- Spread the Word: 'Art and Craft' on PBS
Organizations and individuals across the country are getting the word out about 'Art and Craft'.
- POV and Storyhunter at DUMBO Arts Festival
Join us in celebrating art on the waterfront with the 2014 DUMBO Arts Festival, from September 26th-28th.
- A Block Party in the Bronx with “Bronx Princess”
If you’re in New York City this weekend, join us for an evening of outdoor art and music — and a free screening of Bronx Princess. The film will be screened on Saturday, August 29 as part of the Rooftop Films Summer Series in Mullaly Park, just blocks from where it was filmed. (Rain: If […]
- Outside the Frame: Q&A With Guerilla Artist Keri Smith
Freelance writer Amanda Hirsch, former editorial director of PBS Interactive, blogs about documentaries and the Web in her column, Outside the Frame. Keri Smith is an author/illustrator-turned-guerilla artist. She is the author of several bestselling books about creativity, including How to be an Explorer of the World — The Portable Life/Art Museum and Wreck This […]
- Outside the Frame: Social Networks as Fodder for Art
Freelance writer Amanda Hirsch, former editorial director of PBS Interactive, blogs about documentaries and the Web in her column, Outside the Frame. The beauty of nature, the gruesomeness of war…and Facebook status updates? Yes, Facebook can now count itself among the muses of history, having inspired Wisconsin artist Stacey Williams-Ng to create a series of […]
- What's Your POV about 'Belarusian Waltz'?
Belarus, one of the nations formed in 1991 from the breakup of the Soviet Union, is a strange and little-known country in a region of growing strategic importance, a country that’s been called “Europe’s last dictatorship.” In filmmaker Andrezj Fidyk’s Belarusian Waltz, one man — post-modern performance artist Alexander Pushkin — is determined to challenge […]
- The Last Conquistador's John Valadez Answers Viewer Questions
John Valadez, along with Cristina Ibarra, is the co-director of The Last Conquistador. After the film aired on July 15, viewers wrote in with questions for John and Cristina on the POV Blog. Read on as John answers questions about John Houser, handling angry reactions from viewers and what’s happening in El Paso now. Anne […]
- What's Your POV about 'The Last Conquistador?
It sounded like a perfect partnership. Renowned sculptor John Houser dreamed of building the world’s tallest bronze equestrian statue, a stunning monument to the Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate that would pay tribute to the contributions Hispanic people made to building the American West. The city of El Paso, Texas, was looking to improve its […]
- Ask the Filmmakers: The Last Conquistador's John J. Valadez and Cristina Ibarra
When John J. Valadez and Cristina Ibarra, learned that the city of El Paso had commissioned a sculptor to create a statue of Juan de Oñate, they knew they wanted to document the controversial public arts project that had come to be seen as a monument to culture by some, and as a glorification of […]
- Doc Soup: Docs as Art or Activism?
On Tuesday night, you’re going to get to see a very compelling doc called The Last Conquistador, about sculptor John Houser‘s building of the largest bronze equestrian statue in El Paso. The good people at POV gave me a DVD screener of the film, so I got to see it and I have a lot […]
- 2008 POV Preview: 'Last Conquistador'
Today, we continue looking ahead to our upcoming season. On Tuesday, July 15, POV will broadcast The Last Conquistador, by John Valadez and Cristina Ibarra. Renowned sculptor John Houser has a dream: to build the world’s tallest bronze equestrian statue for the city of El Paso, Texas. He envisions a stunning monument to the Spanish […]
- An Interview with Brooke Davis Anderson about Outsider Artist Henry Darger
In 2005, POV aired Jessica Yu‘s film In the Realms of the Unreal. The film is the astounding tale of outsider artist Henry Darger, who, unbeknownst to anyone, had created a 15,000-page novel and hundreds of illustrations that have inspired artists and viewers since their discovery. Three years later, Darger continues to fascinate and astound, […]
- 'Beautiful Losers' at SXSW
Earlier this month, I headed to Austin for my first SXSW festival. I attended both the interactive and film portions of the festival, and found myself quickly overwhelmed by all the panels, conversations and parties that transform this college town into a creative mecca every March. I kept thinking, if I were ten years younger, […]
- Doc Soup: Cinematic Poetry
This weekend, the documentary The Unforeseen will begin trickling into theaters. On the surface, it’s about urban sprawl in Austin, Texas. It traces the history of the booming growth of that city, and the tensions that arose between developers and environmentalists trying to protect a natural spring-fed watering hole called Barton Springs. As a piece […]
- POV Alum Adele Horne on Essay Films — or “Films That Try”
Adele Horne is the filmmaker behind The Tailenders (POV 2006), which examines missionary activity, the loss of languages around the world and global capitalism in an unusual and essayistic way. Adele, winner of the “Truer Than Fiction” Award at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards, writes in with her thoughts on the history of essay films. […]
- From the Archives: Sweet Old Song
If you’re looking for a story of music, love, art and family this holiday season, look no further than Leah Mahan‘s Sweet Old Song. The film tells the story of acclaimed musician Howard "Louie Bluie" Armstrong, who is renowned for a lifetime of jazz, blues, folk and country music. Armstrong’s roots in America’s musical past, […]