Daughter from Danang color, 81 minutes
Back in distribution, the Academy Award nominated film Daughter from Danang cuts between mother and daughter separated after the 1975 Operation Babylift. Hiep journies from Vietnam to Pulaski, Tennessee, where she is adopted by a single woman and renamed Heidi. In 1997, Heidi decides to return to Vietnam in search of her mother, and the filmmakers follow. Read more 
Posted on February 2nd, 2012
Happy New Year! Documentary Educational Resources is looking forward to a year of continued productivity and growth. As the new Executive Director, I am delighted by the opportunity to build on the wonderful work of my predecessors, interact with the amazing collection of films and filmmakers associated with DER, and collaborate with the DER community to further our mission.
Particular challenges and opportunities define our moment in time: scholars increasingly incorporate media into their work, yet such efforts often fit awkwardly within existing academic promotion and publishing frameworks; the funding landscape for film continues to shift; distribution technologies are moving toward streaming; and emerging genres and changing viewing behaviors create new opportunities for storytelling and outreach. We continue to believe in the potential of documentary filmmaking for creating new knowledge, communicating understanding of people and cultural processes, enriching our understanding of the human condition, and contributing to a more just and compassionate world. We look forward to continuing to support more traditional forms of documentary filmmaking as well as new directions in which documentary is moving.
Over the months and years ahead, we will be looking at how best to extend the DER mission to promote cross-cultural understanding through film and continue to support filmmakers through fiscal sponsorship, distribution, and outreach. I’d like to hear from you, by phone or e-mail, about your ideas for how we can best meet these goals.
The staff and I wish Cynthia Close all the best as she writes a new chapter of her life; we know that she will make it sparkle. I’d also like to take this opportunity to introduce two new staff members: Julia Perciasepe is our new Acquisitions and Distribution Manager, and Kayla Hammond is our new Sales and Outreach Associate. Craig Carpenter, Digital Media Specialist, has now been with DER for over a year, and Frank Aveni, Director of Design and Media, will soon celebrate his five-year anniversary with DER. As a team, we wish you good health, happiness, and inspired filmmaking and film viewing.
Alice Apley
Executive Director
Left to right: Alice Apley, Frank Aveni, Kayla Hammond, Julia Perciasepe, Craig Carpenter
Posted on January 26th, 2012
Southern Belle color, 57/75 minutes
Southern Belle examines the 1861 Athenaeum Girls’ School where young women eagerly sign up to become that iconic and romantic image of Southern identity: the Southern belle, replete with hoop skirt, hat and gloves, singing the region’s anthem, Dixie. Is the camp a self-esteem building, living history experience or does it ultimately reinforce divisions between race, gender, and geography in the present? Read more
Shooting for Democracy color, 60 minutes,
Shooting for Democracy follows students in Bhutan and the US as they participate in an international video education program. Juxtaposing youth perspectives on democracy during the 2008 election year, it follows the personal experiences of students while exploring the social and political contexts of these distinct nations, now linked by their use of a democratic system. Read more
Posted on January 26th, 2012
Hudson Shad and Planning for Floods color, 18/29 minutes
Hudson Shad makes a statement about our responsibility for keeping the waters of the Hudson clean enough for the shad to thrive. Planning for Floods by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) spread the message of public environmental responsibility for flood management well beyond the immediate community of the Mississippi River. Read more
Posted on December 20th, 2011
'Are'Are Music & Shaping Bamboo color, 174 minutes
A fascinating 2-DVD set that extensively documents the traditional musical culture of the 'Are'are people of the Solomon Islands. Includes the film Shaping Bamboo, which shows the making of panpipes, from the cutting the bamboo in the forest to the fashioning of the final bindings. Read more
Posted on November 17th, 2011
When the Mountain Meets its Shadow color, 80 minutes
A powerful film which tells the stories of Ashraf, Mne, Zoliswa and Arnold, who fight for survival in the informal settlements around Cape Town. While fighting against evictions, and water and electricity cut-offs in the townships, they struggle to find work. In hardly any other city of the world can poverty and wealth be found as close together. Read more
Undala and Undala Conversations color, 58 minutes
Undala was filmed in 1964 in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan in an early era of ethnographic filmmaking just before the emergence of synchronous sound. Included on the disk is Undala Conversations (2011), in which ethnographer Thomas Rosin and filmmaker Allison Jablonko watch and discuss the original film. Read more
Posted on October 12th, 2011
The National Endowment for the Arts confirmed a major production award this week to Documentary Educational Resources in support of the feature documentary, THE ROYAL CUP, currently in the works under the direction of David Lebrun and NIGHTFIRE FILMS. The 90 minute feature doc will examine Mayan history and culture through Archaeological objects.
We thank the Endowment for their continuing support especially during these demanding times and we look forward to assisting NIGHTFIRE FILMS in their realization of this project during the coming months.
