Black Film Showcase

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In honor of Black History Month, Horizon profiles an award-winning black filmmaker and discusses a local African-American event.

>> Michael Grant:
Tonight on "Horizon," human cloning, guns in bars, they are all in the subject of some legislation in the works at the State Capitol. We'll have an update.

>>> And in honor of Black History Month, "Horizon" profiles an award-winning black filmmaker, and we discuss a local African American event, plus we tell you an Arizona story about an historic adobe Hacienda at the edge of the Salt River. La casa Vieja was a ferry house, residence, and business, and is now a well-known landmark. That's next on "Horizon." Announcer: "Horizon" is made possible by the friends of channel 8, members who provide financial support to this Arizona PBS station. Thank you.

>> Michael Grant:
Good evening, welcome to "Horizon." I'm Michael Grant. Legislation to allow people to bring loaded guns into restaurants and bars that serve alcohol shot through the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. It is one of many bills currently active in the State legislature. Here to give us a mid--week update is Robbie Sherwood, legislative reporter with "The Arizona Republic." Actually would he stole that from the headline of the story.

>> Robbie Sherwood:
I wish I wrote them. I could take credit for it.

>> Michael Grant: It's back, guns in bars.

>> Robbie Sherwood: It is. It is a repeat of a bill that garnered us national attention last year, if anybody watches fans of the daily show with John Stewart. They had one of the funniest segments regarding this bill.

>> Michael Grant:
It was funny.

>> Robbie Sherwood:
The interviewer pondered the question what if you are in a bar and a bear comes in, if you don't have a gun, you're going to get eaten, but it is back and it has some wheels. We have some new legislators this year. It only failed by one vote last year in the senate, and its cleared its first hurdle in the senate and seems to have some real momentum that it didn't have last year.

>> Michael Grant:
Opposed by the restaurant association?

>> Robbie Sherwood:
Restaurant association, bars, you know, the entire hospitality industry, the entire police Fraternal Order of Police, highway patrolmen, everybody that has to deal with that, liquor department. They all don't want this. They don't want the potential liability of having to wonder, you know, who is carrying and who is not, because you are probably dealing with concealed carry folks and having to ask if they have a gun so you can enforce the no drinking prohibition. Because it has a caveat. If you are carrying a gun in a bar under this bill you are not allowed to drink. There are questions about how easy that would be to enforce. On other side of this is the National Rifle Association. They are very adamant that these 70,000 concealed carry -- it wouldn't just be limited to them, but they are working this on behalf of those folks who have the concealed carry permits who really just want to go into a Denny's after they have gone to the shooting range and Denny's may have a liquor license because they sell dinner without having to leave their weapon in the car where it might be stolen or if God forbid you've seen these situations where people come into public places and shoot up the place, they would have no ability to defend themselves. That's the situation they are presenting over and over again as they try to move the bill through committees.

>> Michael Grant:
Breaking news, and as they also say on comedy central, when news breaks, we fix it, the high schools got added back into the ban on junk food sales on school grounds bill.

>> Robbie Sherwood:
I don't think a lot of people saw this one coming. It had been -- it's the way it started out, but the high schools had gotten an exemption, feeling that that's where the real money is made on this stuff and they are older kids, they understand responsibility and can money tear their intake of sugar snacks. It was in the house health committee today and representative Collette Rosati threw out an amendment that got on that made the exemption a blanket prohibition on the sugar high-fat, high sugar snacks.

>> Michael Grant:
Including high Schools?

>> Robbie Sherwood:
Yes. I need to take a closer look at this legislation, but what I'm told is it goes a little further than -- maybe it goes as far as what she intended but it goes farther than what some people might be comfortable with and it might even ban like selling water on campus or kids like coming in with the -- selling the candy bars to raise money for a one-time thing.

>> Michael Grant:
Sure, $50 to support the school band.

>> Robbie Sherwood:
It may have an intended or unintended consequence of banning stuff like at that point. There is a lot of work on the bill if it moves.

>> Michael Grant:
The Governor shows up to testify on all-day kindergarten. Don't hold us in suspense. Is she in favor or opposed to. .

