NYWIFT & MOMI (NYC) Present 2 Short Dramas Directed by Maya Angelou

Events, Past Events

VENUE: Celeste and Armand Bartos Screening Room at the Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Avenue, Astoria, Queens.

DATE: Saturday, September 24 at 4:30PM

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: approximately 90 minutes

New York Women in Film & Television’s (NYWIFT) Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF) and the Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) will present “Visions: TV Dramas by Maya Angelou and Momoko Iko” on Saturday, September 24, 2016 at 2PM and 4:30PM at the MOMI, as part of the museum’s on-going “Changing the Picture” series.

The pioneering PBS TV series “Visions,” produced by Barbara Schultz from 1976 to 1980, presented 40 programs that brought together playwrights and directors to create dramas that addressed controversial topics in American culture. The movies, which included period films and contemporary dramas, gave voice to conflicting opinions and diverse groups within America.

Two of these important programs, recently preserved by NYWIFT’s Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF) – with funds from Nancy Malone – will be screened. Ann Deborah Levy, WFPF Co-Chair, Barbara Schultz, Executive Producer of the Visions series, and Sandra Schulberg, Visions series Story Editor and WFPF member, will introduce the programs. The screenings are made possible by KCETLink.

— “The Tapestry” and “Circles,” two short dramas, both directed by Maya Angelou and scripted by Alexis De Veaux are set in the 1970’s and focus on young African American women attempting to forge their own independent paths, despite the constraints and prejudices of their families and the society in which they have grown up. Screening Saturday, September 24 at 2PM. Total running time: approximately 90 minutes.

— “The Gold Watch,” written by Momoko Iko, tells the story of Japanese immigrants in a West Coast farming community as they cope with racism and internment in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. Depicting a chapter of the American past that has been sadly neglected, the movie has special resonance today in light of our continuing national conversation on immigration and racism. Screening Saturday, September 24 at 4:30PM. Total running time: approximately 90 minutes.

Both will be housed at the Celeste and Armand Bartos Screening Room at the Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Avenue, Astoria, Queens.

Tickets are $12 regular admission, or $9 seniors (65+) and students (18+) with valid I.D.