Rachel Gordon Media

I’d like to share a great example of how to make media a part of the educational process. On March 10, MIT screened Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy (www.dianaandkathy.com) and I spoke alongside a member of the disability advocacy group The Arc of Massachusetts. The event was a collaborative effort between the Student Disability Services department and the Women & Gender Studies division. MIT wrote a brief article about the event for its Undergraduate Newsletter “The Inside Scoop”, which can be found here (look about ½ way down the page):

http://due.mit.edu/newsletters/march-2011/inside-scoop-due-march-2011

If you’re looking to get a glimpse into Persian culture, AsiaPacificFilms.com created a portal with 24 films which are introduced and contextualized by scholars, sponsored by the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute at the following website:

http://www.asiapacificfilms.net/persianfilms/

AsiaPacificFilms.com is in development to set up similar portals for Korea, Japan, and other countries in the near future. If you would like access to use these sites in your activities, please let me know. Note that all video content streams online only, no hard copies, but you’ll notice downloadable PDFs.

I am headed to the Popular Culture Association conference in Texas April 20-24. If you’re going, or interested in seeing if your material would fit into the conference, please let me know!

I will also be attending American Library Association in June in New Orleans, so let’s connect if you are also!

And just for the joy of sharing some history, a recent article from the American Library Association magazine…about the very first Black librarian in Florida. I hope to read her book soon: http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/columns/newsmaker/christine-wigfall-morris-and-barbara-sorey

Separately from media, my first theater directing project that I’ve been helping to develop for 3 years has been programmed into the Illuminating Artists Series run by the Emerging Artists Theater in its One Woman Standing section. The show is called Flozetta and was created for actress Amelia Fowler. The writer, Nadine Graham, Amelia and I have been close friends for over a decade and we’re really proud of what we’ve made. I hope you can share it with us, though the theater only has 100 seats so I don’t expect everyone to fit! Still, if you have plans to be in the NYC area on Sunday, May 15 at 6:00pm – the link to buy tickets (which are $10) is:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/170486

Current Events:

Rarely do we get such a detailed and thoughtful reflection of how documentaries can impact social change, but the Channel 4 BritDoc Foundation has put one together (it’s long but fascinating, 18 months went into it) specifically for the film The End of the Line and I highly recommend reading it: http://site.britdoc.org/pages/983/view

In the spirit of collaboration, thanks to Cathy at Ithaca for bringing this to my attention, farmers turned filmmakers Jodi & Jeff Andrysick are making a film about hydrofracking. They have created a contest for people who send in footage to end up in the final cut. Visit http://www.allfrackedup.com/ or “Anyone who wants to enter can email us their mailing address and we’ll send them a free DVD. Then we can tell them more details.” Their email: jeffandjodifilms@hotmail.com

Next, a cautionary tale, and I truly appreciate fellow filmmaker Susan Williams-Adriensen for not only writing this up, but for having the guts to share it. Susan signed with a distributor for her feature film (which I helped to produce), but it became a nightmare (pun intended for fellow horror fans). It’s important to remember when looking into distribution possibilities to do your homework, and not be afraid to ask questions.

http://www.fangirltastic.com/content/susan-adriensen

This is NOT to say I’m against working with a distributor as I currently do work with distributors and enjoy doing so. I simply want to encourage people to educate themselves more…

Happenings!

Co-sponsored by the Women’s Studies Department and the Disability Services division of MIT, I am speaking with Body & Soul: Diana & Kathy on March 10 at 7:00 pm. A representative from the Arc of Massachusetts will also be in attendance. We’ll be watching the film and discussing how media helps to create change in community. If you’re in the Boston area and would like to join us, please let me know. If you would like a similar program set up at your institution, that can also be arranged. (www.dianaandkathy.com)

While in Boston, I’ll also be touring WGBH’s Media Accessibility department, so will get to see how these tools are done first hand! Very exciting!

I’m attending the Association of Asian Studies conference taking place in Hawaii at the end of this month on behalf of www.AsiaPacificFilms.com, who is also sponsoring the event. If you have plans to go, or know of faculty who are, please do let me know.

I will also be attending the Popular Culture Association conference in San Antonio, TX April 20-24.

New Agendas!

Starting now, I am assisting Seventh Art Releasing with connecting their content to academic institutions so if there is something in their catalog you think might fit in a class you are planning, please let me know and we can discuss those options. Check them out at www.7thart.com

Towards the end of this month, I will be interviewing an FDA consultant for my homeopathy documentary, Full Body Centric. I have also received a “letter of support” from the National Center for Homeopathy and am greatly looking forward to working with them more in the future. If you haven’t already seen the 5 minute sample, it is here: https://www.energizedfilms.com/?page_id=81

Please keep sending over exciting opportunities and new ideas to share!