>> Robbie Sherwood:
She thinks it's bad for kids -- no, this is her signature program, so it's probably the only bill you'll see her show up in person in front of a committee and testify on. She did this also last year, but a little twist this year, she has a year's worth of data. She got into some of the state's poor schools last year. So she came in with anecdotes of how well it's working, of kids who were reading at levels beyond kindergarten and presenting evidence that it's really doing well. Some lawmakers, you know, questioned her on it. They had a competing bill that would have created a voucher program for all-day kindergarten instead of a straight-up appreciation to allow kids to be free agents in their kindergartens. I don't think the Governor is a big fan of that. There was some action on the bills -- there is a bill that models after the Governor's approach was held up in committee, didn't move. The voucher bill died. Neither of them are really dead or alive. These are issues for the budget. This is a chance to hear what they had to say and we'll know when we get all-day kindergarten when they do the budget.

>> Michael Grant:
Almost out of time. Human cloning, there is a bill on the subject. What would it do?

>> Robbie Sherwood:
It passed the house. It would ban state-funded cloning, any sort of cloning program with state funds. I think the sponsor, representative Robert stump from the West Valley wanted to do a statewide ban but gauged the support and limited it to state funding. It got out of the house and goes to the senate.

>> Michael Grant:
Any predictions on -- I suppose favorably disposed over there?

>> Robbie Sherwood:
With the new group over there, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility for it to get out of the senate.

>> Michael Grant:
Arizona republic, thanks for the update.

>> Robbie Sherwood:
Thanks for having me.

>> Michael Grant:
Spike Lee, John Singleton, Mario Van Peebles, they are names you might recognize as black filmmakers who have made notable contributions to contemporary cinema. Still, African American filmmakers have historically struggled for recognition in the general public eye. The Arizona black film showcase is a competitive platform dedicated to supporting, celebrating and promoting the dynamic works of black filmmakers locally and nationally. We'll talk more about the black film showcase in a moment. First, Merry Lucero profiles a young Arizona filmmaker who is a previous year short film competition winner.

>> Merry Lucero:
It's called scratches, a short film about a young man who through poetry is haunted by the realization that his life of one-night stands leaves him empty. The film one the short film competition. Iris HUEY wrote, directed and produced the film.

>> Iris Huey:
Scratches is about a young man who is a player, and he ends up having a wake-up call. He ends up at this open MIC and he hears this poem that mirrors his life. But everywhere he goes, he's forced to listen to it in some way, so it has a surreal effect to it.

>> Merry Lucero:
This was her first project outside of film school.

>> Iris Huey:
When you are doing it independent style, you've got to find a way to make it happen.

>>Merry Lucero:
Producing the film had its challenges.

>> Iris Huey:
One of the last days of production, we had the largest crowd, so I had to deal with extras -- it was a lot of fun, but it was time-consuming and it was a lot to think about, you know, you are trying to focus on getting the shots right, getting -- making sure people -- the breaks are right, we get people fed so they don't starve and fall off during production while we're trying to shoot.

>>Merry Lucero:
There were rewards.

>> Iris Huey:
Being on the set and directing my first day, my first day of being onset, when I was coming home, I just felt so good because this is something that I'm passionate about doing. I love doing this. When I came home, when I was driving home, I was just -- that was just the best feeling that I was doing something, just living my passion.

>> Merry Lucero:
This year, HUEY is a judge for the black film showcase.

>> Iris Huey:
That is interesting, because as a judge, you are looking at the projects and you are completely aware of what it takes to create a project, all of the effort it takes to put into it, so you kind of -- you're like you want everybody to win.

>>Merry Lucero:
Making the film and winning the award brought her recognition and even some work. Her goal is to continue her filmmaking career and encourage others to follow their dreams.

>> Iris Huey:
You know, I think we all have a purpose here, and we all -- for me, I love making movies, and I think that our talent are, you know, a vehicle for us to express something. There is something deep within us that we have to express to promote some type of positive change in -- be it one individual or thousands or millions of people.

>> Michael Grant:
Here to talk about the black film showcase, Denise Meredith, a board member for the black film showcase and CEO of the Business Consulting Group, the Leadership Consortium and Joanna DeShay, Chair of the Arizona Black Film Showcase.

>> Michael Grant:
Joanna, she is coming in as a peer judge?

>> Joanna DeShay:
Absolutely. We thought it was real important to add someone in there that understood what it was like to make a film on a shoestring budget. So we brought in a peer judge.

>> Michael Grant:
She is quite a fire cracker?

