West 47th Street Educational and Community Engagement Campaign

“I saw tears in the eyes of more than one person during the discussion. Thank you for this great opportunity … Our society needs as many opportunities as possible to raise consciousness about the poor and disabled among us.”
– Response following community screening in Billings, Montana sponsored by the Billing Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

West 47th Street is an intimate cinéma vérité portrait of four people struggling to recover from serious mental illness. The feature length film offers an unprecedented window onto the lives of people who are often feared and ignored, but seldom understood. The film is produced by the Peabody Award-winning Lichtenstein Creative Media (LCM), creators of public radio's "The Infinite Mind."

When the national TV broadcast premiered on Tuesday, August 19th at 10 pm on PBS's P.O.V., the national community and educational engagement campaign was also launched to coincide with the national television broadcast and continue beyond. This effort has successfully channeled the powerful, emotional response viewers have had to the film into a targeted effort impacting public policy and attitudes about issues surrounding mental illness. This campaign involved mental health groups, grassroots advocacy and educational groups and local public television stations and was funded and coordinated by LCM and P.O.V.

Some of the events that have occurred or are currently scheduled include:

March 29, 2007
Tampa, Florida
Florida Mental Health Institute

April 28, 2006
Huntington, West Virginia
Co-sponsored by the Prestera Foundation

October 19, 2005
The Carriage House Stage
Providence, Rhode Island

June 22, 2005
Corporation for Supportive Housing national conference
Minneapolis, MN
Screening and keynote address by Bill Lichtenstein

May 2005
Bristol Bay Counseling Center
Dillingham, AK
Screening event and community discussion

Thursday, November 4, 2004
Anthology Theatre
32 Second Avenue (corner of Second Street), New York, NY
Screening of West 47th Street with filmmaker Bill Lichtenstein for Q&A following film. $10

Thursday, August 26, 7pm. 

Global Visions Documentary Series
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Metro Cinema, 9828 101 Avenue, 780-425-9212
Click here for more information

 

Wednesday, August 4, 2004
Hot Springs, Arkansas
32nd Annual Arkansas Mental Health Institute, 
Arlington Resort Hotel, Hot Springs, Arkansas,
3:30pm - 5pm August 3 (Filmmakers in attendance)

Wednesday, February 11, 2004
The Austin Film Society
Austin, Texas
The Austin Film Society will screen West 47th Street as part of their Texas Documentary Tour. Bill Lichtenstein and June Peoples will be in attendance. The Austin Film Society promotes the appreciation of film and supports creative filmmaking. The screening will take place at 7:00PM, at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in downtown Austin. For further information, please check the Austin Film Society website: www.austinfilm.org

Thursday, February 5, 2004
Southcentral Counseling Center
Anchorage, Alaska
In conjunction with the Southcentral Counseling Center, public TV stations KSKA/KAKM, and the UAA Human Services Club will present at the University of Alaska. A panel of mental health experts will follow the film.

Wednesday and Thursday, December 17th and 18th, 2003
Cinema Arts Centre
Huntington, New York
The Clubhouse of Suffolk in conjunction with Lichtenstein Creative Media held two screenings of West 47th Street at Cinema Arts Centre for the community of Huntington, Long Island. A Q&A followed the Wednesday night screening with Filmmakers, June Peoples and Bill Lichtenstein and Thursday evening, Michael Stoltz, Executive Director, Clubhouse of Suffolk spoke following the screening.

Friday, November 21, 2003
Scottsdale, Arizona
West 47th Street was screened as part of the Beautiful Minds & Creative People: Erasing the Stigma of Mental Illness conference sponsored by the University of Arizona Health Science Center and Institute for Mental Health Research. Producer Bill Lichtenstein spoke and answered questions about the film and its impact on public attitudes about people with mental illness. Also speaking at the conference were Miss Arizona 2002, Laura Lawless, who has clinical depression, and Texas Representative Garnet F. Coleman, who has manic depression.

Friday, October 10, 2003
Honolulu, Hawaii
A community psychiatrist at Kalihi-Palama Health Care for the Homeless Project sponsored an event for consumers, family members, advocacy groups, key members of the state mental health system including the commissioner, service providers, legislators, media, and the general public during National Mental Illness Awareness Week highlighting the film West 47th Street, followed by a panel discussion.

