Iowan Jane Elliott is renowned for her pioneering work in anti-racism education. Elliott achieved celebrity for her "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise, which she first conducted in 1968 with her third grade class the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. This exercise has led to several documentaries, books and discussion over the last several decades regarding race, bias and systemic inequality. At 92 years old, Elliott is still fighting bigotry and enlisting others to join. On this episode, we listen back to our 2025 interview with Elliott. Her lessons are now finding new audiences with the documentary film 'Jane Elliott Against the World' which is screening in Des Moines on Oct. 7. We talk with the documentary's director and producer Judd Ehrlich about his journey creating a film that paints a full picture of Elliott's life, family and community. (Part of this episode was originally produced Feb. 6, 2025.)
Images from the Iowa African Film Festival
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Mary Oliver's poetry has touched millions of readers. She passed away in 2019, but a new documentary tells her story. On this episode, we talk with filmmaker and former University of Iowa professor Sasha Waters about her film 'Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World.' She shares her experience working on the film and discusses Mary Oliver's legacy. The film is screening in Iowa City through Aug. 13, and will be released on PBS on Aug. 25. Then, we meet musician Ari Dubin, founder the Rolling Hills Music Festival. This new classical music festival looks to celebrate musicians in Central Iowa and takes place August 6-9 in Ames. -
When the Africa Live Network announced the first Iowa African Film Festival, they were overwhelmed with submissions. We talk with Jack Chimbetete, founder of the Africa Live Network, about how the Iowa African Film Festival will showcase African culture and about what it means to connect people from the African diaspora. We also talk with Omar Love, founder and executive director of The Motherland Experience Festival. The Iowa African Film Festival takes place Aug. 6 through 8 at Drake University in Des Moines. The festival ends on Aug. 8 with the Motherland Experience Festival, a day of African arts, culture, and community. Then, Talk of Iowa Summer School continues with Alex Grapp, a high school language arts teacher at Ames High School. He shares how he is turning his students into readers by teaching them how to connect books to their own lives.
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'Urban Mining' explores how discarded electronics and wind turbines are being turned into a domestic source of rare earth elements. We hear from the filmmaker behind the documentary and two of the Iowans at the center of this work. The film will be showing at 4 p.m., Saturday, June 27 at the Interrobang Film Festival in Des Moines.
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On this episode, we talk with the people behind Iowa's two Latino film festivals. The Des Moines Latino Film Festival just held its sixth annual event on April 11. Antonio Romero of the Latino Center of Iowa and Ben Godar of Varsity Cinema, who co-present the festival, share how their partnership has reshaped the festival the last couple years, and their hopes for the future. Then, we get a preview of the inaugural Aqui y Alla Latin American Film Festival happening May 1-3 at Filmscene in Iowa City with programming director Ben Delgado and festival committee member Ariana Martinez. Also, poets JD Schraffenberger and Sean Thomas Dougherty join to discuss their recently published "chapbook" of golden shovel-formatted poems that were inspired by the work of James Hearst.
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A new documentary, 'Kamal’s,' follows a Muslim chef and his Catholic wife as they build a life together in Grinnell, blending Middle Eastern traditions with Midwestern ingredients. We talk with filmmaker Nich Perez, along with Kamal Hammouda and Laura Fendt, the couple at the heart of the film and co-founders of The Iowa Kitchen. Later in the episode, April is National Poetry Month, and Iowa poets are reaching audiences far beyond the Midwest.
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Downtown Washington will play host to the 4th annual Farm to Film Fest April 17-19. The three-day celebration of cinema is designed to bring the community together for an immersive weekend of art, culture and entertainment — all for free.
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This year, Winterset's annual Covered Bridge Festival is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the film, The Bridges of Madison County. -
After filming at iconic Iowa City landmarks and including locals as extras, the feature film will move on to Dubuque next. -
The upcoming movie Death of a Brewer tells the story of the three breweries that dominated the northside of Iowa City in the 1880s.
