The Bertie County Hive House, originally an alternative school for young men in Bertie County, North Carolina, which now operates as a community center has received a $150,000 grant through the North Carolina Development Initiative, provided by Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. The donation will go towards renovations for the community center, founded by Vivian B. Saunders, who is featured in Raising Bertie. Saunders, Dr. Gary Cordon of the Victory Temple Church in Windsor and Tara Kenchen of the NC Community Development Initiative recently discussed their perspectives on the work of the Hive and what it means to be raised in Bertie on the Black Issues Forum on UNC-TV. Continued

The 6th episode of Stranded by the State, entitled "Early Childhood Development" premieres today. A collaboration between In These Times and Kartemquin Films, the series is directed, edited and produced by Kartemquin associate Liz Kaar and explores the human impact of Illinois' budget crisis. Continued

The fourth episode of Stranded by the State, entitled "Adult Literacy" premieres today. A collaboration between In These Times and Kartemquin Films. the series is directed, edited and produced by Kartemquin associate Liz Kaar and explores the human impact of Illinois' budget crisis. Episode 5: Adult Literacy Episode 5 of the series examines the effects of the budget crisis on adult educational services in Illinois, with a specific focus on adult literacy classes. We meet Daysi Funes, the Executive Director of Centro Romero, a community-based organization that serves the refugee immigrant population on the northeast side of Chicago. Due to the budget impasse, the organization has laid off 17 English teachers in 2016. Continued

In the Game and Peabody-award winning director Maria Finitzo traveled to Tajikistan with the American Film Showcase this past December 8-17 to screen In the Game. The film was chosen by the U.S. State Department to be one of the 10 films to participate in the program, and In the Game and Finitzo are scheduled to travel to India and Morocco in February and April with the showcase. In the Game screened at six different American Corners, partnerships between the Public Affairs sections of the US Embassies and host institutions that provide access to current and reliable information from and about the US. Continued

In honor of our 50th Anniversary Year, we streamed every Kartemquin Film for free, week by week, all year. Our films were watched by viewers in 49 countries around the world. Here are the top eight films that viewers watched most: 8. Trick Bag (1974) A classic from Kartemquin's early years, Trick Bag features gang members, Vietnam vets and young factory workers from Chicago's neighborhoods sharing their personal experiences with racism: who gets hurt and who profits. The project grew out of Peter Kuttner's association with Rising Up Angry, a radical working-class organization, many of whose members are featured in the film. Continued

The award-winning Saving Mes Aynak by director Brent Huffman will be a part of the Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference at the University of Southampton this week! Sightations is an archaeology-inspired exhibition running as part of this year's Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) conference, featuring mediums of drawings, photography, comics, painting, sculpture, textiles, ceramic, CGI, film, video, gaming, virtual reality and digital works that unpack what it means to represent archaeology visually in 2016. Continued

Raising Bertie, the award-winning debut feature by director Margaret Byrne was announced today as one of the recipients of the AFI DOCS/NBCUniversal Impact Grant. Raising Bertie, as well as six other documentary projects that screened at AFI DOCS 2016 and were involved in the AFI DOCS 2016 Impact Lab received the grant to support their outreach and social action campaigns. The 2016 Impact Lab took place in Washington, D.C. in June of 2016 during AFI DOCS, the American Film Institute's international documentary film festival that aims to bring together the nation's leaders and leading artists. Continued

The fourth episode of Stranded by the State, entitled "Seniors" premieres today. A collaboration between In These Times and Kartemquin Films. the series is directed, edited and produced by Kartemquin associate Liz Kaar and explores the human impact of Illinois' budget crisis. Episode 4: Seniors Continued

The third episode of Stranded by the State, entitled "Homelessness" premieres today. A collaboration between In These Times and Kartemquin Films. the series is directed, edited and produced by Kartemquin associate Liz Kaar and explores the human impact of Illinois' budget crisis. Episode 3: Homelessness Episode 3 of the series examines the effects of the budget crisis on human services in Illinois, with a specific focus on La Casa Norte, a non-profit that provides access to stable housing to youth and families confronting homelessness, as well as delivers comprehensive services such as technology training, education support, employment readiness, case management, therapy, food, clothing and transportation assistance. Continued

Raising Bertie is coming home! On Saturday, December 10, Bertie High School will host two FREE public screenings at 11AM and 1:30PM. This will be the first public screening in Bertie, and the film's subjects will be in attendance. Following each screening there will be panel discussions including the filmmakers: Margaret Byrne, Ian Kibbe and Jon Stuyvesant. After the 1:30PM screening, there will be a barbecue for the entire Bertie community. Continued