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Third World Newsreel (TWN)
1968–Present

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Location

United States of America

New York, United States of America

New York City, New York, United States of America

Description

Third World Newsreel (TWN) is an alternative media arts organization that fosters the creation, appreciation, preservation and dissemination of independent film and video by and about people of color and social justice issues. It supports innovative work of diverse forms and genres made by artists who are intimately connected to their subjects through common bonds of ethnic/cultural heritage, class position, gender, sexual orientation and political identification. TWN promotes the self-representation of traditionally marginalized groups as well as the negotiated representation of those groups by artists who work in solidarity with them. Ultimately, whether documentary, experimental, narrative, traditional or non-traditional, the importance of the media promoted by the organization is its ability to effect social change, to encourage people to think critically about their lives and the lives of others, and to propel people into action.

“Third World Newsreel Mission,” Third World Newsreel - Film Training, Distribution & Production, accessed March 5, 2024, https://www.twn.org/twnpages/about/responsive/about_1.aspx.
Works in catalogue
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    Jareena: Portrait of Hijda

    film/video, 1990

    This film portrays the life of Jareena within the context of the Hijra's mythological roots versus the current demands of contemporary Bangalore.

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    Juggling Gender

    film/video, 1992

    In a society where a hirsute person is either a man or a freak, bearded lady Jennifer Miller's courageous, radical and feminist embracing of her hair leaves her open to curious responses from the public who aren't quite sure if she is dangerous or sexy or both.

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    Against The Grain

    film/video, 2011

    Against the Grain transforms the canon of documenting gender transformation, breaks the script of the gender binary & the linear racial focus. Against the Grain follows the story of OluSeyi, a cultural organizer, artist, healer, & Queer Nigerian whose spirit is transcending gender. While documenting a gathered of gender non-conforming & transgender People of Color. People discuss what it means to be "us", engaging the complexities of our race/class/gender/ sexuality/ gender expression in this white supremacist/ patriarchal/ capitalist society.

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    Islan Nettles was beaten to death in front of a NYPD precint in Harlem. This film takes place steps away from where she was murdered during her community vigil.

  • What is it like to go "back" to a country you never knew? Pauline Park was born into a poor family in post-war Korea. Adopted by white American parents, she left Korea as a 7-month old baby boy and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 54 years later, she embarked on a journey of discovering and connecting to her past, where her birth name literally means "the second son". This film follows Pauline Park as she visited her native Korea in the summer of 2015. Park, a transgender rights activist in New York City, also took the opportunity to share her decades of experience in activism with local LGBT communities - first by giving the keynote speech in the Seoul pride festival and then meeting with various local LGBT groups. Although her search for birth family was unsuccessful, Park felt the trip has brought her closer to her birth heritage. She is learning Korean now and hopes to return in the future.​