>> Joanna DeShay:
Absolutely. She has got an eye for film. Some people are born to do this, and iris is one of those people.

>> Michael Grant:
It is funny. I've noticed in certainly this business, and to a much lesser extent the film business, that some people just sort of see things visually. I -- I mean, they have that feel for it. It's a real talent.

>> Joanna DeShay:
yes yes, absolutely.

>> Michael Grant:
Tell us about the black film showcase.

>> Joanna DeShay:
Wonderful. It starts on Thursday night with an opening night reception. We're showing tie la Perry's film. This is his first film adaptation. We're excited to share that with the audience. It does not come out until next week, which is the 25th. So we're really excited to preshow that, if you would, to our general audience. Followed with workshops and screenings over the weekend on Friday and Saturday at South Mountain community college.

>> Michael Grant:
Denise, you were telling me that it has been a while since I've been down to South Mountain, but they have a very nice performing arts center?

>> Denise Meridith:
They have a spectacular center there. That's what we're hoping that events like this will bring attention to that.

>> Michael Grant:
How did you become engaged with the showcase?

>> Denise Meridith:
Well, the leadership consortium is a 501(c) 3 to identify, recruit and develop leaders of color in the valley, and we sponsor several special events throughout the year. I appreciate being on the show again to talk about another one.

>> Michael Grant:
You are on the show more than I am.

>> Denise Meridith:
I know.

>> Michael Grant:
And the audience appreciates it.

>> Denise Meridith:
You need to hire me. Burks I'd make a great side kick. But we do things like the black expo and this is another one of our annual events, the Arizona black film showcase, and it's very special to us because Joanna is one of the -- definitely the young and upcoming leaders in the valley.

>> Joanna DeShay:
Thank you.

>> Denise Meridith:
This was her brain child, her idea, and we're glad to be able to help her foster that.

>> Michael Grant
: How old is the brain child?

>> Joanna DeShay:
It's 4 years old. So this is year 4 for us.

>> Michael Grant:
Growing, I take it?

>> Joanna DeShay:
Oh, absolutely, growing by leaps and bound. When we started off, it was an opportunity to get filmmakers together to pitch ideas and see what folks were doing. They were all over the valley, and they didn't get a chance to get together and network and utilize each other's resources, and as we started, year after year, we've found more and more filmmakers that are hungry for this that said we need an opportunity to network and really make this thing happen in Arizona, and here we are four years later.

>> Michael Grant:
Now, the focus on the film aspect.

>> Joanna DeShay:
Sure.

>> Michael Grant:
What's the criteria for the competition?

>> Joanna DeShay:
You know, it is films shot under a million dollars for feature length films, so it has to be 60 minutes or longer, and for short films. We want to do what people can do for under $500 thousand you this. That is truly a shoestring budget. That's independent filmmaking at its best.

>> Michael Grant:
That's amazing that a million and a $500,000 budget is shoestring, but the extravaganzas are up to what, $200 million?

>> Joanna DeShay:
Plus, easily. If you blow stuff up, there goes the price.

>> Michael Grant:
Now, you mentioned some workshops and other things. Film me in on a little bit more.

>> Joanna DeShay:
We've got everything you need to know about the film industry from financing to distribution of films, all wait through if you are a writer. We made sure it was an inclusive event that if you were an actor, writer or director, you would walk away with the information that you needed to make a film. So we've got everything from -- like I said, financing and distribution, and we've got some really great folks coming in, Reginald HUBBLIN, who did "Boomerang" and "House Party" and "Serving Sarah." He'll do a director's workshop. And Bill Duke from the "Predator" days with Arnold Schwarzenegger and the original "Car Wash" if you remember that. So he's gone on to direct. He's got several movies, "Raging Harlem", "Deep Cover", "Sisters act", films that you would not necessarily think that he would direct, but he is the director.

>> Michael Grant:
It sounds like it has a very broad draw to it.

>> Denise Meridith:
Oh, yeah. It's not only for people who want to make films, it's also for people who love films like myself, people who grow up and want to learn more about it. It's a very exciting opportunity for the valley.

>> Michael Grant:
And does the valley engage on this thing? I mean, how is that track record been?

>> Denise Meridith:
It grows every year. This year will be our biggest year yet, not only as far as talent that comes and wants to present, but as far as people who attend. It is open to the general public. Most of the workshops are on Friday and Saturday. Saturday night, the big draw is we have sort of an academy awards ceremony for the winning films. That's a lot of fun.

