urban

Rape Stories

Producer of the Work / Filmmaker: 

Margie Strosser

Year released: 
1989
Length: 
25 minutes

In October 1979, Margie Strosser was raped in the elevator of her apartment building. Two weeks later, she asked a friend to interview her about the incident. Ten years later, she remembers and recounts the rape, revealing the emotional texture of the experience and the reshaping of the event through memory.

Filmmaker's Name: 
Margie Strosser
Filmmaker's Photo: 
margiestrosser.jpg
Filmmaker's Bio: 

Margie Strosser is an award-winning producer, director and writer in television and film whose projects include fictional works such as Strange Weather and Moon Juice. Recently, Margie was the senior producer/writer for three seasons of Birth Day, the Discovery Health Channel's highest rated daytime show. She and writing partner Cate Wilson are currently collaborating on a romantic comedy and a psychological thriller adapted from a British novel. She also worked on several videos in the Scribe Video Center catalog including Art Is Food, Dance: Heartbeat of a community, and I Used to Teach English. [LINK]

Press: 

February 8, 1993 - "Expressing Themselves," by Ann Kolson, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Public Screenings, Broadcasts and Festivals: 

Prix du Publique, Montreal International Festival of Films & Videos by Women; London International Film Festival; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Power To Change

Producer of the Work / Filmmaker: 

Produced by Camden Churches Organized for People and Scribe Video Center

Year released: 
2001
Length: 
15 minutes

Many older Camden residents have fond memories of a healthier, safer, more vibrant city and can trace its tranformation from a bustling center of industry after World War II to the present. "It was a beautiful place," says Reverend Heyward Wiggins III. "Such a beautiful place to grow up."

Filmmaker's Name: 
CCOP
Filmmaker's Bio: 

Camden Churches Organized for People (CCOP) is a covenant among Camden-area congregations to work together through collective action in addressing the many problems facing families and congregations in the city.

Public Screenings, Broadcasts and Festivals: 

November 19, 2001 - Part of Community Visions premiere screening, Prince Music Theater (Philadelphia, PA)
November 5, 2002 - Broadcast as Part of WYBE-TV's "Through the Lens, Season 12, Episode 1" (Philadelphia, PA)

Peace In The Goodlands

Producer of the Work / Filmmaker: 
Year released: 
2003
Length: 
14 minutes

"The only time it seems we make the news is when something goes bad. Every time something goes bad, they'll have a sound truck out here filming. When do they ever show the good in our community? This is my home. You don't have the right to call it the Badlands. I live here."
- A frustrated young resident of "The Goodlands"

Centro Nueva Creacion's video honors residents of Philadelphia's West Kensington neighborhood who are redefining their community as a place of peace.

Filmmaker's Name: 
Centro Nueva Creation
Filmmaker's Bio: 

Centro Nueva Creation's mission is to transform their neighborhood by working with youth and families to create a better community. They believe that the assets of West Kensington outweigh the problems and that the area's youth and families have incredible resources for change. Although our community is often called "The Badlands" by the media, they like to promote it as "The Goodlands," a name more reflective of its current reality as a place where dramatic change is possible.

Press: 

December 9, 2004 - "Scribe Video Center's Street Movies Undercover at Graterford Prison," Greater Philadelphia Film Office Web site (brief mention)

Public Screenings, Broadcasts and Festivals: 

February 2004 & 2005 - Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (Philadelphia, PA)
May 2004 - Southeastern PA Synod's Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Assembly
June 2004 - Centro Nueva Creacion 10th Anniversary Celebration (Philadelphia, PA)
Spring 2004 - Winona Cotter High School in Minnesota as part of unit on community
June 8, July 6 and August 10, 2004 - DUTV Cable 57 (Philadelphia, PA)
July 20, 2004 - WYBE TV-35's Philadelphia Stories (Philadelphia, PA)
August 5, 2004 - Street Movies screening at Sturgis Playground (Philadelphia, PA)
August 7, 2004 - Street Movies screening at Eagles Park (Philadelphia, PA)
December 10, 2004 - Centro Nueva Creacion's Festival de la Luz en el Barrio (Philadelphia, PA)
September 10, 2005 - Hala Cine Latino Film Festival at the Civic Theatre (Allentown, PA)

Hear it, Feel it, Play it

Producer of the Work / Filmmaker: 

Sedgwick Cultural Cente

Year released: 
2003

This piece invites us into the Sedgwick Cultural Center and American Composer's Forum Philadelphia Chapter-sponsored residency of jazz pianist Orrin Evans in Spring 2003, as well as his work with the students of the Center's Teen Jazz Workshop.