Friday, October 3, 2003
Jackson, Mississippi
The Jackson Mental Health Center in conjunction with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) & MS Mental Health Association (MSMHA) hosted an all day conference including a screening of West 47th Street and lunch speakers from the state Department of Mental Health, NAMI and MSMHA at The Jackson House, a clubhouse modeled after Fountain House in Jackson, Mississippi. Events included breakout sessions appropriate for consumers and providers to educate and increase familiarity with local treatment options.

Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Long Beach, CA
The Long Beach Community Health Council hosted a community forum with the Long Beach Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill at the Long Beach Community Hospital. The forum featured West 47th Street followed by a panel discussion. This group also hosted another event on August 22nd.

Wednesday, August 28, 2003
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Twin Cities Public Television, Minnesota Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Vail Place, Blake School, Mount Olivet Lutheran Church and the Hopkins School District will have a special screening of West 47th Street and community dialogue on August 28th. The screening was held at Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins, MN. The public participated in this evening of dialogue with the medical community, state and local legislators and NAMI members. For further information contact Ann Sunwall: asunwall@tpt.org

Friday, August 22, 2003
Sacramento, CA
West 47th Street was screened at a meeting of regional coordinators for a proposed statewide assembly bill which if passed funds 26 programs throughout California to provide a comprehensive system of care for adults with serious mental illness who are homeless or at risk of being homeless, hospitalized or incarcerated. Representatives from the California Department of Mental Health, California Institute for Mental Health, Corporation for Supportive Housing and county mental health agencies attended the screening.

Thursday August 21, 2003
Wentworth, NC
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill--Rockingham County, in partnership with UNC-TV, hosted a screening and discussion event at Calvary Baptist Church. For more information email namirockcounty@yahoo.com

Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Billings, Montana
The NAMI-Billings affiliate screened West 47th Street at Deaconess Billings Clinic, Mary Alice Fortin Health Conference Center, Billings, Montana. The screening was followed by a discussion with area legislators, school district members, churches, law enforcement officials and the general public.

Tuesday August 19, 2003
Green Bay, WI
Villa Hope Community Service Program held a special screening to coincide with the national broadcast of West 47th Street, followed by a panel of local mental health professionals and an educational program targeted at local law professionals. Villa Hope organized this special screening and community discussion on a shoestring budget with space donated by a local theater.

Tuesday August 19, 2003
New York, NY
Lichtenstein Creative Media, Thirteen/WNET New York, and P.O.V. held a special screening of West 47th Street, followed by a discussion and Q&A with the filmmakers Bill Lichtenstein and June Peoples, and Tex Gordon and Zeinab Ali, stars of film. A reception and “informational salon” followed the screening. The event was held at New School University's Tishman Auditorium, located at 66 West 12th Street, between 5th & 6th Avenues, in New York City.

Sunday August 18
San Francisco, CA
Crisis Prevention Institute sponsored a screening of West 47th Street during their annual symposium. Attendees consisted of mental health facility administrators, mental health advocates, state legislators and the general public. The screening and follow-up discussion was held at The Ramada Plaza Hotel, San Francisco, CA.

Sunday August 17, 2003
Los Angeles, CA
The Museum of Tolerance, located at 1399 South Roxbury Drive, hosted a standing room only screening of the film followed by a discussion moderated by Rabbi Ari Hier. The event took place in the museum's Simon Weisenthal Center. For more information email lsais@wiesenthal.net

Thursday August 14, 2003
Eliot, ME
William Fogg Public Library, located at 1 Old Road, Eliot, ME, screened the film to promote further understanding of a misunderstood population living within their towns and neighborhoods. A local mental health worker led the follow-up discussion.

Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Milwaukee, WI
The Grand Avenue Club, NAMI of Greater Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Psychiatric Association held a very well-received screening and follow-up reception and panel discussion for doctors-in training, family members and service providers at The Grand Avenue Club, 210 E. Michigan, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For further information contact Grand Avenue Club Executive Director Rachel Forman by email: rzforman@yahoo.com

Wednesday August 13, 2003
Carrboro, North Carolina
Club Nova hosted a screening of donors, legislators, friends and members at a special event at the Carrboro Arts Center. Club Nova and community members followed the screening with a discussion of the film over coffee and dessert. For further information email Tfarrell@opc-mhc.org

Tuesday August 12, 2003
Elk Grove Village, IL
The Kenneth Young Center, a community mental health agency, hosted a screening followed by a panel discussion and Q&A moderated by a community mental health provider, family members, consumers, and NAMI members. The event took place at the Center, located at 1001 Rohlwing Road, Elk Grove Village, IL. For more information email virginiag@kennethyoung.org

Tuesday August 12, 2003
Salt Lake City, UT
KUED held an extremely successful screening at the city library, in partnership with the Salt Lake City Film Center. The follow-up discussion was led by multiple panel members from the Utah Psychiatric Association, Utah Rehabilitation Clinics, United Way, and the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute. For more information email jvoland@media.utah.edu

Tuesday August 12, 2003
Atlanta, GA
WABE/WPBA 30, NAMI Atlanta and NMHA Atlanta hosted a joint event at The Woodruff Center on Tuesday, August 12th. The event consisted of a screening of the film, meeting the filmmakers, a panel with local and national mental health advocates including the Carter Center and reception for more than 500 people. Bill Lichtenstein and June Peoples, producers and directors of the film, along with other notable members of the local mental health professional community, were in attendance. For more information go to http://www.wabe.org/

Thursday August 7, 2003
Madison, WI
Wisconsin Public Television and the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and the Wisconsin Psychiatric Association held a screening followed by a panel discussion at Vilas Hall on the University of Wisconsin campus. For more information email lblinkenberg@wpt.org

Tuesday August 5, 2003
Toledo, OH
WGTE in Toledo, Ohio, hosted a screening and follow-up discussion at their studios. Their major partner was the Alliance of the Mentally Ill for Greater Toledo. For more information email kathy_smith@wgte.pbs.org

Tuesday August 5, 2003
Watertown, NY
WPBS hosted a screening of West 47th Street and panel discussion event at Jefferson Community College (in the Jules Center, Amphitheatre, room 6-002). The screening was conducted in partnership with the Mental Health Association in Jefferson County. For more information email crystal_butler@wpbs.pbs.org

Tuesday August 5, 2003
Ephrata, PA
The Ephrata Public Library hosted a screening of West 47th Street as part of their Reality @ Your Library series, a documentary series that has been running since October 2002. Their mission is to offer the widest variety of educational and informational items to their patrons. The library is located at 550 South Reading Road. For more information contact Penny Talbert at 717-738-9291 or ptalbert@ephratapubliclibrary.org

Tuesday August 5, 2003
Boone, NC
Carolina Friendship House, located at 347 Oak Street, hosted a screening and discussion event in partnership with UNC-TV. For more information email barrm@newriver.org

Sunday August 3, 2003
San Diego, CA
The library, located at 820 E Street, San Diego, CA, hosted a screening and discussion event in partnership with St Vincent de Paul's. For more information email lwhitehouse@sandiego.gov

Friday July 25, 2003
Binghamton, NY
WSKG hosted a screening of the film, followed by a discussion which was facilitated by the Executive Director of The Broome County Recipient Affairs Office, Mr. Anthony Palmitier. Interstitials were created from this community screening to be shown on television to promote the August 19th broadcast of West 47th Street. At the end of the discussion, a network of resources was created by attending agencies and participants and posted on their website for community use. For more information email Carolyn_Weston@WSKG.pbs.org

Thursday July 24, 2003
Eliot, ME
The William Fogg Public Library, located at 1 Old Road, screened the film to promote further understanding of a misunderstood population living within their towns and neighborhoods. Discussion was led by a local mental health worker. For more information email cmarvin@william-fogg.lib.me.us

Thursday July 24, 2003
Tulsa, OK
The Crossroads Clubhouse hosted a screening at Westby Cinema, located at 309 E. 2nd Street, Tulsa, OK. The event served as a "Friend-Raising" event for the Crossroads Clubhouse, a social and vocational rehabilitation program for adults with serious mental illness. Patrons also met co-producer/director Bill Lichtenstein prior to the film during a reception. The showing was free and open to the public, with donations to The Clubhouse accepted. The event was co-sponsored by Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI)- Oklahoma.

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