RIIFF ANNOUNCES “ROVING EYE”
DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL

Fourth annual event to take place April 26-28th

• Winners Announced

• Download the 2008 Poster

• 2009 News Release • Press Photos to Download

• 2008 Festival Information

Roving Eye Film Festival

A Collaboration between Roger Williams University
and the Rhode Island International Film Festival
April 26-28, 2009

Sun Apr 26 2009
Screening Location: RWU School of Architecture, ARCH*132  

         
4:00 p.m.
A First Look Premiere Presentation of the Rhode Island International Film Festival
Interrogate This: Psychologists Take on Terror
Directed by Maryanne Galvin, USA, 2008
90 mins.           
Presents a troubling and deeply human story illustrating the complexities encountered when national security, psychology, politics, ethics and morality collide. Until this past September when the American Psychological Association voted on a referendum requiring policy adjustments regarding psychologists' work in national security sites that prohibits their further involvement in interrogations of detainees, the mental health profession’s involvement in the war-on-terror had not been widely publicized. Yet, for years psychologists and other professionals involved in the war on terror have gone head to head debating their continued involvement as consultants to those conducting the interrogations of suspected terrorists in detention centers throughout the globe.

POST SCREENING PANEL DISCUSSION (Roundtable):
Dr. Matt C. Zaitchik is a clinical and forensic psychologist. He is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Roger Williams University. From 1988 to 2004 he was Co-director of the Forensic Service at UMass Medical School/Worcester State Hospital, where he conducted criminal evaluations and supervised pre-doctoral interns, post-doctoral fellows, psychiatry fellows and doctoral level clinicians. He is a Designated Forensic Professional and Designated Forensic Supervisor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a Diplomate (ABPP) in Forensic Psychology. He is President-Elect (2009-2010) of the American Academy of Forensic Psychology. Dr. Zaitchik is also currently on the Community Access Board at the Massachusetts Treatment Center (for Sexually Dangerous men).

Teal Rothschild, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Roger Williams University. 

Jon W. Shelburne serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Roger Williams University.

Maryanne Galvin is a documentary filmmaker as well as a practicing forensic psychologist in Boston, Massachusetts. Over the past several years, she chronicled the heated debate amongst her colleagues about their work as consultants to interrogations in U.S. national security detention centers.  Interrogate This: Psychologists Take on Terror, premiered in September 2008 at The Thin Line Film Festival in Texas.

Her films have won awards at numerous independent film festivals and have been broadcast and distributed widely. Galvin has also written, directed, and produced three educational training videos for mental health and law enforcement professionals. She holds a doctorate in psychology from UMass Amherst and is a licensed and Board Certified (ABPP/Counseling) psychologist. She also earned the MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College, Boston.

RECEPTION FOLLOWING IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARD THE PANEL DISCUSSION

7:00 p.m.
Escape from Luanda:
Directed by Phil Grabsky,
72 mins.           
In Luanda, one of the world's poorest and most dangerous places, three students from Angola's only music school work towards their end-of-year concert. The Music School is Angola’s first and only school of its kind. It houses some 80 students, most of them desperately poor. Many face disapproval and outright rejection from their families who can’t see a future in music. This film asks if, despite the ravages of 27 years of civil war, musical passion can overcome terrible hardships. The three characters are: Joana, 23. Her ambition is to be Angola’s first female rock drummer. Her husband left her because of the school – and took her two children with him. She struggles to stay at school while wanting to reclaim her children. Domingas, 42. Mother of five, her husband also left her when she started the school. She had been a money-changer on the dangerous streets of Luanda – and was so depressed she considered suicide. The school “saved her life”. The oldest student at the school, she is determined to see it through. Alfredo, 21. He is considered the bright hope of the school – perhaps the most likely to succeed. He has had to face down a disapproving father who thought a career in music a ridiculous idea in post-war Angola. Now he faces new obstacles in achieving his aim of becoming Angola’s first-ever classical pianist.

