Body of Work: Ryan Saunders

Ryan Saunders is an award winning independent documentary filmmaker with deep roots in Philadelphia Collaborative Community Media. In his over 20 year relationship with Scribe Video Center, Saunders has taught numerous workshops and participated in various community history projects. “We are perhaps entrenched in the ‘4th wave’ of the Information Age, but the third wave highlighted a serious gap in information and technology that continues to leave many communities behind,” said Saunders when asked why he got involved with community media activism. “My involvement with Scribe showed me that there were communities of people who wanted to tell their stories, be it personal or about their communities.” In 2010, Saunders joined Philadelphia’s public access television network, PhillyCAM, as Technical Director. Born on the twin-island state of Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean, his more personal film work explores the history, culture and experiences of Caribbean immigrants in North America.

Thursday, November 21, 2019, 7:00 PM

Bacchanal Time: The People’s Carnival (USA, 2003, 60 min)
Winner of Best Caribbean Themed Film at the 5th Annual Jamerican Film Festival in 2003, Bacchanal Time explores and documents the initial history and spread of the Trinidad Carnival to North America.

Friday, November 22, 2019, 7:00 PM

Mother Dot’s Philadelphia (USA, 2002, 26 Min) by Malkia K. Lydia and Ryan Saunders
Mother Dot’s Philadelphia follows Philly jazz legend Dottie “Mother Dot” Smith as she visits her contemporaries and old venues. The film aired on Philadelphia’s Public Television WYBE and its musical score, composed by Philadelphia’s own Rodney Whittenberg, won a regional Emmy.

Mother Dot’s Philadelphia: The Music Continues (USA, 2004, 26 Min) by Malkia K. Lydia and Ryan Saunders
Filled with music and candid conversations about faith and family,  The Music Continues is the follow-up to Mother Dot’s Philadelphia, included in Philadelphia Stories 4 series on WYBE.

Saturday, November 23, 2019, 7:00 PM

Steelpan Now! Notes on Where Pan Gone (USA, 2019, 45 Min excerpt) by Ryan Saunders and Aaron R. Astillero
SteelPan Now! delves into the world of the steel pan instrument, its innovators, its players and the music that reverberates from it. The film follows the steelpan movement and seeks to highlight the evolution of the steelpan, a unique 20th century invention developed by the disadvantaged and denigrated youth in 1940s Trinidad.

Operating Outside the Lines (USA, 2013, 24 Min) Community Visions Project Facilitators: Corey Chao, Ryan Saunders, and Valerie Keller
Operating Outside the Lines explores the history of Brandywine Workshop’s 40 years of printmaking and other visual art, including testimonials from artists. Founded in 1972 by Allan Edmunds, Brandywine is a national center for printmaking.