Part of SFFILM Festival
RAISE HELL: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins
Guests Expected
Director Janice Engel is expected to attend both screenings.
Collaborations
Following the April 14 screening, the Festival will present an extended conversation about the current state of journalism and the threat to First Amendment/Free Speech rights with director Janice Engel and David Greene, Civil Liberties Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Description
As journalism comes under attack with constant cries of “fake news,” this hugely entertaining documentary about the fierce and fearless writer and social commentator reminds us of how wit and well-channeled vitriol can speak truth to power. Born into a wealthy Texas family and possessed of a razor-sharp pen, Ivins refused to conform to the restrictive Southern belle stereotypes and challenged the stuffy white boys’ club that defined journalism in the ’60s and ’70s. Filmmaker Janice Engel’s feature debut skillfully captures the intelligence, humor, and indefatigable spirit of a true pioneer. Audience Award Winner, SXSW Film Festival.
“The doc keeps things bold and boisterous as we get line after line of Molly’s incomparable wit from family and friends recalling stories to actual interviews. The most endearing theme that runs through Raise Hell is the respect that Ivins garnered from both sides of the aisle and the candor with which Engel approaches her subject. Imperfections are embraced and celebrated as challenges to be heartily dealt with.” – Norman Gidney, Film Threat
Award-winning filmmaker and showrunner, Janice Engel has made numerous documentaries, non-fiction television specials and series including: Jackson Browne: Going Home (1994) (CableACE Award), Ted Hawkins Amazing Grace (1996) (Rose d’Or Special Jury Prize), and the docu-series, Addicted (2010) (Prism Award). Under her own banner, she co-created What We Carry, an ongoing multi-media documentary series dedicated to preserving Holocaust survivors’ stories. Premiered at The Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and housed in the permanent collection at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, What We Carry has been viewed by 50,000 + people. Janice is a professor at Academy of Art University, San Francisco, where she teaches documentary film. She is a member of the International Documentary Association and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. A longtime resident of Los Angeles, she enjoys her tenure as Vice-President of the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation and lives in Los Feliz with her wife and two dogs.
Trailer
Film Details
Year 2019
Language English
Runtime 93
Country USA
Director Janice Engel
Producer James Egan, Janice Engel, Carlisle Vandervoort
Editor Monique Zavistovski
Cinematographer Kristy Tully, David Eberts, John Carrithers
Music Ethan Gruska
Print Source Cinetic Mediasales@cineticmedia.comcineticmedia.comhttp://mollyivinsfilm.com