KQED Film Unit
Showing 13 items.
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Please note: copyright to ACT Now is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. ACT Now was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired in 1970. An unnarrated documentary film made by the KQED Film Unit about the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco. Includes scenes of ACT's Director William Ball and other actors training and teaching students at the theater on Geary Street, in downtown San Francisco. They include: Peter Donat; John Schuck; Michael Learned; Ramon Bieri and Paul Shenar. Also features views of dance, mime, elocution and acting classes and opens with members of the company shown walking along Geary Street and into the theater. Cinematography is by Philip Greene and Fred Cohn. It should be noted that there is a significant loss of picture quality in the 16mm film print that was loaned to the TV Archive by Philip Greene, due to chemical decomposition. Thanks to the Pacific Film Archive for confirming they preserve another print of this film.
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Please note: copyright to Darius Milhaud Part I: A Recollection of the Twenties is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. Darius Milhaud Part I: A Recollection of the Twenties was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired in 1965. Part I of a documentary film made by the KQED Film Unit, written, directed and narrated by Richard O. Moore, about the life and work of composer and teacher Darius Milhaud (1892-1974). Includes interviews with Milhaud, his wife Madeleine Milhaud (1902-2008) and also with jazz pianist and Milhaud's former student Dave Brubeck. Darius Milhaud discusses: critical reactions to his work; the origins and formation of Les Six group in Paris; identification of himself as a "mediterranean lyricist"; his experiences of the Parisian artistic scene during the 1920s; the relation of writer Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) and composer Erik Satie (1866-1925) to Les Six; his youthful approach towards life and work; admiration for composer Claude Debussy's music ("I have always had an enormous devotion for Debussy"); his opinion of Maurice Ravel's music ("I'm allergic to Ravel") and methods of musical composition. When asked which of his works he likes best, Milhaud replies: "The next one, the next one! I forget my past works very fast and I think that's a very good thing." Brubeck considers how Milhaud use of the jazz idiom provided "a new fresh spirit within classical music." Madeleine Milhaud discusses adaptations of Erik Satie's Le piège de Méduse, with views of this short play being performed on-stage. Also features scenes of Darius and Madeleine presenting a spoken word version of his opus Caramel Mou on-stage, as well as a full musical rendition at Mill College's 1963 Milhaud Festival in Oakland. This film was produced by William Triest and executively produced for NET by Lane Slate.
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Please note: copyright to Darius Milhaud Part II: Paris & California is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. Darius Milhaud Part II: Paris & California was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired in 1965. Part II of a documentary film made by the KQED Film Unit, written, directed and narrated by Richard O. Moore, about the life and work of composer and teacher Darius Milhaud (1892-1974). Includes interviews with Milhaud, his wife Madeleine Milhaud (1902-2008) and also with jazz pianist and Milhaud's former student Dave Brubeck. Darius Milhaud discusses: how he's divided his time since 1947 alternating between living and teaching at Mills College in Oakland and being in Paris; his position on aleatory or 'chance' music and how he is against musical improvisation ("because I love performers but I don't trust them"); his String Quartet No. 5 and the influence of composer Arnold Schoenberg's Twelve Tone system and his music for the ballet Adame Miroir, based on Jean Genet's "half-page" scenario. Madeleine Milhaud reflects on the difficulty of interpreting Genet's source material for the Adame Miroir ballet (with scenes of the ballet being rehearsed on-stage by choreographer Rebecca Fuller and others). Brubeck remembers how Mills College celebrated Milhaud's 60th birthday ten years earlier and describes a typical Milhaud working day. Also features views of guests enjoying Mills College's 1963 Milhaud Festival's outdoor program 'The Young Americans', described by Moore as an electronic music "environment and sound mobile." Ends with extended views of Milhaud conducting the world premiere of his Suite de Quatrains, at the Milhaud Festival. This film was produced by William Triest and executively produced for NET by Lane Slate.
