Directing
The story of the American music dynasty, the Carters and Cashes, and their decades-long influence on popular music.
Sure, Elvis was the King, but who was the Queen? The Women Of Rockabilly – Welcome To The Club is a documentary search for the "Female Elvis", as we meet the women of rockabilly music and explore the "what-if’s?" and "what-now’s" of their careers. Brenda Lee, Wanda Jackson, Janis Martin and a sassy cast of lesser but no less colorful pretenders to the throne describe their trailblazing days when they were the embodiment of exuberance, sexuality and defiance in a world that wasn’t quite ready for them. A rockin’ feature documentary by Beth Harrington.
Our Mr . Matsura is the story of Frank (Sakae) Matsura, the orphaned son of a samurai, who emigrated to Washington State in 1901, eventually settling in remote Okanogan County. There he embedded himself in a community of Native people and newly arrived settlers and immigrants, including miners, ranchers, shopkeepers and cowboys. In short order, he became the region’s leading photo-chronicler and, to many, its most beloved citizen. Through his lens, Frank Matsura offered up remarkable retellings of life in the American West and gave people new ways of thinking about themselves. A century later, the people of the county and the Colville Confederated Tribes still have pride and a sense of connection to the work he created.
In 1979, artist David Greenberger's talks with senior citizens become a word-of-mouth hit 'zine, The Duplex Planet. Four decades on, now a senior himself, he has much to tell us about the nature of art, conversation and growing old.
Documents one of the most important traditions of Boston's Italian-Americans: the annual celebration of the Feast of the Madonna del Soccorso, popularly known as the Fisherman's Feast.
This documentary follows a group of Italian-Americans from Boston's North End to their ancestral hometown, Sciacca, Sicily, to participate in the Feast of the Madonna del Soccorso (also known and celebrated in Boston as the Fisherman's Feast). The video examines issues of ethnicity, work, family, religion, and remembrance with affection and good humor. It contrasts the relatively small religious and cultural festival in Boston with the larger, older, more established ritual in Sicily, where statues of the Madonna are carried through the streets in devotion to the saint and as a way of honoring deceased family members.
After recording an Italian-American religious festival in Boston’s North End with her video camera, filmmaker Beth Harrington’s neighbors tell her that they see a miracle on the videotape — a statue of the Virgin Mary blinking its eyes. To Harrington’s amazement, and in spite of her lapsed religious beliefs, she must admit that her life has been transformed by the event. And when the press gets a hold of the story what ensues is a funny and touching look at what it means to believe and to belong.