Cynthia Close
President/Executive Director
DER
Posted on September 23rd, 2011
A Family in History: a 2-DVD set color, 2hrs, 51 minutes
Living at Risk, made in 1984-85 brought us inside Sandinista Nicaragua five years after the revolution that overthrew the dictator Anastasio Somoza. Now updated by a second DVD, The Barrios Family 25 Years Later, a group of 20 short films made in 2009-10, carries forward the story of the Barrios family and their country, tracing their multi-generational struggle to find ways to live and work according to the ideals that inspired their youth. Read more
Bound by Haiti color, 47 minutes
The story of Aaron Jackson and John Dieubon - two activists forced to deal with the tragedy of the Haiti earthquake first-hand. Featuring rare footage from immediately following the earthquake Bound by Haiti follows these unlikely friends on a journey for change before and after the most devastating international event of our time. Read more
6 Generations color, 57 minutes
The impact of loss of land, language, culture and life itself is made all the more clear as Ernestine De Soto tells the story of her ancestors, documented through missions records and the work of anthropologist John Peabody Harrington. Read more
Posted on September 5th, 2011
Jathilan color, 27 minutes
Jathilan is an Indonesian folk dance that uses the power of music and dance to channel powerful and sometimes terrifying forces. Led by a spiritual guide and a whip-bearing ringleader, a group of dancers ride woven horses in rhythmic unison until they are entered by spirits. Read more
Ritual Burdens color, 25 minutes
Ni Ketut Kasih who has lived her whole life surrounded by the complex rhythms of the Balinese ritual calendar. However, the pressures of ritual requirements often overwhelm her, crowding her mind with memories of her difficult childhood during Indonesia’s war for independence. Read more
Memory of My Face color, 22 minutes
Bambang Rudjito, a university-educated Indonesian man in his late thirties is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, the film illustrates how the residues of colonialism and the pervasive influence of globalization affect the subjective experience of mental illness. Read more
Kites and Monsters color, 22 minutes
The film focuses on a growing boy, Wayan Yoga, and explores the protective aspects of culture that may guide developmental neuropsychiatric processes. Read more
Posted on August 15th, 2011
DER Filmmakers have receieved several grants in the past from RICH (Rhode Island Council for the Humanities)
See Upcoming Grant Deadlines for Major & Mini Grant opportunities. Non-profit organizations and individual researchers are invited to apply for funding to support projects that promote a greater understanding of the humanities in the state of Rhode Island.
Through our competitive grant programs, we aim to stimulate new research in the humanities, spark thoughtful community exchange, build new audiences for the humanities, innovate new methods in the humanities, and advocate for the importance of the humanities in the daily lives of a free and engaged democratic peoples. We invite you to submit proposals that help us achieve our goals.
FALL 2011 MAJOR GRANT CYCLE DEADLINES: Public Projects, Media, Civics
Pre-registration Deadline: September 1, 2011 by 5 p.m.
Intent to Apply to be submitted online. The form is non-binding, however, a required first step for all Major Grant applications. Late registrations will not be accepted. Visit our Grant Guidelines page for more information, and to submit the Intent to Apply form.
Draft Deadline (Optional): September 24, 2011 by 5 p.m.
RICH staff will review grant application drafts from pre-registered applicants who make this deadline.
Final Proposal Deadline: October 15, 2011 by 5 p.m.
Final Major Grant Application to be submitted online from pre-registered applicants only.
FALL 2011 MINI GRANT DEADLINES: Public Projects, Civics, Research
Final Proposal Deadline: October 1, 2011 at 5 p.m.
Monthly Mini Grant awards will resume with an October 1, 2011 deadline for projects scheduled to take place after December 1, 2011. Mini Grants are awarded on a monthly basis. Deadlines are the first of the month at 5:00 p.m.
Grant Information Workshops
Find out what’s new with the RICH application! Attend one of our grant information workshops held across the state with Grants Director, SueEllen Kroll. Workshops will also include tips, strategies, and general guidelines. The workshops are free and open to the public; however, attendees must register to reserve a space. Email caroleann@rihumanities.org to RSVP for one of the following workshops:
North Kingstown, RI
Monday, August 15, 2011 at 3pm
North Kingstown Free Library
100 Boone Road, North Kingstown, RI
Providence, RI
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 10am
Aldrich House, Rhode Island Historical Society
110 Benevolent Street, Providence, RI
Newport, RI
Friday, August 19, at 12pm
The Preservation Society of Newport County
424 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI
Our thanks to North Kingstown Free Library, Pettaquamscutt Historical Society, The Preservation Society of Newport County, and Rhode Island Historical Society for their help in hosting and promoting these events!
For more information contact:
SueEllen Kroll, Grants Director, at sue@rihumanities.org or (401) 273-2250 x205.
Posted on August 5th, 2011
