Tag: documentaries

Award-winning documentary My Name is Pedro will be available February 23

My Name is Pedro opens on Video On Demand and DVD on Tuesday, February 23, 2021. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

My Name is Pedro, the award-winning film from first time director Lillian LaSalle, explores the seemingly impossible journey of South Bronx Latino educator and maverick, Pedro Santana, a former “special ed” student, whose mantra is – every kid can learn despite their circumstances. A The New York Times profile of his “Out Of The Box” teaching techniques, thrusts him into the spotlight, which creates great opportunities for change but also has its downside – public school politics which, despite the cries of students and parents alike, threaten to take him down. A documentary with unpredictable twists and turns, it harnesses a compelling message of optimism, hope and tragedy. My Name is Pedro is an essential and timely reminder of the importance of great educators that exist within the infrastructure of our country’s public education system. (EG-PR, 2021)

It will be released on VOD and DVD on Tuesday, February 23 in the US, Canada, and UK. VOD: Amazon, Apple TV, iTunes, GooglePlay, Youtube, Vimeo on Demand and Fandango NOW. Cable: Verizon, Comcast, Charter, Cox, and Wave Broadband. Documentary (USA), 127 Minutes, in English.

OFFICIAL SELECTION AND AWARDS:
Winner: Best Documentary, Golden Door International Film Festival
Winner: Spotlight on Documentary Award, St. Louis International Film Festival
Winner: Audience Award, Chicago Latino International Film Festival
Winner: Audience Award, Brooklyn Film Festival
Winner: Award of Merit, Impact Docs
Winner: Honorable Mention, Woodstock Film Festival
Official Selection: Women’s Filmmaker Showcase, BAFF
Official Selection: San Diego Latino International Film Festival

My Name is Pedro is a powerful and poignant documentary about one man’s effort to reach even the most challenging students. As a child, Pedro Santana struggled in school early on and stuttered sometimes, except when he was onstage. He became an educator, mentor, and community leader because his work went beyond the school grounds. His goal was “I want to have an impact in people’s lives” and he truly influenced students as well as their families and everyone he met. While living in a culturally diverse community, he was able to cross the cultural divide. Like most people who think “outside the box,” he rattled the status quo and became a target of those who pushed back. The lesson to be learned is that the best way to honor someone’s memory is to keep his or her work alive.

“The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kind.” – Dalai Lama

Television adaptation: ‘A Wilderness of Error’ by Errol Morris

The television adaptation of Errol Morris’ ‘A Wilderness of Error’ premieres on FX on Friday September 25. Photo: google

Errol Morris is an American film director of documentaries and former private detective. His documentaries have repeatedly appeared on many ten best lists and have been honored by the National Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review. Morris has received five fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship. His 1998 documentary The Thin Blue Line is considered the best and most influential documentaries ever made. “A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald” reexamines the case of Jeffrey MacDonald, the Green Beret physician accused of killing his wife and two daughters in their Fort Bragg home on February 17, 1970 and convicted on that crime on August 29, 1979. MacDonald has been in federal prison since 1982. A five-part television documentary true crime series based on the book will premiere on FX on Friday September 25, 2020.

In “A Wilderness of Error,” Errol Morris examines the nature of evidence and proof in the Jeffrey MacDonald murder case.  According to amazon, on the morning of February 17, 1970, in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Jeffrey MacDonald called the police for help.  When the officers arrived at his home they found the bloody and battered bodies of MacDonald’s pregnant wife and two young daughters. The word “pig” was written in blood on the headboard in the master bedroom. As MacDonald was being loaded into the ambulance, he accused a band of drug-crazed hippies of the crime.

Errol Morris has been investigating the MacDonald case for over twenty years. “A Wilderness of Error” is the culmination of his efforts. It is a shocking book, because it shows that almost everything we have been told about the case is deeply unreliable and crucial elements of the case against MacDonald simply are not true. It is a masterful reinvention of the true-crime thriller, a book that pierces the haze of myth surrounding these murders with the sort of brilliant light that can only be produced by years of dogged and careful investigation and hard, lucid thinking.