Directed by Allan Miller • Documentary • 1995 • 77 minutes
This inspirational documentary deservedly earned a 1995 Academy Award nomination. Divorced mother Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras taught music in the New York City school system until the budget ax eliminated her job. Dedicated to music and her students, she established a foundation and raised money to create her own violin program in three East Harlem schools. The film follows Guaspari-Tzavaras as she lugs her equipment from school to school, teaching students who range from young beginners to high-school students. The students' recitals include performing for an auditorium full of parents, playing the “Star-Spangled Banner” before a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, and finally making a Carnegie Hall appearance accompanied by world renown violinists Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman.
"This stirring documentary...also provides gritty urban sociology, a can-do message about the possibilities of educational triumph in a parched cement landscape normally the haunt of pessimism and defeat, and a forceful reproach to every politician who has ever stuffed a pork barrel at the expense of an arts program for children." —The New York Times
Directed by Various • Documentary • With Jill Crossland, Sally Telling, Peter Mcgowan, Mandy Garside, Frances Newbery • 1999 • 88 minutes
The cinema's love affair with Shakespeare dates from the earliest days of film. In its infancy film was regarded as a rather lowbrow medium, and the budding ...
Directed by Kazuhiro Soda • Documentary • With Kôji Fukada, Kanji Furutachi, Oriza Hirata • 2012 • 172 minutes
What is the essence of theatre?
Theatre 1 is a feature length documentary which closely depicts the world of Oriza Hirata, Japan’s leading playwright and director, and his theatrical ...
Directed by Kazuhiro Soda • Documentary • With Kanji Furutachi, Koichiro Genba, Oriza Hirata • 2012 • 170 minutes
Can the theatre arts survive in the 21st century?
If Theatre 1 is about the world of Hirata, Theatre 2 is a feature documentary, which depicts the relationship between Hirata and th...
