Austin has three locally-made films in the 2nd Annual PBS Online Film Festival. You can vote for the audience award until March 22. Vote at pbs.org/filmfestival

The Longest Sun is a narrative short film inspired by the mythology of the Tewa peoples of northern New Mexico, and is told entirely in the endangered language of Tewa (less than 500 native speakers remain). A blend of fantasy, mystery, and historical fiction, The Longest Sun is a quest story that follows Tahn Pi, a young Tewa boy who sets out on a mythical journey to stop the sun from setting.

As the first film told entirely in the Tewa language, The Longest Sun is the culmination of nearly three years of collaboration with the San Juan, San Idelfonso, Santa Clara, Nambe, and Pojoaque pueblo communities and local governments. From conception to translation, the filmmaker and various Tewa community leaders worked together to document and preserve the oral traditions and language of the Tewa people through the medium of film. Peppered with colorful characters and rich in oral tradition, The Longest Sun explores universal perceptions of time, maturation, and death through a modern adaptation of an ancient Tewa origin story.

About the Filmmaker: Patrick William Smith (MFA in Film Production, UT Austin) works as a director and cinematographer between Austin, TX and Seattle, WA. He has directed a number of award-winning fiction and nonfiction films, web-series, and commercials. His documentary, Shades of The Border, toured at over two dozen film festivals worldwide (including SXSW, Media That Matters), garnering a number of awards and DVD distribution.  Patrick went on to direct a reality web-series for internet mogul, Penny Arcade, and later developed a comedy web-series funded through a successful, front-page crowdsourcing campaign on Kickstarter (Kris and Scott’s, Scott and Kris Show), which drew national media attention. Patrick’s most recent endeavor, a narrative quest film told entirely in the endangered Tewa language, is currently touring festivals worldwide. Looking ahead, Patrick has begun development on his first feature. 

Austin has three locally-made films in the 2nd Annual PBS Online Film Festival. You can vote for the audience award until March 22. Vote at pbs.org/filmfestival

Mijo is an immensely personal documentary about the relationship between a young mother who is a professional dancer and her 6-year old son, as she undergoes treatment for breast cancer. The film is a delicate balance between the son’s innocence, the mother’s medical journey and its depiction through dance. Ultimately, the film is an affirmation of love and the purpose of life.

About the Filmmaker: Chithra Jeyaram is an emerging documentary filmmaker and educator with an MFA in Film Production from University of Texas at Austin. Her first exposure to filmmaking began in 2004 with a failed attempt to fund a film about an explosive water-sharing dispute between two southern states in India. Deeply affected by that experience, she quit a decade-long career as Physical Therapist and enrolled in film school.

A diseased human body is a chaotic system and as a filmmaker she is interested in telling stories of the disruptive consequences of illness from unique perspectives. Approximately 30% of women diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States have young dependent children living with them. In Mijo, she highlights some of the difficulties experienced by cancer survivors with young children.

Besides making non-fiction films, she loves to illustrate, animate, take spontaneous trips, cook exotic recipes and work as a physical therapist.

Austin has three locally-made films in the 2nd Annual PBS Online Film Festival. You can vote for the audience award until March 22. Vote at pbs.org/filmfestival

In the late 1800’s, tens of thousands of Czech immigrants settled farmland in Central Texas. They brought with them the tradition of the community dance hall, building over 1,000 halls in little towns from Temple to Anhalt. Fewer than half remain open today. Noc na Tanečku (Night at the Dance) profiles Sefcik Hall, in Seaton, one of the last true Czech dance halls in Texas, and the elderly folk that still come there each Sunday to wax the floor and dance the polka, even as they struggle with old age, illness, and in some cases, death.

About the Filmmaker: Annie Silverstein is an Austin based filmmaker and media educator. She directed the feature documentary March Point (Independent Lens 2008), in collaboration with three teenagers from the Swinomish Tribe and is Co-Founder of Longhouse Media, an indigenous media arts & education organization based in Seattle, WA. Annie has worked internationally as a Producer, Director, Cinematographer, and Editor on films ranging in theme from land access issues in Ethiopia to the experiences of LGBTI refugees living in South Africa. Most recently she produced/directed Noc na Tanečku (Night at the Dance), which screened at festivals internationally, and wrote/directed her first fiction film Spark, which screened at Slamdance and SXSW, where it won a Jury Award for Best Texas Short (2012). Annie is currently earning her MFA at University of Texas-Austin.

