Frida Kahlo: A Ribbon Around a Bomb
No one could paint heads the way she could. No one could capture
the expression in the eyes, the way she could. Frida’s intensely
personal and psychological paintings, along with her dramatic
lifestyle have inspired almost cult-like adoration and study in recent
years. Interviews with Kahlo’s students and friends, and most
importantly, her artwork weave throughout this film, transcending
straight biography to create a passionate, impressionistic look at an
artist whose life and work, both tragic and triumphant, increasingly
speak to the sensibilities of today. Frida is, as one woman artist put
it, “the perfect woman for our time”.
Director- Ken Mandel
No one could paint heads the way she could. No one could capture
the expression in the eyes, the way she could. Frida’s intensely
personal and psychological paintings, along with her dramatic
lifestyle have inspired almost cult-like adoration and study in recent
years. Interviews with Kahlo’s students and friends, and most
importantly, her artwork weave throughout this film, transcending
straight biography to create a passionate, impressionistic look at an
artist whose life and work, both tragic and triumphant, increasingly
speak to the sensibilities of today. Frida is, as one woman artist put
it, “the perfect woman for our time”.
Director- Ken Mandel
BLUESLAND: A Portrait in American Music
The blues' vital odyssey from the Mississippi Delta through the
South and on to increasingly distant American cities is traced, as are
the varying rural and urban styles of such masters as Son House,
Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Boy Williamson,
Muddy Waters, and T-Bone Walker. Giving this portrait a broader,
rightly inclusive sense of how the blues has threaded through
African American culture are performances by nominal jazz and
rhythm & blues masters including Count Basie , Louis Jordan, Big
Joe Turner, Jimmy Rushing, and Dinah Washington, among others.
Perceptive interview segments with writers including Albert Murray
and the late Robert Palmer further illuminate a fertile terrain that has
managed to regenerate itself through successive periods of
rediscovery.
Ken Mandel- Director, Camera and Editor
Toby Byron and Richard Saylor- Producer
Ralph Meyers, Toby Byron and Ken Mandel- Writers
The blues' vital odyssey from the Mississippi Delta through the
South and on to increasingly distant American cities is traced, as are
the varying rural and urban styles of such masters as Son House,
Leadbelly, Bessie Smith, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Boy Williamson,
Muddy Waters, and T-Bone Walker. Giving this portrait a broader,
rightly inclusive sense of how the blues has threaded through
African American culture are performances by nominal jazz and
rhythm & blues masters including Count Basie , Louis Jordan, Big
Joe Turner, Jimmy Rushing, and Dinah Washington, among others.
Perceptive interview segments with writers including Albert Murray
and the late Robert Palmer further illuminate a fertile terrain that has
managed to regenerate itself through successive periods of
rediscovery.
Ken Mandel- Director, Camera and Editor
Toby Byron and Richard Saylor- Producer
Ralph Meyers, Toby Byron and Ken Mandel- Writers
A Fight to the Finish: Stories of Polio
This film chronicles the amazing story of America’s battle against
the last of the deadly childhood plagues, polio. Led by Franklin D.
Roosevelt, left paralyzed from the waist down by the disease, he
started the March of Dimes an entirely private organization that help
care for polio survivors and then funded the research to develop a
polio vaccine. No public funds were used, yet it culminated in a
nationwide pilot program involving three million schoolchildren,
the largest peacetime mobilization in the nation’s history. In its
journey from the 1916 epidemic in New York to the race for a
vaccine in the 1950’s, A Fight to the Finish weaves together history
and personal stories to create a unique documentary portrait of the
human spirit.
Producer- Tony Herring M.D.
Director/Editor- Ken Mandel
This film chronicles the amazing story of America’s battle against
the last of the deadly childhood plagues, polio. Led by Franklin D.
Roosevelt, left paralyzed from the waist down by the disease, he
started the March of Dimes an entirely private organization that help
care for polio survivors and then funded the research to develop a
polio vaccine. No public funds were used, yet it culminated in a
nationwide pilot program involving three million schoolchildren,
the largest peacetime mobilization in the nation’s history. In its
journey from the 1916 epidemic in New York to the race for a
vaccine in the 1950’s, A Fight to the Finish weaves together history
and personal stories to create a unique documentary portrait of the
human spirit.
Producer- Tony Herring M.D.
Director/Editor- Ken Mandel
A DAY AT DADA
On Sunday afternoon, March 23, 2003, a group of musicians, family,
and friends came together to play tribute to legendary Texas
musician Ronnie Dawson. Just as his inspirational musicianship is
displayed in this documentary film, so too is the love and admiration
of his devotees. In the midst of a year long battle with throat cancer,
Dawson and some of his musician buddies could all hear the count
off was underway, and one last downbeat would be where they would
all meet. Ronnie Dawson’s music has long been acclaimed, starting
in the late Fifties and continuing to the present, having been featured
in recent motion pictures such as “Primary Colors”. A DAY AT DADA
is a celebration of great music and long-time camaraderie, a jam
session interlaced with interviews conveying emotions about Ronnie
Dawson and this special day.
Producer- John Bryant and Ken Mandel
Director/Editor- Ken Mandel
On Sunday afternoon, March 23, 2003, a group of musicians, family,
and friends came together to play tribute to legendary Texas
musician Ronnie Dawson. Just as his inspirational musicianship is
displayed in this documentary film, so too is the love and admiration
of his devotees. In the midst of a year long battle with throat cancer,
Dawson and some of his musician buddies could all hear the count
off was underway, and one last downbeat would be where they would
all meet. Ronnie Dawson’s music has long been acclaimed, starting
in the late Fifties and continuing to the present, having been featured
in recent motion pictures such as “Primary Colors”. A DAY AT DADA
is a celebration of great music and long-time camaraderie, a jam
session interlaced with interviews conveying emotions about Ronnie
Dawson and this special day.