>> Michael Grant:
Incidentally, there is a link to the black film showcase on our web site and we'll get that later.

>> Denise Meridith:
Wonderful.

>> Michael Grant:
Presenters?

>> Joanna DeShay:
Lots of them.

>> Joanna DeShay:
You know, we've got everything from the names that you may recognize like the Bill Duke and the Reggie HUDDLAND, so the folks behind these things make things happen. Like for example, Karen Horne who produced "blade" that was a great move with Wesley snipes. That's a husband and wife production team that produced that movie. She is talking about writing and producing for film. Then you've got Eric Van Low who wrote for several seasons with the Cosby show. He teaches at UCLA and he's coming out to talk about how you get into that. What's a good script, you know, how do you position that so your script is read when it its the table. So, yeah.

>> Michael Grant:
There is a lot of giving, particularly more so at the independent filmmaker level than at other levels. A lot of people are anxious to share, know, what they've learned, where they've been, where they think you can go, sorry you don't have any talent at all?

>> Denise Meridith:
That too.

>> Joanna DeShay:
You'd rather hear it here than millions of dollars later, you have no talent, but thanks for your money. It's really excited. What draws them is the youth aspect of the showcase. The Bill Dukes, the Reggie Huddlands, they have huge schedules. When we say you know what, we've got young folks interested in filmmaking, not just in front of the camera, but behind the camera, how does it all work we want to know. That's what gets them excited. That's what said I'll be here for that, because I want to make sure they understand some of the pitfalls and how did you really make it in this business.

>> Michael Grant:
You mentioned the -- go ahead.

>> Denise Meridith:
I was going to say one of the things that makes this film showcase different than the Sundance or the Miami or some of the other film festivals is our emphasis on youth. We have a youth component. We have a lot of young students coming from high schools locally to get involved in this, and that really is going to make a difference long term.

>> Michael Grant:
That's a feature of South Mountain high school.

>> Denise Meridith:
Absolutely, exactly. So that makes it really different. People see the film festival, and Sundance, people go to distribute their films or have their films bought, but here people come to learn. That's going to make a big difference.

>> Michael Grant:
Where can you get tickets?

>> Denise Meridith:
You can go to the web site, wwww.AZblackfilm.com. That's the easiest way to get tickets.

>> Michael Grant:
So they will be available at the door?

>> Denise Meridith:
Absolutely.

>> Michael Grant:
And they are reasonably priced?

>> Denise Meridith:
The whole weekend, if you want the whole weekend, it's only $49, which is pretty incredible. That I know clouds the receptions, screenings, ceremonies and everything else. Owe go for one day if you have Saturday or Friday. That's $20.

>> Michael Grant:
Terrific. Denise MERIDITH, thank you for being here. Ms. DeShay, enjoyed talking to you.

>> Denise Meridith:
Thank you.

>> Michael Grant:
In honor of statehood week, "Horizon" continues a special series called "Arizona stories." These stories are about significant people, places and events in our state's history. Tonight, a place that's now famous for steaks, but in the 1870s, the adobe Hacienda in the heart of Tempe was famous for another kind of hospitality. Merry Lucero brings us the Arizona story of la casa Vieja.

>>Merry Lucero:
La casa Vieja "the old house." It's been called that since before the turn of the century, but this structure wasn't always an old house, it was once Una casa NUEVA, a new house, brought by pioneer entrepreneur Charles Trumble believe Hayden. Michael Grant Monti says that he knows the history of la casa Vieja.

>> Michael Monti:
In 1856, Charles Trumble believe had a contract to ship a bunch of stuff to the army up north of here, and he had been trading with the Salt River tribes, and so he consulted them to -- as to where there was a good place to cross the river, and they told him that right in this vicinity, there was a wide area in the river where it was shallow with a rocky bottom that you could ride across with a team of mules.

>> Merry Lucero:
But when Hayden reached the river, the water was too high to cross. Legend has it he climbed Tempe Butte, viewed the land and was struck with some ideas.

>> Michael Monti:
He felt if he were to place a table across the river and tether a ferry boat, people would pay to use it instead of having to camp out as he did. Another opportunity would be to divert the river and have it turn a water wheel on the flour mill.