Join us TODAY in becoming a part of Austin’s history by giving a gift to KLRU in Austin’s FIRST ever community-wide day of online philanthropy, Amplify Austin! We’re encouraging all Central Texans, those of us who love this community most, to help us raise $1 million in just 24 hours and show the rest of the world just how charitable this city can be. Want to help? Here’s how: visit our KLRU Amplify Austin donation page to make your gift today; spread the word to friends and family about your support of KLRU and Amplify Austin; and join the #AmplifyATX social media conversation on Twitter and Facebook. We have just 24 hours to make a huge difference in our community and in the lives of all Central Texans, so let’s crank up the giving and Amplify Austin!

Nature “Animal Odd Couples” at 7 pm
Love apparently knows no boundaries in the animal kingdom. Despite the odds, there are countless stories of the most unlikely cross-species relationships imaginable. Instincts gone awry? Nature investigates why animals form these special bonds and what these relationships suggest about the nature of animal emotions. Support KLRU today and get the Animal Odd Couples DVD, The Emotional Lives of Animals book, or the Kate & Pippin: An Unlikely Love Story book.

Please join KLRU’s Overheard with Evan Smith for three back-to-back tapings on Friday, March 8. We’ve listed the start times for each taping to allow you to attend individual interviews as well. Please note, once a taping has started entry may not be allowed. RSVP at the link on the left. Each taping takes place in KLRU’s Studio 6A (map). One RSVP will work for all three tapings. RSVP here

Annette O’Toole at 1:15 pm
(doors will open at 12:45 pm) RSVP here
Annette O’Toole is a Houston-born film, TV and stage actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song with her husband Michael McKean in the film A Mighty Wind in 2004. O’Toole is best known to TV audiences for playing Martha Kent in Smallville. She is in Austin being honored by the Texas Film Hall of Fame.

Michael McKean at 2:15 pm
(doors will open as soon as O’Toole interview is complete) RSVP here
Actor Michael McKean was introduced to TV audiences when he played Lenny on Laverne & Shirley. He went on to join the cast of Saturday Night Live. McKean is probably best known for his role in This is Spinal Tap, which he also helped write. He recently starred in The Best Man on Broadway, a role he had to give up when he was hit by a car in New York City last year. McKean is in Austin to present his wife, Annette O’Toole, an award on behalf of the Texas Film Hall of Fame.

David Carr at 3:15 pm
(doors will open as soon as McKean interview is complete) RSVP here
New York Times columnist David Carr has written about the business of the media for 25 years. Prior to joining the Times in 2002, Carr wrote for the Atlantic Montlhy and New York Magazine. His memoir, The Night of the Gun, uses investigative reporting tactics to chronicle his personal struggles with drug abuse. He is in Austin for SXSW Interactive.

We hope you’ll be there as Overheard with Evan Smith continues a third season of great conversation with fascinating people, always on the news and always with a sense of humor. The show features in-depth interviews with a mix of guests from politics, the arts, literature, journalism, business, sports and more, and reaches PBS viewers from California to Florida. We’d love to see you in the studio for the interview, and for a chance to join the audience Q&A after the interview.

Chithra Jeyaram’s award winning short documentary titled Mijo (My Son) will be featured in an episode of Arts In Context airing on February 28th. The episode, Hold My Hand, follows Sharon Marroquin, an Award-winning dancer and choreographer whose life drastically changed when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In this episode of Arts In Context, Marroquín explores the relation between the choreographer and the dancer as she uses her art as an expression of her personal struggle.

Jeyaram’s film will be featured after the documentary on Marroquin. Mijo (My Son) is an immensely personal documentary about the relationship between a young mother who is a professional dancer and her 6-year old son, as she undergoes treatment for breast cancer.

Jeyaram is an award winning documentary filmmaker, passionate about communicating the realities of life as it unfolds, focusing on nuances that cannot be dwelled upon or deliberated in mass media.  Chithra’s first exposure to filmmaking began in 2004 with a failed attempt to fund a film about an explosive water-sharing dispute between two southern states in India. Deeply affected by that experience, she quit a decade-long career as Physical Therapist and enrolled in film school (at the University of Texas, Austin) and earned her M.F.A in Film Production. Through her films she hopes to break societal barriers, build bridges, change  attitudes and take risks. You can learn more about her work at realtalkies.com. A few of her upcoming projects include:

Foreign Puzzle is a feature length documentary featuring Sharon Marroquin and her poignant dance – “The Materiality of Impermanence” (anticipated completion, fall 2013). Confronted with her mortality, angered and frustrated over her inability to prevent the disintegration of her body, Sharon Marroquin, a modern dancer begins to consciously deal with it through art. The creative process allows Sharon to escape to another realm that is not confined by physical limitation, disease, child-rearing, teaching and running a home. For 18 months, Foreign Puzzle document’s Sharon’s struggles as a choreographer and as a mother with breast cancer, highlighting her relationship with her son Dali and the transcending power of dance. Get updates about this project on the film’s Facebook page