Filmmaker's Name: 
The Sedgwick Cultural Center
Filmmaker's Bio: 

The Sedgwick Cultural Center, located in Mt. Airy, the heart of Philadelphia's Historic Northwest, creates an experience that enriches the lives of individuals and of the many communities it serves. The Center's broad spectrum of performing and visual arts programs brings together people of all ages and backgrounds and gives voice and venue to both local and national artists. Drawing on teen jazzophiles from both the city and the suburbs, the Teen Jazz Workshop lovingly spotlighted in the video is one of the Sedgwick programs that create a community of artists to celebrate and advance one of the region's rich musical traditions.

Public Screenings, Broadcasts and Festivals: 

June 8, July 6, and August 10, 2004 - Broadcast as part of DUTV's Thursday Night Specials program (Philadelphia, PA)

August 31, 2004 - Broadcast on WYBE-TV's Philadelphia Stories (Philadelphia, PA)

Habitat For Humanity

Producer of the Work / Filmmaker: 

Habitat For Humanity: West Philadelphia & Scribe Video Center

Year released: 
1997
Length: 
14 minutes

"This is not just some do-gooder project," asserts a Habitat for Humanity: West Philadelphia staffer at a meeting for local residents eager to learn about how they can become a homeowner through the program. He's right, as this video shows how much work future homeowners, some who ruefully describe themselves as members of "the working poor," must do before they receive keys to their newly built home.

Filmmaker's Name: 
Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia
Filmmaker's Bio: 

Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia builds and rehabilitates houses and neighborhoods by providing simple, decent, affordable homes in partnership with families in need. In March 2003, Habitat Philadelphia formed through the merger of four independent city affiliates, including the West Philadelphia branch of Habitat for Humanity, which co-produced this video. Before the merger, those affiliates had completed a total of 106 houses in a little over 15 years.

Public Screenings, Broadcasts and Festivals: 

February 13, 1998 - Part of Five on the Black Hand Side Scribe Video Center Retrospective at Painted Bride Art Center (Philadelphia, PA)

August 4, 1998 - Part of Street Movies screening at 18th District Town Watch (Philadelphia, PA)

From A Seed To This : A History Of Fairmount Park

Producer of the Work / Filmmaker: 

2005 Documentary History Project for Youth

Year released: 
2006
Length: 
17 minutes , 59 seconds

Hidden among the skyscrapers, townhouses, mansions and museums of Philadelphia lies the 9000-acre Fairmount Park. Opening with a stunning rap that colorfully and thoroughly encapsulates the history of the park from the days of the original Native Americans to the multicultural assortment of Philadelphians who use the park system now, the video is an open invitation to explore the poetic past, present and future of the world's largest city park. Special attention is devoted to the Centennial celebrations of 1876, the Fairmount Park Waterworks, and the system's natural and man-made parks.

Filmmaker's Name: 
2005 Documentary History Project for Youth , Deborah Rudman & Rodney Whittenberg
Filmmaker's Photo: 
FromASeedstill.jpg
Filmmaker's Bio: 

The student video makers who participated in this 2005 Documentary History Project for Youth production are: Ahmadu Ekpaji (Philadelphia Mennonite High School), Tahirah Garrett (Germantown Settlement Charter), Kerry Gilbert (homeschooled), Lee Givhan (Central High School), Hannah Horwitz (Upper Darby High School), Brett Johnson (Roxborough High School), Alyssa Kreilick (Springfield Township High School) and Sophavy Phuong (Bodine High School for International Affairs).

Deborah Rudman is Media Coordinator for Drexel University Television (DUTV), an access channel providing diverse cultural programming. She has collaborated in all phases of the video production process, including curating and producing Through the Lens, a showcase of independent work for WYBE. She guided Scribe Video Center's Documentary History Project for Youth in both 2004 and 2005 in her role as project facilitator and instructor.

Rodney Whittenberg is president of Melodyvision, a music and video production studio and community service and education provider. A composer, producer, songwriter, and educator, Rodney has developed a variety of music and art education programs for youth, adults, and senior citizens. He has taught at Temple University, the University of the Arts, and Drexel University and is an active member on the board of the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP), the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). She guided Scribe Video Center's Documentary History Project for Youth in 2004 and 2005 in his role as project facilitator and instructor.

Several local humanities scholars came on board as project consultants, and they met with the facilitators and the student artists to help them map out and focus what often seemed like an overwhelming amount of project research. The Fairmount Park project humanities scholars included: Penny Balkin Bach (executive director of the Fairmount Park Art Association), Ed Grusheski (the Philadelphia Water Department's general manager of public affairs and director of development for the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center), Peter Rose (an experimental filmmaker commissioned by the Fairmount Park Art Association to produce 1994's Pavilion in the Trees), the late Ernesta Ballard (a former Fairmount Park Commissioner and board member of the Philadelphia Parks Alliance), Fairmount Park historic preservation planner Theresa Stuhlman, and University of Pennsylvania Urban Studies professor Dominic Vitiello. The students also held meetings with biologists at Cobbs Creek Park, and did extensive research at the Library Company and the Urban Archives.

