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Snitow-Kaufman Productions was formed in 1993 to produce film, video and educational media for the general public on social issues from race relations to globalization. We are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization based in Berkeley, California.


book

Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water

A Book By Alan Snitow & Deborah Kaufman, with Michael Fox. Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley & Sons, 2007, Cloth, 275 pages

Beginning where the documentary film leaves off, Thirst investigates eight recent high-profile controversies over the corporate takeover of water in the United States and illuminates how and why ordinary people are fighting back both here and abroad. Engrossing and alarming, these character-based stories focus on citizen battles to maintain public control of local water systems and on struggles to challenge the bottled water industry.

To purchase the book visit:

www.amazon.com or
www.powells.com

 

 

 

thirst

“Thirst”, 2004, 62 minutes

Global corporations are rapidly buying up local water supplies. Communities suddenly lose control of their most precious resource. “Thirst”, a character-driven documentary with no narration, reveals how water is the catalyst for explosive community resistance to globalization. A piercing look at the conflict between public stewardship and private profit.
Shot in Bolivia, India, Japan and the USA.

With Companion Study Guide
PBS "P.O.V.", 2004
www.thirstthemovie.org

To preview or purchase the film – www.bullfrogfilms.com
Institutional, community group, and home video rates available

 

ezekiel'

"Ezekiel’s Wheels”, 2007, 15 minutes

Poet Shirley Kaufman gives a tour-de-force reading of her new work in the short film “Ezekiel’s Wheels”. The poem, a contemplation of loss, longing, and the nature of true seeing, was inspired by her experience of losing her sight. Emerging from eye surgery, Kaufman had visions like those of the exiled Biblical prophet Ezekiel. Apocalyptic fires in the sky, wheels within wheels, and a valley of bones are encountered on a journey that leads from destruction towards revelation. Kaufman, an American who has resided in Jerusalem since 1973, is the author of eight books of poetry, and is an award-winning translator.

For more information contact – secrets@igc.org
 

secrets

“Secrets of Silicon Valley”
, 2001, 60 minutes

A one hour documentary film revealing the hidden downsides of the Internet revolution. “Secrets” is also a funny and moving meditation on America’s love affair with technology. Told without narration, the film chronicles a tumultuous year in the lives of two young activists, Magda Escobar and Raj Jayadev, grappling with temporary work, the digital divide, toxic waste, and the growing gap between the haves and the have nots in the New Economy.

With Companion Study Guide
PBS “Independent Lens”, 2001
www.secretsofsiliconvalley.org

To preview or purchase the film – www.bullfrogfilms.com
Institutional, community group, and home video rates available

blacks and jews

“Blacks and Jews”
1997, 85 minutes
– Co-Produced with Bari Scott

An 85 minute feature length documentary film – made collaboratively by Jewish and Black filmmakers - examining key contemporary conflicts between the Black and Jewish communities. An invaluable tool for increasing mutual understanding and building coalitions for social justice, not just between Blacks and Jews, but among all groups.

With Companion Study Guide
Sundance Film Festival, 1997
PBS “P.O.V”, 1997
www.newsreel.org/films/blacks.htm

 

ambivalentallies

“Blacks and Jews: Ambivalent Allies”
1994, Four 1 hour shows
Co-Produced with Bari Scott and KPFA/Pacifica Radio

A four hour radio series looking at ethnic identity, stereotypes, racism and anti-Semitism, the Civil Rights Movement, and the potential future cooperation and conflict between the two ethnic groups. A cultural journey through music, storytelling, poetry and interviews throughout the U.S. With Cornel West, Michael Lerner, Henry Louis Gates, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Anna Deavere Smith, Steven Spielberg, and Patricia Williams.
Available from Pacifica Program Service – 800-735-0230

 


we are

 

alan
deborah

alan

Alan Snitow's films include the award-winning "Thirst", "Secrets of Silicon Valley", and "Blacks and Jews." Snitow was a producer at the top-rated KTVU-TV News, the Bay Area Fox affiliate, for 12 years. Before that, he was the News Director for eight years at the Bay Area’s Pacifica Radio station, KPFA-FM, winning the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Gold Award for Best Local Newscast. Snitow was a Board member of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and President of the Board of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. He is currently a Board member of the Film Arts Foundation and a member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. He is a graduate of Cornell University.

deborah

Deborah Kaufman's films include the award-winning "Thirst", "Secrets of Silicon Valley", and "Blacks and Jews." She founded and for 13 years was Director of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the first and largest independent Jewish film showcase in the world. Kaufman has been a Board member of the California Council for the Humanities, Amnesty International USA, and the New Israel Fund. She has been a consultant, programmer, lecturer, and activist with a variety of human rights, multicultural and media arts organizations. Kaufman is a graduate of University of California Hastings College of the Law and a member of the California Bar.

 

Snitow-Kaufman Productions
2600 10th St.
Berkeley CA 94710 USA
Tel: 510-841-1068
Fax: 510-841-9141
Email: secrets@igc.org

 
   
 

 

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