Mon Apr 27 2009
Location: MNS*200

5:00 p.m.
The Last Word:
Directed by Jesse Quackenbush
90 mins.           
The inevitable story of failure every American has anticipated but hoped would never have to be told. This documentary takes the 'Innocent Man on Texas Death Row' tale to a dark corner feared by all - - proving that an innocent man has been executed by the State. A clash between good and evil strikes up on the High Plains of Texas, when Johnny Frank Garrett, a 17 year old retarded boy is arrested, convicted and ultimately executed for the Halloween night rape, mutilation and murder of Sister Tadea Benz. The 76 year old nun was attacked while she slept in her room at the St. Francis Convent in Amarillo, Texas. Garrett claimed his innocence from the time of his arrest until his dying breath. Sixteen years after Garrett's execution new evidence rose up from the cold case grave of the Amarillo Police Department proving they executed the wrong man! In Garrett's final statement he professed his innocence one last time but did so in a voice driven by hate and vengeance. In his chilling conclusion Garrett promised those responsible for his murder that someday he would have the last word and they would pay for what they had done. For or against the death penalty, The Last Word compels viewers to feel not only the collective pain our societal conscience suffers for executing the innocent but also the individual fear of not knowing what margins of error our judges, jurors and executioners will find acceptable tomorrow.

7:00 p.m.
A First Look Premiere Presentation of the Rhode Island International Film Festival
Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story:
Directed by Bruce Alan Johnson and Christine Toy Johnson

86 mins.           
TRANSCENDING The Wat Misaka Story is a documentary film about Wat Misaka, the first person of color to be drafted into what is now the NBA. A Nissei who was born, raised and is still living in Salt Lake City Utah, he was the very first draft pick of the New York Knicks, in 1947. Overcoming the national political climate during World War II, Wat was a star player for the University of Utah 1944 and 1947 championship teams, taking 2 years off in between to serve in the U.S. Army. His perseverance and loyalty to his teammates, other Nissei friends (including those interned at Topaz) and his family, are a testament to the unflappable Japanese American spirit. This film includes in depth interviews with Wat and his family, teammates from his championship teams (including Arnie Ferrin, Herb Wilkinson, Fred Lewis and Glynn Peterson), sports authorities, and many who continue to look up to him as both a role model and personal hero. The film also has video clips from his 1944 and 1947 college games, rare footage from a visit to the Topaz Internment Camp, and countless photos of his triumphant career. Co-directed by award-winning filmmakers Bruce Johnson and Christine Toy Johnson, this project was awarded two consecutive grants from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.

The Directors will be in attendance.

8:30 p.m.
Accelerating America
Directed by Timothy Hotchner
90 mins.           
Education has traditionally been the first step towards fulfilling the American dream and escaping a life of poverty. But in the United States today, one-third of all students who enter high school do not graduate. ACCELERATING AMERICA follows a group of inner-city students fighting for their last chance to realize this dream from Providence, RI. At the center of the film is a revolutionary school, UCAP, founded by inspiring principal Robert DeBlois. Despite his own physical limitations as a quadriplegic, he tirelessly devotes himself to saving his 130 students. His school, the only one of its kind, offers failing middle school kids confronted with poverty, drugs, gangs and jail a chance to catch-up to their peers by completing two grades in one year. Director Timothy Hotchner spends a year following Mr. DeBlois, his staff and three students, America, Yazmine and Jason, as they attempt to overcome their chaotic home lives and troubled pasts. Of the three, only two of the kids make it. With its intimate look at the complex lives of inner-city youth and their fearless principal, ACCELERATING AMERICA is a highly engaging story of survival and redemption despite the odds.

Winner Grand Prize Best Documentary Film, Rhode Island International Film Festival 2008.

Screening Location: CAS*157

7:30 p.m.
A First Look Premiere Presentation of the Rhode Island International Film Festival
58 Harrison Lane
Directed by Sprague Theobald, 2008
38 mins.
“58 Harrison Lane” is a story about The Woodhall School in Connecticut,
a small secondary school for boys who have not experienced success in traditional educational settings. Most often, they have struggled because of learning differences such as ADD, ADHD, PDDNOS, Aspergers, Tourettes and Dyslexia. In many cases, this school is their last hope.  The majority of the boys end up at Woodhall only after their families, previous mainstream schools, and often rehabs, have simply given up on trying to work with them. The students are a diverse group from around the world with a similar profile in common: a long history of difficulty in school, low self-esteem and no sense of hope.  Individual academics are a cornerstone in Woodhall’s great success story. With classes of three to four students, teachers are able to work one-on-one to meet the student's strengths and weaknesses.  Woodhall has an astounding record of getting boys that society once called "lost" or "hopeless" back on their feet and into college.  Each and every young man brings a tragic history of failure with him to the school and the "miracle" behind Woodhall is that they leave the school with wisdom, self-esteem and hope. These qualities are achieved by means of three very simple acts: self-reflection, accountability and responsibility. The students development these skills through working with their peer groups, with the guiding hand of Woodhall’s trained faculty and staff. 

