Posted by editor@vimooz.com on December 23, 2008 under Documentary, PBS, Television | Comments are off for this article
The documentary film”Grey Gardens: From East Hampton to Broadway,” airs nationwide Dec. 23 on PBS-TV on the Emmy Award-winning program “Independent Lens.”
It was no secret in the tony East Hamptons enclave that the two reclusive women living together in gothic squalor, with dozens of cats and the occasional raccoon, shared an intimate connection with one of the wealthiest and most celebrated women of her day.
But it wasn’t until documentary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles captured their story in the seminal 1975 cult classic Grey Gardens that the rest of the world discovered the truth: the elderly recluse and her eccentric, spinster daughter, who performed for their own private muses amongst the cobwebs, were Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith Bouvier Beale-aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.
Grey Gardens, the Tony award-winning Broadway musical, was developed three decades after the Maysles film debuted. The musical is the ultimate homage to the quirky and rebellious Beales. Edith Beale and her daughter Eddie turned their backs on their upbringing, public opinion and polite society to pursue their artistic dreams in the sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking and always sentimental fantasy world they shared together.
GREY GARDENS: From East Hampton to Broadway picks up the thread of this compelling mother-daughter story, weaving together clips from the Maysles brothers’ film with insightful interviews featuring Albert Maysles, societal and cultural commentators and the creators of the Broadway show. The documentary is a backstage pass into the creative process that brought one of America’s most haunted and haunting families from an original cult movie to the Great White Way. [via]
Posted by editor@vimooz.com on September 24, 2008 under Documentary, Television | Comments are off for this article
Three of Independent Television Service (ITVS)’s acclaimed films have won four Emmys at the 29th annual News and Documentary Emmy® Awards. The awards recognize outstanding achievement in broadcast journalism during the 2007 calendar year. Since 1997, ITVS-funded projects have garnered 13 wins at the News and Documentary Emmys.
The Emmy® Award–winning PBS series Independent Lens’s presentation of BILLY STRAYHORN: Lush Life took home the award for “Best Documentary,” building on the series’ past two Emmy wins in the News and Documentary category. Directed by Robert Levi, the film examines the life of the composer of “Take the ‘A’ Train” and other Duke Ellington hits, who struggled with obscurity and prejudice as a successful gay man in the tumultuous years of the mid–20th century. The series’ past two News and Documentary Emmy wins include A LION’S TRAIL (2006) for “Outstanding Cultural and Artistic Programming” and BE GOOD, SMILE PRETTY (2004) for “Best Documentary.” In 2007, Independent Lens received its first national primetime Emmy Award in the “Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking” category for its special presentation of A LION IN THE HOUSE, which follows six years in the lives of five families fighting childhood cancer.
“BILLY STRAYHORN: Lush Life is an exceptional film about an extraordinary man—an American musical genius. We are thrilled that the film has received such a prestigious honor,” said Independent Lens series producer Lois Vossen.
OPERATION HOMECOMING: Writing the Wartime Experience, a co-production of ITVS and a presentation of WETA, received two Emmys, for “Outstanding Informational Programming – Long Form” and “Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Music and Sound.” Directed by Richard Robbins, OPERATION HOMECOMING: Writing the Wartime Experience aired as part of America at a Crossroads, a series of documentaries developed by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that explore the challenges confronting the post-9/11 world. Topics include the war on terrorism, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the experiences of American troops, the struggle for balance within the Islamic world and Muslim life in America, and perspectives on America’s role globally. A Documentary Group production, the film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2008.
The ITVS co-production and P.O.V. presentation MADE IN L.A. was awarded an Emmy in the “Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story – Long Form” category. Directed by Almudena Carracedo, the film documents the lives, struggles and personal transformations of three Latina immigrants working in garment factories and explores the complex impact of globalization on the U.S. apparel industry and its largely immigrant workforce.
“We are extremely proud of the amazing recognition these films have achieved. It is wonderful to see the hard work, determination and artistic vision of these outstanding independent filmmakers recognized with such esteemed awards,” said Sally Jo Fifer, ITVS president and CEO.
The following is a complete list of the winners:
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Independent Lens
BILLY STRAYHORN: Lush Life
Producer/Director: Robert Levi
Producers: Joshua Blum, George Seminara
Executive Producer: Sally Jo Fifer ( ITVS)
OUTSTANDING CONTINUING COVERAGE OF A NEWS STORY – LONG FORM
P.O.V.
Made in L.A.
Executive Producers: Sally Jo Fifer, Simon Kilmurry, Cara Mertes
Producer/Director: Almudena Carracedo
Producer: Robert Bahar
OUTSTANDING INFORMATIONAL PROGRAMMING – LONG FORM
America at a Crossroads
OPERATION HOMECOMING: Writing the Wartime Experience
Series Executive Producers: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan
Series Producer: Leo Eaton
Program Executive Producers: Tom Yellin, Sally Jo Fifer (ITVS)
Program Director/Producer: Richard Robbins
OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN A CRAFT: MUSIC AND SOUND
America at a Crossroads
OPERATION HOMECOMING: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sound Editor: Glen Frazier
Rerecording Mixer: Terrance Dwyer
Foley Artist: Monique Raymond
Sound Effects Editors: Sam Lionde, Matthew Slivinski
Dialog Editors: David Ball, Vince Tennent
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