly screening series at Harlem Stage, the premiere arts and culture center in Harlem, open to the public. The BDC offers its members professional development workshops, educational programs and networking events, and acts as an advocate for its filmmakers.  The BDC is also dedicated to making a difference in the ever-increasing communities that are interested in, and influenced by the work of its talented members, through community-sponsored events, outreach and activism.