About the Director: Sprague Theobald of Hole In The Wall Productions lives and works out of Newport, RI . His production resumé is wide and varied. For several years, he worked for an NBC affiliate both in front of and behind the camera producing segments and news stories of regional interest, while working on his independent productions. Recently, he has been concentrating his efforts on more detailed story telling, and “58 Harrison Lane” is Hole In The Wall’s most recent project.  Sprague’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed in that he’s received both national and international recognition for his writing, producing, cinematography and editing.  Of his many awards and notices, he’s the most proud of his Emmy award for “The 26th Defense; The End of An Era”. Currently, Sprague and Hole In The Wall are in production on “The Pearl Farmers of Fumba” and in pre-production for “Arctic Grail; The Northwest Passage.”Sprague is now in production for “Arctic Grail...” and will be leaving on my boat this June 15th for five months into and through the Northwest Passage, Hopefully arriving in Seattle late November: www.bravingit.com

The Director will be in attendance for a Q&A

Tue Apr 28 2009
Screening Location: CAS*162:

4:30 p.m.
A First Look Premiere Presentation of the Rhode Island International Film Festival
Art & Copy
Directed by Doug Pray
86 mins.           
ART & COPY is about advertising and creativity, and its profound effects on modern culture. Like Dorothy pulling the curtain back on the Wizard of Oz himself, the film intimately reveals the relatively unknown personalities and stories of the most influential advertising creatives of our age: Lee Clow, George Lois, Mary Wells Lawrence, Hal Riney, Dan Wieden and David Kennedy, Phyllis K. Robinson, Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein, plus others, who have shaped our daily lives with their ideas for selling us cars, clothes, computers and presidential campaigns. Directed by Doug Pray (“Surfwise,” “Scratch”) the film interweaves stunning cinematography of TV satellites being launched and billboards being erected with some of the greatest ad campaigns of all time, resulting in an inspiring synthesis of art, commerce and human emotion.

6:00 p.m.
THE MAKING OF A DOCUMENTARY FILM: FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL (Roundtable)
From African refugees to a clinic that treated tuberculosis; from the media in Palestine to the impact of an LGN refinery located at a port in the Narragansett Bay; documentary filmmakers have told us stories about ourselves and the world in which we live. Just what makes up a documentary film? What inspires its creation? Who are the people behind the camera? This panel investigates the art and craft of documentary filmmaking from the perspective of successful regional artists.

Featuring
• David Bettencourt is a Rhode Island-born filmmaker and adjunct professor at the University of Rhode Island. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Boston University's graduate film program in 2001 and has since produced and directed more than a dozen short films and videos. David's first feature film, the award-winning documentary "You Must Be This Tall: The Story of Rocky Point Park," garnered five stars from the Providence Journal this past September. His second feature documentary, "On the Lake: Life and Love in a Distant Place," is currently airing on PBS stations across the country.

• G. Wayne Miller, Writer, Producer. is a 1976 graduate of Harvard College and has been a staff writer for more than 27 years at The Providence (R.I.) Journal. He has won many awards in journalism; along with other writers at The Journal, he was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in Community Service for coverage of The Station nightclub fire that killed 100 people and injured more than 200 in February 2003. Miller is the author of a novel and six critically acclaimed works of narrative non-fiction, including Toy Wars, Men and Speed, King of Hearts, Coming of Age, The Work of Human Hands, and The Xeno Chronicles, a two-year chronicle of the transplantation work of Dr. David H. Sachs.  He and David Bettencourt formed a creative partnership founding Eagle Peak Media, specializing in movie-making, Internet content and distribution, and the printed word: mainly books, short stories and essays.