1001 Breast Cancer Nights is a breast cancer web-interactive project that is similar to the tales in “Arabian Nights” – a colorful, interactive mosaic of breast cancer stories from Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America, that are varied and vibrant tales of medicine, myth, history, stigma, survivorship, romance, drama, tragedy, comedy, artistry, burlesque and even erotica. The stories will be co-authored, consumed and shared by the protagonists (the breast cancer survivor/family/caregiver). The presence of a single unified interactive web-based portal where global stories of breast cancer are shared, discussed and experienced will be immensely powerful, empathetic and healing

Men We Cherish: is an interactive documentary project.  After the brutal gang rape in India, there was an unprecedented global outcry against gender violence. Chithra became seriously concerned at the chronic male bashing. Some men may be the problem but all men are part of the solution. Gender violence against women won’t end unless men are active participants. Through “Men We Cherish” she hopes to create & share stories of positive male role models in order to promote gender equality & reduce gender-based violence. Get updates about this documentary on the project’s Facebook page

Please join KLRU’s Overheard with Evan Smith for an interview with Mayor Kasim Reed

Date: February 26
Time: 10:15am (Doors open at 9:45am)
Location: in KLRU’s Studio 6A (map)
RSVP: The event is free but an RSVP is required. RSVP now

Kasim Reed is Mayor of Atlanta and a rising star in the Democratic Party. He was elected in 2009 to his first term, and was a key surrogate for the Obama Administration during the 2012 presidential election. Prior to becoming mayor, Reed served in the Georgia General Assembly for 11 years. He is in town for the Texas Legislative Black Caucus Summit.

We hope you’ll be there as Overheard with Evan Smith continues its third season of great conversation with fascinating people, always on the news and always with a sense of humor. The show features in-depth interviews with a mix of guests from politics, the arts, literature, journalism, business, sports and more, and reaches PBS viewers from California to Florida. We’d love to see you in the studio for the interview, and for a chance to join the audience Q&A after the interview.

The Miró Quartet, an internationally performing classical string quartet based in Austin, performs an all-Schubert program in KLRU’s historic Studio 6A. The performance will be part of an Arts In Context episode airing on March 28.

Date: Saturday, Feb. 23
Time: 7 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm)
Location: KLRU’s Studio 6A (map) 
RSVP: The event is free but an RSVP is required. RSVP now 

Hailed by the New York Times as possessing “explosive vigor and technical finesse”, the dynamic Miró Quartet, one of America’s highest-profile chamber groups enjoys its place at the top of the international chamber music scene. Now in its second decade, the quartet continues to captivate audiences and critics around the world with its startling intensity, fresh perspective, and mature approach.

The Miró Quartet is the Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Texas Austin and its members – violinists Daniel Ching and William Fedkenheuer, violist John Largess, and cellist Joshua Gindele – are on the faculty of the Butler School of Music.

The Miró Quartet has released several recordings, most recently a disc featuring live performances of works by Dvorak and Kevin Puts. Other releases include the Op. 18 quartets of Beethoven on the Vanguard Classics label as well as a disc featuring music by George Crumb and Rued Langgaard for Bridge Records. The Miró Quartet’s recording of Crumb’s Black Angels received much international acclaim, including the French “Diapason d’Or”. The Miró Quartet is also featured on an Oxingale release entitled “Epilogue”, performing Mendelssohn’s final string quartet (Op. 80) and Schubert’s Quintet with celebrated cellist Matt Haimovitz.

Join KLRU for the next round of Blackademics: Education, Performance and Youth Empowerment

Date: Wednesday February 13, 2013
Time: 7 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm)
Location: KLRU Studio 6A (map)
RSVP: Event is free, but RSVP is required. RSVP now

Join us for a live recording of nationally and internationally renowned black studies scholars as they offer dynamic talks on education, performance and youth empowerment. The event will include the following talks hosted by Kevin Michael Foster and the Institute for Community, University and School Partnerships (ICUSP).

• Aimee Cox dancer-turned professor Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Empowerment
• Fred Ho Jazz Baritone Saxophonist The Genius and Revolutionary Nature of Black Vanguard Music
• Leonard Moore Historian and student services administrator Football as Intellectual Enterprise
• Amy Brown teacher-turned-educational anthropologist Buried Treasure: Urban Fiction as a Teaching Tool
• Keffrelyn Brown & Anthony Brown husband & wife educational researchers The Tree of Race and Knowledge
• Kevin Michael Foster Education Activist and Scholar Filling the gaps: Culturally relevant programs for kids of color
• Heather Pleasants & Dana Salter Community Engaged Scholars Writing their own Stories: Kids & Digital Literacy
• Julian Heilig Education Policy Expert Community-Based Accountability: A New Approach
• Gloria Quinlan Soprano vocalist and music professor Music, Performance and Instruction in the Historically Black College context