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Please note: copyright to Dorothea Lange Part I: Under the Trees is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. Dorothea Lange Part I: Under the Trees was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired in 1965. Part I of a documentary film made by the KQED Film Unit, written and narrated by Richard Moore, about the life of documentary photographer and photojournalist Dorothea Lange (1895-1965). As Moore puts it in his introduction: "This is not about photography. It is about Dorothea Lange. Who in her long, rich and frequently painful life, has used the camera vastly to enrich our perception of ourselves and of the human condition." Includes scenes of Lange working at her Berkeley family home with husband Paul Taylor, son Dan Dixon and New York Museum of Modern Art's Curator of Photography John Szarkowski, on an exhibition of her work. We are told that Lange is living with esophageal cancer and that in order to work on her exhibition in New York, she has had to give up a project for Look Magazine on photographing a family cabin, by the Pacific coast. Also features views of Lange and Szarkowski discussing which photographs will be shown in New York and close ups of many of her still photographs. At one point Lange reflects on her evolution as an artist and confesses that: "I'm just really beginning to sense what's in this medium ... how much I could have made of the things I actually did, had I understood those negatives as well as I understand them now." This film was directed and edited by Philip Greene and Richard Moore. Oakland Museum loaned their 16mm film print of this film to the TV Archive, to be remastered.
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Please note: copyright to Dorothea Lange Part II: The Closer For Me is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. Dorothea Lange Part II: The Closer For Me was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired in 1965. Part II of a documentary film made by the KQED Film Unit, narrated by Richard Moore, which reflects on the work and legacy of documentary photographer and photojournalist Dorothea Lange, who died on October 11th 1965 of esophageal cancer, during post-production of this film. Seen in conversation with Peter Odergard, Professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley, Lange meditates on the influence and potential of photography and expresses a hope that the principles set down in the seminal Farm Security Administration (FSA) project of the 1930s, will be extended to chronicle the life of America's new urban landscapes. She opens the film by advising that: "One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you'd be stricken blind." And she ends with a valediction on photography and images: "The visual mind has a very great contribution to make ... This is a peculiar and a powerful instrument for this purpose of saying to you or saying to the world in general. This is the way it is. Look at it. Look at it!" Also features many close ups of Lange's photographs from the 1930s-60s. This film was produced, directed and edited by Philip Greene, Robert Katz and Richard Moore. Oakland Museum loaned their 16mm film print of this film to the TV Archive, to be remastered.
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Please note: copyright to From Protest to Resistance is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. From Protest to Resistance was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired in 1968. A documentary film from 1968 produced by the KQED Film Unit, which in the words of narrator Richard Moore: "Is about three veterans of Mississippi [of the Civil Rights movement] who have become peace spokesman for the new opposition activist. It traces their thought and action over the past year, as they see themselves moving from demonstration to political organizing." Features interviews, speeches and political reflections from Mario Savio ("for the new radical politics"), Stokely Carmichael ("speaks for Black Power") and David Harris ("for the non-violent draft resistance"). At one point, Savio expresses his opinion that: "Protest doesn't work and it's something which is very clear now." All three men are wrestling with how to change the direction of U.S. domestic and foreign policy and are united in their opposition to the Vietnam War. Includes scenes of mass demonstrations, arrests and also interviews and speeches by: President Lyndon Johnson; Robert Vaughn; Suzanne Goldberg (Savio's first wife); William Appleman Williams; Herbert Marcuse and Bobby Seale. This film was directed by Richard Moore, Saul Landau and Irving Saraf, with additional photography by Philip Greene. It should be noted that the use of music by Country Joe and the Fish has been edited out of several scenes, due to copyright issues. This is indicated by subtitles. The TV Archive would like to thank Irving Saraf, for loaning us his 16mm optical print of this film.
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Please note: copyright to Losing just the same is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. Losing just the same was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and was first aired on October 31st 1966, by KQED-TV in San Francisco.
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Please note: copyright to Louisiana Diary is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. Louisiana Diary was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired in 1964. Written and Directed by Richard O. Moore, this film follows the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) from July to August 1963, as they undertake an African American voter registration drive in the town of Plaquemine, Louisiana (Iberville Parish). Includes scenes of: citizens undergoing mock interrogations at voter education clinics; CORE members canvassing from house to house; civil rights meetings in Baptist Churches; a mass march and vigil; police tear gassing crowds and making arrests; interviews with Ronnie Moore (Field Secretary for CORE in Louisiana) and Mama Joe Homes; a speech by James L. Farmer, Jr. (National Secretary of CORE) and views of a Plaquemine contingent getting on a bus, heading for the August 28th 1963 civil rights march on Washington, DC. Narrated by Moore, the film adds a postscript that on October 17th 1963, Reverend Joseph Carter became the first African American who successfully registered to vote in the West Feliciana Parish of Louisiana.