• John Lavall started Devlo Media, a film and video production company in 1997 with a goal of producing original and honest portrait films in a documentary-style. Whether that film is a documentary, an educational film, a corporate profile or a public service announcement our main focus is to present a straightforward visual representation of that particular journey.

• Joseph Sousa is an Emmy-nominated producer, writer, and director with four years experience working in public and commercial television. He has produced programming that has aired on PBS, ABC, NBC, Spike TV, and Portuguese satellite network RTP International. Sousa is currently segment producer on Conversations with Carlos Watson, a cutting edge new talk show with former CNN commentator Carlos Watson. Sousa's most recent documentary film, Festa, is a 30-minute independently produced film focusing on the Portuguese immigrant community of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Festa premiered domestically on PBS and internationally on RTP and has been nominated for a 2007 New England Regional Emmy.

Films And Excerpts To Be Screened:

Home Across Lands
Directed by John Lavall
HOME ACROSS LANDS chronicles the journey of these newly arrived Kunama as they strive to become self-reliant, invested participants in their new home. Guiding their transition is the resettlement agency, International Institute of Rhode Island that connects them to the resources they need as they work to establish a new community and a better life for their families.

Live from Bethlehem
Directed by Joseph C. Sousa
Live From Bethlehem chronicles the struggles, failures and triumphs of the Ma'an
News Network, the only major independent news source in the Palestinian Territories.
Following the lives of the station's reporters, producers and photographers, this
documentary provides an in-depth, balanced look into the challenges of making news
in one of the world's most combative regions. A highly observational film, Live From
Bethlehem focuses more on people than politics while still engaging with questions of
gender equality and freedom of expression in the evolving Palestinian mediascape.

On the LAKE: Life and Love In a Distant Place
Directed by David Bettencourt
A century ago, tuberculosis was the number-one killer in America. Today, it's the world's second most deadly infectious disease, after HIV/AIDS. And now, acclaimed filmmakers David Bettencourt and G. Wayne Miller bring this story to life in a one-hour documentary featuring never-before-seen images and interviews. This is a medical story, a chronicle of loss and despair -- but also an emotionally powerful true-life tale of friendship and love in tragic circumstances, a triumph of the human spirit for those who survived.

8:00 p.m.
EASY RIDER, RAGING BULLS: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
Directed by Kenneth Bowser
119 mins.           
Based upon Peter Biskind's book of the same name, this BBC-produced documentary traces the rise of a generation of Hollywood filmmakers who briefly changed the face of movies with a more personal approach that pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable on-screen. Influential directors who appear include Arthur Penn ("Bonnie and Clyde"), Dennis Hopper ("Easy Rider"), Francis Ford Coppola ("The Godfather"), John Schlesinger ("Midnight Cowboy"), Bob Rafelson ("Five Easy Pieces") Martin Scorsese ("Taxi Driver"), Peter Bogdanovich ("The Last Picture Show"), and Jonathan Demme ("Crazy Mama"). Narrated by William H. Macy, the documentary features vintage clips of Coppola, Scorsese, Beatty, George Lucas, Sam Peckinpah, Roman Polanski, Robert Altman, and Pauline Kael. It also includes original interview material with Penn; Roger Corman; Bogdanovich; Hopper; David Picker; writer/directors John Milius and Paul Schrader; actresses Karen Black, Cybill Shepherd, Margot Kidder, and Jennifer Salt; actors Peter Fonda, Kris Kristofferson, and Richard Dreyfuss; producers Jerome Hellman, Michael Phillips, and Jonathan Taplin; editor Dede Allen; production designer Polly Platt; writers David Newman, Joan Tewksbury, Gloria Katz, and Willard Huyck; cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond; agent Mike Medavoy; and former production executive Peter Bart. Among the films discussed are "Rosemary's Baby," "The Wild Bunch," "Mean Streets," "American Graffiti," "The Rain People," "Midnight Cowboy," "M*A*S*H," "McCabe and Mrs. Miller," "The Last Picture Show," "Shampoo," and "Taxi Driver."

This program will be hosted by visiting guest professor, Ron Tippe.

RECEPTION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING COMPLETION OF SCREENING & DISCUSSION

For more information about films, dates, and venues for the Roving Eye Film Festival™, please call 401-861-4445, email adams@film-festival.org

See last year's 2008 Festival Schedule, click here.

This program is free to the general public. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

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