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 Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty filmed this, the first installation of a 6-episode set, in 9 hours on one day, January 14, 2004. It was shot in the living room of a house that was about to burned to the ground. Featuring live performances from Ted Leo, Bob Mould, Weird War, Q and Not U, The Evens, French Toast, Garland of Hours and Medications. “Burn to Shine is the first in a series of films that attempts to document bands in America playing live in spaces that are slated to be demolished. Placing them in a context relative to one another and their chosen city, and capturing forever what it means to see them up close in the most intimate of spaces.” Filmmaker invited.

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Straight Outta Hunters Point

In the mid ’90s, Hunters Point, San Francisco was as hot as any city or neighborhood when it came to indie rap, overflowing with classic, funk-based West Coast gangsta sounds which tended to rely more on original music than on samples. Straight Outta Hunters Point is an enthralling documentary by Kevin Epps, a no-holds-barred, emotionally intense look into this once thriving neighborhood. A native of Hunters Point, Epps, also known as rapper Y2K, compiled more than 50 hours worth of interviews with police, drug dealers, crackheads, moms, and kids and boiled them down to one compelling hardcore hip-hop film. “Cinema vérité in its rawest form, Straight Outta Hunters Point jumps into the fray” (Eric K. Arnold, San Francisco Bay Guardian ). dir. Kevin Epps, 75 min.

Rappin 4Tay:

Perhaps the best known rapper to come out ofSan Francisco’s vibrant hip hop scene, Rappin 4Tay has a career that spans over 15 years and 7 albums, and with a new release slated for the summer of 2004.

He has worked collaboratively with a number of other artists both well known and on the grassroots level, including 2Pac, Too

$hort, Snoop Doggy Dog, and E-40 to name a few.

info: www.rappin4tay.com

This way out:

This highly personal documentary tells the story of three individuals who escaped persecution at home based on their homosexuality to claim refugee status in the United States–Kahunya, who grew up on a mission station in Kenya where his father is a Bishop; Ana Claudia, a famous sports caster in Brazil; and Arslan, who was born into a “noble family” in Pakistan. Their combined stories are a powerful illustration of the universality of homosexuality, regardless of cultural origins, and the vulnerability faced by lesbians and gays in most parts of the world.

Besides portraying eloquent accounts of Kahunya, Ana’s and Arslan’s experiences, the film questions what kind of asylum theU.S. provides for them and what kind of “freedom” they have found.

Dir. Jill Burnett & Anthony Lhotskyc 2004. Canada and USA 32 mins. English

Not In Our Town, Northern California:

When Hate Happens Here looks at five communities dealing with deadly hate violence over a five-year period. Together, the stories reveal that whether the motivation is racism, anti-Semitism, or crimes motivated by gender or sexual orientation, hate is the same. But Californians are finding innovative ways to respond when hate happens here.

From the state capital to the center of San Francisco, from the shadow of Mt. Shasta to the suburbs of Silicon Valley, community leaders and ordinary citizens have found new ways to see through controversy and difference to create a safe place for all residents.

After a transgender teen is killed by local youth in the Silicon Valley suburb of Newark, high school students, residents and civic leaders struggle to deal with a brutal and preventable crime; Sacramento  mobilizes after the worst anti-Semitic arson attacks in the California capital’s history; Redding citizens find new strength in diversity after a prominent gay couple is murdered; the Shasta County town of  Anderson joins forces to make their values clear when a cross is burned on an African-American family’s lawn; and the San Francisco Public Library turns the mutilation of gay-themed books into an opportunity for creative community action.

Not In Our Town, Northern California is a co-production of KQED-TV and  Oakland-based productions company The Working Group, producers of the  Not In Our Town films and www.pbs.org/niot Web site.

This new hour-long documentary is the first regionally-focused episode in the Not In Our Town series.