CAPUCINE BOURCART
A short film (2020) about mixed-media artist Capucine Bourcart.
Bourcart uses various materials and photographs of surfaces from streets in her Harlem NYC neighborhood as elements in creating beautiful artworks. She details her thoughts about creating art and her process in this film.
To view the film online, go to Vimeo on Demand.
A Matter of Place
Kavanagh Productions partnered with the Fair Housing Justice Center to produce A Matter of Place, a documentary that shines a bright light on housing discrimination, one of the most shrouded and misunderstood civil rights issues in America. The film connects a history of struggle for fair housing to several contemporary incidents of housing bias based on race, sexual orientation, disability, and source of income.
It presents three stories of people who faced housing discrimination in present-day New York City. These characters poignantly describe the incidents, as well as their resolve to fight for justice. Through experts, civil rights advocates, and fair housing testers, the film also recounts our nation’s often overlooked history of residential segregation. A Matter of Place introduces viewers to systemic and pervasive injustices that, despite the existence of fair housing laws, continue to inflict harm on entire communities and individuals throughout America.
Watch the full film here. Get more information at the Fair Housing Justice Center website.
Brick by brick: a civil rights story
Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story is a feature documentary about a twenty-seven year American battle for civil rights. It follows three families in Yonkers, New York, through a confrontation over politics and law regarding racial discrimination in the city’s housing and schools. The story describes events that fundamentally change their hometown. From a first person perspective, the film’s characters weave a tale of an enduring struggle for justice, through a labyrinth of successes and setbacks.
Brick by Brick illustrates the difference equal housing opportunity can make in a family’s life. The film brings the fiery crucible of a contemporary city and its larger implications for our nation to life on the screen. Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story has been broadcast by public television stations and film festivals across the United States and Canada, winning awards and bringing audiences together to address housing discrimination and racism in cities large and small.
To view educational materials related to the film see: California Newsreel
To view the film online, go to Vimeo on Demand
Enemies of War
Bill Kavanagh was the field producer of Enemies of War, a PBS Independent Lens documentary about human rights, war, peace, and murder in Central America. This documentary about the civil war and death squads in El Salvador explored how U.S. policy affected human rights in this tiny country of six million people.
Kavanagh reported the story from El Salvador, Washington, and the UN, conducting interviews with officials from several U.S. administrations, Congress, the Salvadoran government and military, Salvadoran rebel leaders, and international human rights watchdog groups.
For more information about the film, visit the Independent Television Service website.