With the goal of providing a central location for progressive producers to disseminate their work, the Progressive Films online store carries films and videos, both narrative and documentary, which offer a progressive perspective, promote human rights and are created to advance social justice, multiracial equality and environmental sustainability.
A review board makes recommendations regarding the items offered for sale on the Progressive Films website. The review board is composed of individuals working in a variety of fields, such as labor rights, migration, film and video, civil liberties, education, music and the arts. Some of the members are also contributing filmmakers and artists. Currently, the board includes the following members:
A review board makes recommendations regarding the items offered for sale on the Progressive Films website. The review board is composed of individuals working in a variety of fields, such as labor rights, migration, film and video, civil liberties, education, music and the arts. Some of the members are also contributing filmmakers and artists. Currently, the board includes the following members:
Dharini Rasiah has worked as a filmmaker, media activist and teacher in the Bay Area since 1992. She currently works in a number of media organizations: she is a full-time video teacher and coordinator of the media program for Communication Arts and Sciences at Berkeley High School. She has also worked as a graduate student instructor/video lab instructor at UC Berkeley in the Department of Ethnic Studies since 1994; she is a master teacher for KQED, teaching video production workshops for Bay Area teachers; and she serves on the board of Berkeley Community Media. Born in Sri Lanka and raised in England, Canada and California, she is particularly concerned about the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and explores issues surrounding the experiences of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees. She produces independent documentaries and works with local filmmakers and non-profit community organizations to produce videos and organize film festivals. Her interest is to use media as a tool for social change.
Ernest Davis, Jr., a musician and actor, has worked with Peek Media over the last few years as a consultant and vocal talent on various documentaries. A UCLA graduate, Ernest has worked with children over the last thirteen years and been a music therapist for children with disabilities the last five. A singer/songwriter hailing from Reno, Nevada, Ernest combines acoustic guitar and electronics with introspective and cathartic lyrics to create a unique modern rock sound reminiscent of Coldplay, James Blunt, Depeche Mode and The Killers in his solo project, Striking Ghosts. He plans to release music under this moniker in the summer of 2006. More information is available at www.strikingghosts.com and www.myspace.com/strikingghosts.
Eunice Hyunhye Cho is the BRIDGE Project Coordinator at the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, where she coordinates the organization's educational work. She is the editor and co-author of "BRIDGE: Building a Race and Immigration Dialogue in the Global Economy--A Popular Education Resource for Immigrant and Refugee Communities". She co-coordinated NNIRR's campaign to bring grassroots immigrant leaders to the UN World Conference Against Racism, and co-authored and edited "From the Borderline to the Colorline: A Report on Anti-Immigrant Racism in the U.S." and "A World on the Move: A Report from the UN World Conference Against Racism." She is a board member of the Committee on Women, Population, and the Environment, and she drums and chants with Jamaesori: SisterSound, a Korean American women's drumming group. She is a graduate of Yale University with a degree in American Studies and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration Studies.
Dr. Irum Shiekh, a filmmaker and a scholar, has been conducting research around issues of social justice, gender, immigration, civil liberties, political activism and labor. She recently published a book entitled "Detained Without Cause: Muslims' Stories of Detention and Deportation in America after 9/11". She was a Fulbright scholar at Birzeit University in Palestine, where she taught classes about Palestinian Cinema and images of Arabs/Muslims in Hollywood films. Currently, she is working on a documentary about the 9th floor of the Metropolitian Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York and a documetary about the Muslim matrilineal culture in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Prior works include the films "On Strike Ethnic Studies" and "Hidden Internment: The Art Shibayama Story." Dr. Shiekh can be reached at irumshiekh@yahoo.com.
Jose Palafox was born in Tijuana, Mexico, and grew up in San Diego, California. As a musician, he played drums in the 1990s political hardcore punk band Struggle, who released records on Ebullition Records, as well as in the Swing Kids on Three One G Records. He later played in Bread and Circuits and Yaphet Kotto. In 2005, he and Mike Kirsch started a new project called "Baader Brains," a tribute to the 1970s German urban guerrilla group, the Red Army Faction (RAF) and also to the Baader Meinhof Group. His film and writing have focused on issues of migration, specifically relating to the US-Mexico border and its militarization. In 2001, he was the associate producer of the 28 minute documentary "New World Border." He has also published articles in Covert Action Quarterly, ColorLines, Z Magazine, Borderlines, SF Bay Guardian, and Maximum RocknRoll. Jose has also has taught in Chicano/Latino Studies and Sociology at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Mills College, UC Santa Cruz and University of San Francisco.