**This class will be held on Zoom**
Join Michael Fox and filmmakers Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow for a discussion of objectivity and ethics in documentary filmmaking that will also include broader issues of artistic representation (historical and current), censorship and community involvement.
About the film:
TOWN DESTROYER explores the ways we look at art and history at a time of racial reckoning. Historic murals at San Francisco's George Washington High School, painted in 1936 by leftwing artist Victor Arnautoff (a student of Diego Rivera), praise Washington and—rare for the time—critically depict him overseeing his slaves and directing the bloody seizure of Native lands. The film explores debates over trauma, student safety and cancel culture: How should society deal with controversial works of art? Do the intentions of the artist matter, or just the impact on viewers?
https://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/towd.html
Deborah Kaufman and Alan Snitow's 's films include the award-winning Company Town, Between Two Worlds, Thirst, Secrets of Silicon Valley and Blacks and Jews. Kaufman founded and for 13 years was Director of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the first independent Jewish film showcase in the world. She has been a Board member of the California Council for the Humanities, the New Israel Fund, and Amnesty International USA. She has been a consultant, programmer, lecturer, and activist with a variety of human rights, multicultural and media arts organizations. A member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Kaufman is a graduate of UC Hastings College of the Law and a member of the California Bar. Alan Snitow was a producer at top-rated KTVU-TV News (the Bay Area Fox affiliate) for 12 years. Before that, he was News Director at KPFA-FM (the local Pacifica Radio station), winning the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Gold Award for Best Local Newscast. Snitow served on the boards of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, Film Arts Foundation, California Media Collaborative, Food and Water Watch and as Board President of the S.F. Jewish Film Festival. He is a member of SAG-AFTRA and a graduate of Cornell University. https://www.snitow-kaufman.org/