Press: 

Fall 2005 - Brief listing mention on MediaSmartPhilly.com

Ocotber 5, 2005 - Brief mention in Repertory Film listings, Philadelphia Weekly

Public Screenings, Broadcasts and Festivals: 

October 6, 2005 - Premiered at International House (Philadelphia, PA)

October 21, 2005 - Screened at Scribe Video Center offices in West Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)

I Used To Teach English

Producer of the Work / Filmmaker: 

Documentary Videomakers: Nadine Patterson and Margie Strosser; Executive produced and commissioned by the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation

Year released: 
1993
Length: 
20 minutes

Marsha Pincus conducts English classes at Simon Gratz High School, a culturally diverse public school in gritty North Philadelphia. Pincus, always on the hunt for more effective ways to teach, is able to engage and motivate students through student-centered teaching using dialogue and playwriting. Her students, thrilled at her overt invitation to bring the whole range of their lives and cultures into the classroom, explain how the classes have helped them become more articulate, persuasive, and deeply interested in both playwriting and playing with words.

Filmmaker's Name: 
Nadine Patterson & Margie Strosser
Filmmaker's Bio: 

Philadelphia-based independent producer Nadine Patterson has been making independent film/video for the past twenty years. She has produced and directed programs for the School District of Philadelphia's cable station, and WYBE Public Television. She earned her MA in Filmmaking at the London Film School. Previous work includes Shizue , a Scribe Video production that was screened at the Museum of Modern Art, NY; and Moving with the Dreaming, winner of a Prized Pieces Award from the National Black Programming Consortium. A recipient of a Media Arts Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, her award-winning work has often been broadcast on public television.

Margie Strosser is an award-winning producer, director and writer in television and film whose projects include the autobiographical documentary Rape Stories, and fictional works such as Strange Weather and Moon Juice. Recently, Margie was the senior producer/writer for three seasons of Birth Day, the Discovery Health Channel's highest rated daytime show. She and writing partner Cate Wilson are currently collaborating on a romantic comedy and a psychological thriller adapted from a British novel.

Awards: 

Winner, Golden Apple Award, National Educational Media Network

Broad Street History Project

Producer of the Work / Filmmaker: 

Produced, directed and edited entirely by local high school students from Scribe's Documentary History Project for Youth

Year released: 
2003
Length: 
83 minutes

From the Naval Yard to Progress Plaza, from the Civil War to Yellow Fever -- these are the themes of The Broad Street History Project, ten video documentaries produced by middle and high school students as part of Scribe Video Center's Documentary History Project for Youth. The series celebrates the exciting and often unknown stories of Broad street, Philadelphia's longest thoroughfare, with a history dating back to the days of William Penn and even earlier.

Filmmaker's Name: 
Student Filmmakers
Filmmaker's Bio: 

Student filmmakers and the schools they attended during their participation in Scribe's Documentary History Project for Youth are Brooke Asman (Central High School), Jodi Cantor (Central High School), Corey Cohen (Central High School), Krystle Colon (Stoddard-Fleischer/Dobbins HS), Omar Estrada (Camden County Tecnical Schools), Kitty Garrett (Ben Franklin High School), Rayna Guy (Central High School), Taren Hall (Camden County Technical Schools), Julian Harris (University City High School), Christina Ortiz (Stoddard-Fleischer/Mastbaum ATVS), Melissa Rowe (CAPA), Marchelle Smalls (Parkway Center City High School), and Eric K. Willie (Central High School).

Filma nd videomakers Sarah Poindexter, Erica Pennella, Pablo Colapinto, Shakti Jaisang, Christina Choe and Jessica Lakis served as Project Facilitators. Dr. Charles Hardy was the project's chief historian, Dr. Steve Parks served as humanities consultant, and Maria Cortese was the Project Coordinator for the overall Broad Street History Project.

Press: 

November 25, 1999 - "Coming Soon: Broad Look at Philadelphia's Most Famous Street" by Elisa Ludwig, Philadelphia Weekly's [behind the lines], Philadelphia, PA
June 19-25, 2003 - Screen Picks, Philadelphia City Paper, Philadelphia, PA

Public Screenings, Broadcasts and Festivals: 

May 29, 2003, Premiere at the Prince Music Theater, Philadelphia, PA, part of the Prince's Youth Media Jam 4
June 20, 2003, Street Movies screening at Project Home, Phildelphia, PA
June 21, 2003, Street Movies screening at Whole Foods Market, Phildelphia, PA
August 2003, USS Battleship New Jersey, Camden, N.J.
October 19 & October 22, 2003, Broadcast on WHYY TV-12, Philadelphia, PA

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