Stories in Action

Need an antidote for the summertime blues? Try the Don’t Knock the Rock festival in Los Angeles, a high-energy mix of film and music that runs every Thursday in July and August at the Silent Move Theater in Hollywood. The festival celebrates the rock ’n’ roll roots of Hollywood with classic and brand-new rock films containing quintessential music performances and live shows by fresh musical talents. Coming up this Thursday, July 2, at 8 pm is the Council-supported film “Chicano Rock,” the lively story of how young Mexican Americans in East Los Angeles created a new musical form — a blend of white rock, black soul and Latin rhythms.
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Call for entries. Deadline: June 26, 2009. The Council on Foundations and Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media (GFEM) are seeking submissions of films and videos for its 43rd Annual Film & Video Festival, to be held April 25-27, 2010 in Denver, CO. More info.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior has approved a bill with budgets for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. The bill now goes to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior and then to the full House and Senate. Please contact your senator and representative to ask them to support this important bill. Read more.

3Quarks Daily presents interesting items from around the web in the areas of science, design, literature, current affairs, art, and anything deemed inherently fascinating. Check it out.

President Obama has announced that he intends to nominate Jim Leach, a former long-term Republic congressman from Iowa, to be head of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Leach was one of the first Republicans to endorse Obama’s candidacy. He is currently, a visiting professor of Public and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University.

Journalist and oral historian Joey Plaster presents audio stories from 15 people who find their dreams and nightmares on San Francisco’s Polk Street. Come for a sneak preview of stories Plaster is fashioning into an hour-long radio documentary with famed producer Jay Allison. Thursday, June 18, 6:30-7:30 pm, 1217 Polk Street, between Bush and Sutter, San Francisco. More. The exhibit connected to the project – “Polk Street: Lives in Transition,”moves to Good Vibrations Polk Street Gallery on Thursday, June 25 (opening reception 6 to 7:30 pm), and runs there through the end of July. 1620 Polk Street at Sacramento. More.

“Montclair: “Discovering Montclair Family Stories,” an exhibit of photographs, drawings and excerpts of oral interviews created by Montclair area students about the area’s history will run through Tuesday, June 30, at the City of Montclair Civic Center, 5111 Benito Street, Montclair.

“Claiming the Title: Gay Olympics on Trial,” a short film about the U.S. Supreme Court and gay rights, will premiere at the Castro Theater in San Francisco at 3:30 pm on Sunday, June 21. More.

“¡Thinking Grande!” a film about one man’s efforts to build a Mexican Disneyland in the heart of California, will be broadcast on KVPT Public Television in Fresno on Monday, June 22 at 7 pm. More. In connection with the film, a Mexican fiesta will take place on the grounds of the place featured in the film on Sunday, June 14 from 2 to 7 pm. Asi Es Mi Tierra – Rancho Bonilla, Highway 166, New Cuyama. More.

Learn exciting ways to use the Council’s WeAreCA website at a workshop in Riverside or San Diego. The workshops are sponsored by the California History-Social Science Project and led by expert teachers. Find out more and register.