IT'S A WRAP!!!
(l to r) Tinisha Brugnone, Don Perry, Dillard Morrison, Juanita Anderson, Titi Yu, Scott David West, Thomas Allen Harris, and Carole Gibson on location at the
"Family Pictures USA" Grand Finale at Detroit's Gordon Park!
With seed funding from the Ford Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, and the National Minority Consortium, we completed primary production on our pilot episode for "Family Pictures USA"! Detroiters across the city and surrounding suburbs came in and shared their family photographs and stories with us.

Over the 5-plus weeks of production in Detroit, "Family Pictures USA" touched hundreds of thousands through our media partners - WDET radio, Detroit Free Press, Detroit Public Television, Time Out Detroit, WMOT and others. We are deeply grateful to them, to our funders and to our community partners - Detroit Historical Museum, Detroit Institute of the Arts, Arab American National Museum, Church of the Messiah, American Indian Health & Family Services, LGBT Detroit, Downtown Synagogue, Brothers Always Together, Belle Isle Conservancy, The Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers and many others. In our Grand Finale, we united the city at the epicenter of the 1967 riots - now re-named Rosa Parks and Claremont - to illuminate intimate experiences of the Motor City - it's past, present and hopes for its future!

Now that we are in the edit room, we can't wait to share these photographs and stories with YOU! At this critical juncture - in both our production process and in the state of the union - we also request your financial support to bring this healing project to the nation. See below for details on how you can join the movement.

In the meantime, we'd like to offer you - our community - a close-up glimpse through our Flickr gallery to experience our production process and some of the wonderful people we met along the way! 
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By Andrew Lapin, August 14 2017
"For five weeks in Detroit, a parade of more than 100 people turned out at events to show their photo albums to a camera crew. Wearing white gloves as they handled treasured family images, they relayed stories stretching back generations.

One woman spoke about her grandmother, who had once denied a loan to Henry Ford. Another told her biracial daughter about coming to terms with the fact her deceased father was a racist.

I think people have been dying to share these stories,' Harris told Current. 'There's this connection between the family images that we choose to keep and the feeling attached to them. So when we come in with a story, we may not be aware that we also come in with a feeling.'

Harris hopes to share that feeling with the PBS system when Family Pictures USA airs on the World channel. His production company, Digital Diaspora Family Reunion LLC, filmed the first episode with the participation of Detroit Public TV and is working toward a projected air date of 2018.  

Rich Homberg [president of DPTV] believes Family Pictures USA provides a model for increased collaboration with independents, a move that will become more necessary across public TV."

"Family Pictures USA"
Casting in Philadelphia
As part of a new television series being filmed for public television, "Family Pictures USA" will be at the African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) for a casting session for a future episode, conducting filmed interviews with average Philadelphians to get their take on the City of Brotherly Love as seen through the family photo album. 

Bring a selection of your favorite photographs - digital or actual photo - to our Community Photo-Sharing Session at AAMP, on Saturday, September 9th, from 11am to 4pm, and spend 10-15 minutes with our Family Pictures USA Production Team telling us about YOUR Philadelphia story. 

Reservations are required and interview spots are limited. To reserve your spot, please send an email to: [email protected] and mention "My Philadelphia Story" in the subject line. You can also call: (212) 281 - 6002 and ask for: "The Philly Desk."
Create a Movement
Fostering a Sense of What Unites Us
JOIN THE "FAMILY PICTURES USA" MOVEMENT!

Support the completion of the Detroit pilot episode for "Family Pictures USA" by making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor Third World Newsreel. "Family Pictures USA" is produced by Digital Diaspora Family Reunion, LLC.

Our VISION is to build community by illuminating our shared values and experiences as human beings and transform strangers into family in order to create a more civil and empathetic society.
 
Your support will help "Family Pictures USA" to:

  • Create a MOVEMENT that fosters a heightened sense of what unites us
  • Expand VISUAL LITERACY so that we gain a more complete understanding of ourselves as seen through the images that dominate our culture
  • Amplify NARRATIVES that have been hidden, suppressed, undervalued and underappreciated to flesh out the nuances of what we consider "History."
  • Use MEDIA to proactively create a more representative and diverse image of Who We Are.

*NEW WEBSITE*

Visit our brand-new website for more information and updates on our show.



 
" Family Pictures USA " is a documentary-style TV show that gives ordinary Americans an opportunity to discover their hidden family histories. Through these images, we are introduced to a more nuanced, diverse story of our common history, shared present and evolving future.
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