Producer- John Bryant and Ken Mandel
Director/Editor- Ken Mandel
America’s Deadliest Storm: Galveston Island,1900
In 1900, Galveston was the “Jewel of the Texas Coast”. A wealthy
seaport with lively commerce and a proud history. But on September
8, 1900, a ferocious hurricane sent the waters of the Gulf of Mexico
sweeping across the low-lying island. When the skies cleared 24
hours later, an estimated 6,000 people had perished.
Producers- Rick Leal and Ken Mandel
Director/Editor- Ken Mandel
In 1900, Galveston was the “Jewel of the Texas Coast”. A wealthy
seaport with lively commerce and a proud history. But on September
8, 1900, a ferocious hurricane sent the waters of the Gulf of Mexico
sweeping across the low-lying island. When the skies cleared 24
hours later, an estimated 6,000 people had perished.
Producers- Rick Leal and Ken Mandel
Director/Editor- Ken Mandel
DeBakey
Michael E. DeBakey, perhaps the best known surgeon in the world, a man whose
career has spanned the last half of the twentieth century, has in his work touched
the lives of millions of people of all nations. In World War II he helped develop
surgical principles which saved lives and limbs of our soldiers and even lived
with General Patton for a period. As the war ended he laid the foundations for both
the Veterans Administration Hospital system and what later became the National
Library of Medicine. His presence in Houston Texas built Baylor Medical School
into one of the best medical schools in the nation. His innovations in the field of
cardiovascular surgery are legendary and include development of the roller pump
for cardiac bypass, the treatment of complex aortic aneurysms, carotid and
coronary bypass surgery, and recently the left ventricular assist device. The later
development prolongs the life of severely ill individuals awaiting cardiac
transplantation. He has influenced many presidents and world leaders and his list
of patients includes many celebrities. He is truely a national treasure.
Ken Mandel, Director, Camera and Editor
Tony Herring, Producer/Writer
JC Monygomery, Executive Producer
Ralph Meyers, Writer
Michael E. DeBakey, perhaps the best known surgeon in the world, a man whose
career has spanned the last half of the twentieth century, has in his work touched
the lives of millions of people of all nations. In World War II he helped develop
surgical principles which saved lives and limbs of our soldiers and even lived
with General Patton for a period. As the war ended he laid the foundations for both
the Veterans Administration Hospital system and what later became the National
Library of Medicine. His presence in Houston Texas built Baylor Medical School
into one of the best medical schools in the nation. His innovations in the field of
cardiovascular surgery are legendary and include development of the roller pump
for cardiac bypass, the treatment of complex aortic aneurysms, carotid and
coronary bypass surgery, and recently the left ventricular assist device. The later
development prolongs the life of severely ill individuals awaiting cardiac
transplantation. He has influenced many presidents and world leaders and his list
of patients includes many celebrities. He is truely a national treasure.
Ken Mandel, Director, Camera and Editor
Tony Herring, Producer/Writer
JC Monygomery, Executive Producer
Ralph Meyers, Writer
DeBakey The documentary 3:30
Frida Kahlo: A Ribbon Around A Bomb 2:00
BLUESLAND: A Portrait in American Music 2:00
| A Fight to the Finish: Stories of Polio 3:20 |
| America’s Deadliest Storm: Galveston,1900 4:20 |
| "The Mountain" trailer A song of Hope |
In addition to doing his live album at Brushy Mountain, Collie wanted to make a
documentary in which the inmates were shown actively making music with him.
Some inmates were more into the concept than others.
“I tried to make sure that everybody was at ease, so they would talk. A lot of times I
would share with inmates and they didn’t wanna be on camera and that was fine,”
Collie explained. “Not everybody was glad to see me. Not everybody was willing to
just take it for what it was, which was basically let’s sit down and share some music,
stories and songs.”
Collie’s Brushy Mountain documentary ended up taking him 15 years to finish, but
the entertainer believes that it was worth the wait. Music, according to Collie, offers a
sense of freedom.
“Music for me as a kid could take me places. One thing about it is: everybody in
their spirit has a song. You can’t keep that in a cage, you can’t chain that up." “The
spirit of songs is freedom and I just felt like I was supposed to do this and it started
out humbly, then it got big, then it got bigger and bigger.”
Producer/Editor- Lisa J and Ken Mandel
Director/cameraman- Ken Mandel
documentary in which the inmates were shown actively making music with him.
Some inmates were more into the concept than others.
“I tried to make sure that everybody was at ease, so they would talk. A lot of times I
would share with inmates and they didn’t wanna be on camera and that was fine,”
Collie explained. “Not everybody was glad to see me. Not everybody was willing to
just take it for what it was, which was basically let’s sit down and share some music,
stories and songs.”
Collie’s Brushy Mountain documentary ended up taking him 15 years to finish, but
the entertainer believes that it was worth the wait. Music, according to Collie, offers a
sense of freedom.
“Music for me as a kid could take me places. One thing about it is: everybody in
their spirit has a song. You can’t keep that in a cage, you can’t chain that up." “The
spirit of songs is freedom and I just felt like I was supposed to do this and it started
out humbly, then it got big, then it got bigger and bigger.”
Producer/Editor- Lisa J and Ken Mandel
Director/cameraman- Ken Mandel
"The Mountain"
A DAY AT DADA
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