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Please note: copyright to Take this Hammer is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. Take this hammer was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired on February 4th 1964 at 7:30pm, on KQED Ch.9 in the Bay Area.KQED's mobile film unit follows author and activist James Baldwin in the spring of 1963, as he's driven around San Francisco to meet with members of the local African-American community. He is escorted by Youth For Service's Executive Director Orville Luster and intent on discovering: "The real situation of Negroes in the city, as opposed to the image San Francisco would like to present." He declares: "There is no moral distance ... between the facts of life in San Francisco and the facts of life in Birmingham. Someone's got to tell it like it is. And that's where it's at." Includes frank exchanges with local people on the street, meetings with community leaders and extended point-of-view sequences shot from a moving vehicle, featuring the Bayview Hunters Point and Western Addition neighborhoods. Baldwin reflects on the racial inequality that African-Americans are forced to confront and at one point tries to lift the morale of a young man by expressing his conviction that: "There will be a Negro president of this country but it will not be the country that we are sitting in now." The TV Archive would like to thank Darryl Cox for championing the merits of this film and for his determination that it be preserved and remastered for posterity.Follow this weblink to view an interview with director Richard O. Moore, who discusses the original production and working with Baldwin in The Making of Take this Hammer. As Moore notes, 15 minutes were cut from his original version by order of KQED's Board of Directors, some of whom felt the film cast San Francisco's race relations in an overly negative way. One board member stated that: "I believe we would all agree that it is not the function of KQED to produce inflammatory, distorted, sacrilegious, extremist programming under the name of educational television. I believe this program is all of these." The original 59 minute director's cut may now also be viewed in DIVA.
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Please note: copyright to Take this Hammer (the Director's Cut) is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. Take this Hammer (the Director's Cut) was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and was never televised. After 15 minutes of footage was cut from the original version, a 44 minute edit first aired on February 4th 1964 at 7:30pm, on KQED Ch.9 in the Bay Area. This shorter broadcast edit was remastered by Monaco Digital Labs in 2009 and may also be viewed in DIVA.
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Please note: copyright to The Long Walk is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. The Long Walk was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired in 1970.
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A TV Archive production about the making of KQED's documentary film Take this Hammer, featuring an interview with director Richard O. Moore shot on February 24th 2012. Moore recalls the inception of the KQED Film Unit, shares insight into Take this Hammer's production history, reveals that 15 minutes were cut from the original edit and explains his working relationship with James Baldwin. The interview was conducted by Caroline Dijckmeester-Bins, with Mark David on sound and camera. This film was produced and edited by Alex Cherian. Excerpts of archival footage from Take this Hammer were sourced from the TV Archive's 16mm film print and approved for release in DIVA by WNET.The shorter, 44 minute TV edit of Take this Hammer may be viewed in DIVA, in addition to the longer, 58 minute director's cut, which was never televised. Please note: copyright to footage sourced from Take this Hammer is held by WNET. All rights reserved. WNET is the premier public media provider of the New York metropolitan area and parent of public television stations THIRTEEN and WLIW21. Take this hammer was originally produced by KQED for National Educational Television (NET) - the predecessor of WNET - and first aired on February 4th 1964.
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A Philip Greene film produced by Richard Moore and Zev Putterman for KQED in 1973, which features aerial views of California's coastline from Mt. Shasta to Los Angeles. Greene's title is taken from a poem by Robinson Jeffers, which celebrates the majesty of California's Pacific coastline. Richard Moore quotes Jeffers directly in voice over as a preface to the film: "This place is the noblest thing I have ever seen. No imaginable / Human presence here could do anything / but dilute the lonely self-watchful passion." Includes extended views of: Mt. Shasta; coastal and marine wildlife; the logging industry; Mendocino; Sacramento; San Francisco; Monterey; Big Sur; Salinas Valley; surfing; skateboarding; Malibu and Los Angeles. The film's sound was edited by four time Oscar winner Mark Berger.