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- Chiben Academy is a private, powerhouse baseball academy led by Japan's most legendary tough-as-nails coach, Takashima-kantoku. Over 35 years, Takashima has led his teams to Koshien a record 21 times, and won 3 National titles. Through extensive interviews we reveal the mindset of the man many Japanese consider a "living Samurai". His training regimen focuses not on technique, but rather on developing fighting spirit . In blistering heat or driving rain, the team trains at least 8 hours a day, 360 days a year. At Chiben, two young recruits, Maeda and Hashimoto, explain their lives as aspiring professional players. They have chosen to put aside their education and their families in pursuit of their baseball dreams. But they can't go pro unless they make it to Koshien. The Chiben Cheer Squad is also legendary throughout Japan, and their senior leader, Furukawa, explains why they too must train so hard. Whenever Chiben plays a game, they bring the cheer squad, the brass band, cheerleaders, and the entire school (one thousand strong). Chiben enters the Wakayama tournament as defending champions and coasts through their first few games. But in the world of high school baseball, there are no "sure things". Tennoji is one of the top public schools in Osaka, and students must pass a rigorous exam to get in. Their baseball coach, Masa-sensei, explains how high school baseball will train his students' hearts for life outside baseball. All the same, everybody dreams of Koshien. With such an intense focus on academics, baseball is squeezed into the early morning or late afternoon. They do not have the funding or the scholarships to recruit players, so their chances of making it to Koshien are microscopic. They have not made it to Koshien since 1949. Nevertheless, they practice year-round, six days a week -- before and after school hours -- as well as during vacations, with financial support from their alumni. Senior third baseman Daisuke wakes up at 4 a.m. to travel to morning practice, with lunch from his mom and a ride to the station from dad. Maeda, the team's senior captain, faces great pressure not only as leader, but also as the team's best hitter and ace pitcher. Maeda's father skips work to see his games. Haruki has worked hard and shown improvement for three years, but isn't a great player. When it is time for the team to be announced, Haruki faces the prospect of watching from the stands as his last chance to play in the tournament slips away. Manager-girl Misaki explains her role and gives insight into the role of women in the male-dominated world of high school baseball. Tennoji enters the Osaka summer tournament - Japan's toughest - where 190 schools compete for just one spot at Koshien. Feeling the pressure, Tennoji plays hard through adversity when star second-baseman Kadoya breaks his nose at practice and can't play. But for Tennoji, Koshien is an impossible dream...or is it?
- Tucked away amidst the gently rolling Berkshire Mountains, in Lenox, Massachusetts, something magical happened between 1951 and 1960 at a place called Music Inn. Under the stewardship of Stephanie and Philip Barber, Music Inn marked a turning point in the history of music in America. Virtually next door to the Boston Symphony's Tanglewood Music Festival, the Inn evolved from a midsummer haven for some of America's greatest jazz and folk musicians and performers, through a period of jazz and folk "Roundtables" and then "Workshops" including scholars and critics, culminating in the first School of Jazz -- where earnest and talented students learned from and performed with accomplished masters. Frequent participation of students and performers from Tanglewood stimulated cross-fertilization between classical music and jazz. Music Inn was an undeniable force in the emergence of jazz from crowded and smoky urban clubs into concert halls. Louis Armstrong remarked in 1953, "They're doing wonderful things up there. They're really helping make music history." Noted participants at Music Inn included Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Guthrie, Geoffrey Holder, Langston Hughes, Mahalia Jackson, Tom Lehrer, John Lewis, Babatunde Olatunji, Oscar Peterson, Max Roach, George Russell, Gunther Schuller, Pete Seeger and Randy Weston. The list of performers that graced the stage of the fabled Music Barn constitutes a virtual who's who of now world-renowned musicians. During a decade rife with paranoia and finger pointing, an era of anti-Communism, anti-"Other" fervor, Music Inn was a bold experiment. There, aspiring musicians learned from the very best. Students and faculty, young and old, rich and poor, white and black, communed together, learned together and jammed together. The School developed a high national and international reputation and accepted a total of 155 students. Foreign students attended from Africa, Austria, Sweden, Holland, India, Canada, Turkey and Brazil, and American students came from 20 states. Careers were launched and legends were made. Music Inn harbored a racial and cultural harmony that defied its surrounding environment and, for a brief time, music was all that mattered. Our intent is to produce a feature length documentary to be distributed worldwide in all media. Proceeds from the distribution and sale of the documentary will go towards the establishment of a scholarship fund honoring Stephanie Barber and the Music Inn Legacy.
- Take Me To The River is a documentary film of the Maha Kumbh Mela, a Hindu festival and pilgrimage which was the largest gathering in the history of the world. The film documents the event by immersing you in the midst of the celebration. Experience a roller coaster of emotions as obscurity and clarity flow across the crowded and dusty flood plain of Ganges and Yamuna Rivers. Through misty dawns, crowded streets, peaceful moments and chaotic sprints to the river, you'll journey into the Sangam, the physical and spiritual heart of the "Mela (festival)" where sins are cleansed, bathers can escape infinite karmic cycles and world peace is possible. You'll meet Swamis from the largest and most prestigious Hindu holy orders, ascetic naga babas, boatmen, policemen and pilgrims. While interviews provide a narrative backbone for the film, Take Me To The River offers more than an analytical portrait of the Kumbh Mela. Shot in Super 16mm film with music recorded exclusively at the festival, the blatant premises and subtle nuances of the Maha Kumbh Mela come alive with a striking visual intensity. While uncovering the Mela's historical origins, examining the importance of ritual and searching for personal redemption, "Take Me To The River" ultimately conveys the essence of the Mela experience.