>>Merry Lucero:
He did build a ferry. He employed local workers to construct the flour mill and ran with T with water from the river, and he built this Hacienda as his home, using adobe bricks, rough cut timber and a pueblo style roof.

>> Michael Monti:
Hayden used those materials because anything manufactured or milled would have had to have been brought up from as far away as Tucson, and so he had to use what was on hand here, and he used the ancient techniques of adobe and the latia ceiling, the large rough hewn logs that they brought from Payson and Prescott, maybe its still green because they are bowed and sticks laid across those, and then reeds from the river and over our heads there is a foot to a foot and a half of packed earth that they used to seal that roof.

>>Merry Lucero:
The street became known as Mill Avenue, the town as Hayden's ferry, and the area began to prosper. At the age of 50, Hayden married Sally Davis. Together they ran a blacksmith shop, post office, and other businesses, and their home was a harbor for weary travelers.

>> Michael Monti:
The Haydens had because of the nature of their businesses, the ferry crossing and the flour mill, almost immediately the need to feed people and give them a place to sleep. So as early as this 1890s, you have stationary that says "hotel Hayden." They had a son, Carl who, became a United States congressman and served 57 years in the U.S. house and senate. They also had two daughters, Sally and Mary. Mary had two sons, one of them is Hayden C. Hayden.

>> Hayden C. Hayden:
My uncle and my aunt and my mother were all born in the casa Vieja, and they lived there, and my grandfather had built the mill across the street.

>>Merry Lucero:
By 1890, the family moved to a new home, and this became known as the old house, la casa Vieja. Over the next quarter century, more structures were built, including a boarding house and the site went through many changes and eventually fell into disrepair. In 1924, the Hayden daughters restored the home, the first historic renovation in the state, and ran a tea house. The courtyard was open then, and in it, a soothing fountain, which still stands.

>> Michael Monti:
A little shady retreat from the dusty streets outside, and a little bubble of civilization they can create in the middle of the bustling Hacienda, I suppose. You know, they could have some grass out here and water in the fountain was probably very soothing.

>>Merry Lucero:
La casa Vieja continued to be used as a place of sustenance, even after the Hayden family lost it in the great depression. In 1954, Leonard Monti purchased the landmark and established the steakhouse, still operating today. Monti preserved much of the history, like the adobe walls and the river rock floor. Today his son Michael Grant runs the restaurant, and has done extensive renovations to the building he grew up in and around.

>> Michael Monti:
When I was a kid, it was still not uncommon to see people riding around horses in this area, and it just occurred to me that there is an opportunity to gather and record as much of this information as possible because I find that a lot of the young people who come to work for us here and so many of the customers are very interested in knowing what life was like here before.

>> Hayden C. Hayden:
As far as the case is a Vieja is concerned, they learn a lot of things by going down there. Where did this thing come from, well, Hayden built it and Leonard Monti made it a lot bigger, so that legacy is there.

>>Merry Lucero:
Hayden C. Hayden operated the flower mill until it closed in 1997. La casa Vieja is the oldest continuously occupied structure in the entire Phoenix metro area. The building is on the national, state and city historic registers. It is a slice of the past in the heart of Tempe, Arizona, and even as a restaurant, la casa Vieja continues to house history for future generations to enjoy.

>> Michael Grant:
Tomorrow, "Horizon" profiles a once-thriving town that exists no more. In its heyday, Sonora Arizona had several thousand residents. Now, all they have of their hometown is a memory. That's tomorrow's "Arizona story." For links related to tonight's program, go to our web site. That address is www.azpbs.org, and click on "Horizon." You can also see transcripts of "Horizon" and find out about upcoming topics. And tomorrow, following

>>Mike Sauceda:
The rain that's been soaking Arizona has its drawbacks but it's filling up water reservoirs. Snow pack that feeds the Colorado River is above normal and some of the reservoirs are filled to the brim. We'll talk about our water supply in the C.A.P. and SRP systems Thursday at 7:00 on "Horizon."

>> Michael Grant:
Tomorrow after "Horizon," stay tuned for "Horizonte," then on Friday, our panel of journalists talk about the week's news.

Robbie Sherwood:Legislative reporter, The Arizona Republic;Denise Meredith:Board Member, Black Film Showcase and CEO, Business Consulting Group, the Leadership Consortium;Joanna DeShay:Chair, Arizona Black Film Showcase;

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