NEWS For Immediate Release February 25, 2013

Contact: Angela Thullen

CHICAGO — The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) and the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office announced that the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has provided an additional grant that enables 31 more sites to participate in the project, America’s Music: A Film History of Our Popular Music from Blues to Bluegrass to Broadway. The America’s Music film discussion series was created by the Tribeca Film Institute with support from the NEH and in consultation with the ALA Public Programs Office and the Society for American Music. The project features a six-week series of public programs with documentary film screenings and scholar-led discussions of 20th century American popular music and focuses on uniquely American musical genres: blues and gospel, Broadway, jazz, bluegrass and country, rock ‘n’ roll, and mambo and hip hop.

The program is offered through a grant from NEH to TFI, the New York-based not-for-profit organization that provides education programming and support for filmmakers, in consultation with the Society for American Music (SAM). America’s Music will introduce genres of 20th century American popular music that are deeply connected to the history, culture and geography of the United States. Older and younger Americans alike will have the chance to recognize how the cultural landscape that they take for granted today has been influenced by the development of the popular musical forms discussed in this series.

The 31 supplemental libraries selected to participate in the national initiative will receive a programming grant of $1,500, a full set of the DVDs for the series which include public performance rights, and programming and promotional support materials and resources from the ALA and TFI for the duration of the project. All America’s Music programs will be open to the public.

For more information and to view a list of selected sites, visit the Tribeca Film Institute at http://www.tribecafilminstitute.org/americasmusic. For more information about America’s Music, visit http://www.ala.org/programming/americasmusic.

The ALA Public Programs Office promotes cultural and community programming as an essential part of library service in all types and sizes of libraries. Successful library programming initiatives have included “Let’s Talk About It” reading and discussion series, traveling exhibitions, film discussion programs, the Great Stories CLUB, LIVE @ your library and more.  Recently, the ALA Public Programs Office developed www.ProgrammingLibrarian.org, an online resource center bringing librarians timely and valuable information to support them in the creation of high-quality cultural programs for their communities. For more information on the ALA Public Programs Office, visit www.ala.org/publicprograms. 

The Tribeca Film Institute is a 501(c)3 year round nonprofit arts organization founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in the wake of September 11, 2001. TFI empowers filmmakers through grants and professional development, and is a resource and advocate for individual artists in the field. The Institute’s educational programming leverages an extensive film community network to help underserved New York City students learn filmmaking and gain the media skills necessary to be productive citizens and creative individuals in the 21^st century. Administering a dozen major programs annually, TFI is a critical contributor to the fabric of filmmaking and aids in protecting the livelihood of filmmakers and media artists. TFI has focused a substantial part of its programmatic efforts on libraries because of their potential to reach diverse audiences with quality media programs. For more information visit www.tribecafilminstitute.org

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities.  NEH grants enrich classroom learning, create and preserve knowledge and bring ideas to life through public television, radio, new technologies, exhibitions and programs in libraries, museums and other community places.  Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at www.neh.gov. 

For more information visit www.tribecafilminstitute.org or contact Tammie Rosen, Tribeca Film Institute, VP of Communications, 212-941-2003, trosen@tribecaenterprises.com.

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