Bin Yah : on PBS ETV Thursday, July 8 2010
July 7, 2010
Tune in to PBS / ETV on Thursday, July 8 2010 for a broadcast screening of “Bin Yah: There’s No Place Like Home”.
IN MEMORY – The Reverend Victoria Glover Washington, featured in the film “Bin Yah”, passed away on June 24, 2010. She was 95 years old. The filmmakers would like to dedicate the July 8th broadcast of the film to her. Her generosity of spirit and heartfelt contributions to “Bin Yah”, for which the filmmakers are extremely grateful, will always be remembered. Through her words and memories the history and culture of Gullah communities in Mt. Pleasant and throughout the Lowcountry will live on.
Screening Details: SCETV Southern Lens Website
Next Television Broadcast of Bin Yah
July 2, 2008
SCETV – August 14, 2008 – 10pm
Southern Lens Television Schedule
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Bin Yah: There’s No Place Like Home is a documentary for sale on this website: presented by Justin Nathanson and The ChasDOC Film Society, the film explores the potential loss of important historic African American communities in Mt. Pleasant, S.C due to growth and development. Through the testimonies of the residents themselves, the film explores the culture, the history, the importance of land and the concept of home, giving a voice to those who seldom have had a chance to be heard.
A proposed highway extension threatens to bisect these close-knit neighborhoods of cousins and kinfolk, established by freed slaves and home to generations of their families for hundreds of years. Many residents are artisans and craftspeople, practicing traditional skills including sweetgrass basketmaking, brought over from West Africa and handed down from mothers and fathers to sons and daughters. Today, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina is the primary place in the U.S. where this grass is harvested and “sewn” into this particular type of basket.
Bin Yah will attempt to preserve – at least on film – the memories of the special places that may be lost forever as the struggle between the real “bin yahs” and the “come yahs” escalates.
Bin Yah premiere – Tonight on ETV
June 12, 2008
How can we not be excited? Our new documentary, the labor of love, the one we made for nothing more than the need to capture it and will to do it, made it to PBS/ETV.
Making a film is a long process. This full-length feature documentary, Bin Yah, from concept to television, took 2 years. And this is really just the beginning. Bin Yah will have an entire life ahead of it, an entire future to navigate, releasing it audiences in a multitude of ways – educating, inspiring, working.
Those of you who have watched the film – we would love your feedback. Please send your thoughts to ChasDOC@gmail.com.
And please buy the DVD – support the future of important, truthful storytelling from the Carolina Lowcountry.
Thank you!
-justin
Juneteenth – Freedom Day / Emancipation Day
May 12, 2008
Bin Yah is almost complete. These next few days we will spend tweaking the credits, final color correction, audio mixing and setting up our broadcast master for our first TV screening on ETV’s Southern Lens, June 12 at 10pm.
Soon it will be closed captioned – and since we have some Gullah in our film that has been fun!
We are looking forward to selling the DVD, and making it available to libraries and for research. Around june 1, you will be able to purchase Bin Yah from this website.
There are hours and hours of footage and interviews of historic Mount Pleasant – we will release that as well.
Juneteenth
In June there are all kinds of celebrations for Juneteenth – the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.
From the Juneteenth website:
From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.
Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, picnics and family gatherings. It is a time for reflection and rejoicing. It is a time for assessment, self-improvement and for planning the future. Its growing popularity signifies a level of maturity and dignity in America long over due. In cities across the country, people of all races, nationalities and religions are joining hands to truthfully acknowledge a period in our history that shaped and continues to influence our society today. Sensitized to the conditions and experiences of others, only then can we make significant and lasting improvements in our society.
To find a Juneteenth celebration in your area of the USA, check: Juneteenth Events
- Justin