Keith Maitland's previous film The Eyes of Me, the moving story of a group of blind teenagers making their way in Austin, aired on Independent Lens and was nominated for an…...
Craig Staggs is the lead animator for the little animation studio based in Austin, Texas, also the home base of filmmaker Keith Maitland. Staggs' company did the brilliantly layered animation…...
Birth of a Movement, based on Dick Lehr's book, captures the backdrop to a prescient clash between human rights, freedom of speech, and a changing media landscape — that happened in 1915.…...
D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation is inarguably one of the landmarks of American cinema. The distillation of the storytelling techniques, editing ideas, framing and visual composition, and nuanced…...
Keeping with the "looking for love" theme of the documentary Meet the Patels, we present you with a fun quiz that will tell you where you will most likely find…...
"I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.”—Filmmaker Jean Cocteau (Orpheus; Beauty and the Beast) International Cat Day is August 8…...
In 1968, opposing intellectual forces William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal squared off in a series of nationally televised debates during one of our nation's most turbulent election cycles. With a…...
Notes and Citations for the “Buckley or Vidal” Quiz Quotes and Thoughts: “The four most beautiful words in our common language: I told you so.” – Gore Vidal, Nov. 1 2000, The Independent, Section: News, “Gore Vidal: You ask the questions” [though variations of this quote have… Read More
As depicted in Best of Enemies, bitter intellectual rivals Willam F. Buckley and Gore Vidal eviscerating each other with wit on network TV in 1968 made for riveting, and sometimes jaw-dropping, television. It…...
The Holocaust would seem to be an absolutely off-limits topic for comedy. But is it? History shows that even victims of Nazi concentration camps used humor as a means of survival and resistance. Still, any use of comedy in connection with this horror risks diminishing the suffering of millions. So… Read More
When we talk about the early years of cinema, there is no separating “the history of women in film” from “the history of film.” Women have been there from the beginning,…...
True stories have been a prime inspiration for movies for as long as there have been movies. Early films recreated historical events and breaking news for eager audiences and films…...