Saturday, April 6, 2024, 6:00 PM | Bajo El Sol Gallery St John Film Society and Bajo El Sol present STRIPPED FOR PARTS:AMERICAN JOURNALISM ON THE BRINK A 99-minute documentary Filmmaker RICK GOLDSMITH will be present for Q & A after the film WATCH THE TRAILER FILM SYNOPSIS: Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink is the story of one secretive hedge fund that is plundering America’s newspapers and the journalists who are fighting back. Investigative reporter Julie Reynolds, Denver Post editorialist Chuck Plunkett and a handful of others, backed by the NewsGuild Union, go toe-to-toe with the faceless Alden Global Capital in a battle to save and rebuild local journalism across America. Who will control the future of America’s news ecosystem: Wall Street billionaires concerned only with profit, or those who see journalism as an essential public service and the lifeblood of our democracy? RICK GOLDSMITH - FILMMAKER: RICK GOLDSMITH has been producing and directing documentary films since 1981. His mission as a filmmaker is to tell stories that encourage social engagement and active participation in community life and the democratic process, and to stimulate young minds to question the world around them. Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink (2023) is the third in a trilogy of films with journalism themes, following Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press (1996) and The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009) (co-produced/co-directed with Judith Ehrlich),both nominated for Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature. Most Dangerous Man also won a Peabody Award. Other Goldsmith films: Everyday Heroes (2001) (co-produced/co-directed with Abby Ginzberg) is a behind-the-headlines look at AmeriCorps and a provocative and instructive look at youth, race and national service. Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw (2015), chronicles “the female Michael Jordan” from troubled family life to basketball superstardom, revealing a long-hidden battle with mental illness. In 2023, Goldsmith received a Maysles Bros. Lifetime Achievement Award from the St. Louis International Film Festival and also The Rose F. and Charles L. Klotzer First Amendment Award for Free Speech in the Service of Democracy from the Gateway Journalism Review. Born and raised in the suburbs of New York City, Goldsmith came west in 1975 and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area ever since. Trained in architecture, music and community activism, he began working in films in 1979. He is a member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the Writers' Guild of America, West, and New Day Films, a filmmaker-run distribution coop. See links to reviews and interviews with Goldsmith, and more on all of his films at RickGoldsmithFilms.com.

Sunday, March 3, 2024, 6:00 PM | Bajo El Sol Gallery St John Film Society and Bajo El Sol present STEWARDS OF THE LAND 90-minute documentary film Filmmaker JUANMA TEITELBAUM and Producer MARIOLGA REYES CRUZ will be present for Q & A WATCH THE TRAILER FILM SYNOPSIS: Stephanie, Ian and Alfredo are landless ecological farmers striving to produce healthy food for local consumption in Puerto Rico. In this economically depressed US-territory--highly dependent on food imports and a frequent target for hurricanes--producing food locally is urgent. The documentary shows the protagonists’ grit as they attempt to carve a living without land ownership or capital. DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT: "Puerto Rico is fertile land. I grew up in a land-occupation settlement in Vega Baja, surrounded by all the tropical fruit trees that my family could dream of. Seeing so much abundance and generosity from nature around us, I wondered how was it possible that Puerto Rico imported over 85% of our food? That question has determined my audiovisual work for almost 20 years. Stewards of the Land is our first feature-length documentary. In this film we follow the day to day of three young Puerto Rican agro ecological farmers as they confront the natural and unnatural challenges of cultivating food sovereignty with grace and dignity." - JuanMa Teitelbaum, Director JUANMA TEITELBAUM - DIRECTOR: JuanMa Pagán Teitelbaum is a documentary filmmaker and ecological farmer. He holds a master's degree in Caribbean Studies from the State University of New York-Buffalo and a wide-ranging experience in the world of cinema, including lighting and sound work, music video cinematography and editing, and work on movies and documentaries. Alongside Mariolga Reyes Cruz, JuanMa has produced over 30 short documentaries on sustainable agriculture in Puerto Rico. His mini-documentary series Harvest Today (Cosecha Hoy) was broadcast on The Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation and received an Emmy Suncoast nomination. The Stewards of the Land is his first feature-length documentary which showcases the efforts of three Puerto Rican ecological farmers working in the main island of Puerto Rico. MARIOLGA REYES CRUZ - PRODUCER/SCREENWRITER: Mariolga Reyes Cruz is co-founder and executive director of the Fideicomiso de Tierras Comunitarias para la Agricultura Sostenible, the first agricultural community land trust in Puerto Rico. Prior to founding the organization, Mariolga taught at the University of Puerto Rico and worked on coalition building for social and climate justice. She co-produced 30 short documentaries on sustainable agriculture that were broadcast on public television, for which she received an Emmy nomination.