When fall season rolls around, public television shows don’t usually get the buzz of their broadcast brethren, but there are jewels aplenty. Two standouts: PBS’ Time for School: 2003-2016 follows five kids in five countries for 12 years as they struggle for a basic education. The program airs as part of PBS’s “Spotlight Education Week” on September 15. Nina Chaudry is director/producer of the show, a co-production of LoudMouse Productions, THIRTEEN Productions for WNET and Independent Television Service. And the Treasures of New York series, a production of WLIW in association with flagship PBS station WNET, celebrates New York City’s most meaningful locations. Diane Masciale is general manager of WLIW21 and executive producer of local production, including the Treasures of New York series.
Cynopsis: Why is Time for School: 2003-2016 a passion project for you?
Nina Chaudry
Nina Chaudry: You have to have passion and commitment to work on a film for more than 12 years! And there are several of us who have been part of the series since we began filming in 2003. Once you meet these kids, you’re hooked.
The project originated as part of the PBS international foreign affairs series Wide Angle when the series producer at the time, Pamela Hogan, read an op-ed article that stated that there were more than 100 million children who had never set foot in a classroom. There was also a global push at the time to get more kids into school. Not only did we decide to meet a few of these new students from around the world who were starting school for the first time, but we asked if we could film them every few years until 2015. When they each said yes, we were all in for the ride.
Cynopsis: Were there moments during filming that stand out for you?
Chaudry: I don’t think any of us quite realized how much life would change for so many of our students in those first three years between our first two shoots. We got a front row seat to the instability of many of these children’s lives. Parental death; increasing violence in their community; and the demands of everyday life severely threatened their schooling.
Cynopsis: What impact do you think the film will have on viewers?
Chaudry: There have been three earlier episodes of Time for School, which have aired as part of the Wide Angle series. And these films have had a tremendous response in schools, in outreach organizations and among policy makers. Teachers throughout the country have incorporated the series into their lessons. In one middle school in Long Island, the students were so moved by the film that they reached out to the school that Joab attended in Kenya to see how they could help. The students ended up raising $7,000 to help the school build a library.
Advocacy groups around the world have also embraced the project, reminding us how a film and a personal story can sometimes be more powerful than a statistic. My hope is that this final film, which is now told primarily from the students’ point of view, will further deepen the viewer’s connection to the lives of those all over the world struggling to not only access education but stay in school.
Cynopsis: What challenges do you face filming in different countries?
Chaudry: Filming in different countries didn’t pose a challenge as we had different field producers for each of the students. Logistically, this helped because it allowed for shoots to occur at the same time but, more significantly, it also allowed for a close relationship to develop through the years between the field producer and the student, as well as with his or family – and many remain in touch to this day.
Diane Masciale talks about Treasures of New York.
Cynopsis: What challenges did you face during filming?
Diane Masiale/WNET-Joseph Sinnott
Diane Masciale: As with filming any documentary, one of the biggest challenges is determining how to craft the story – who to speak with, what moments to capture. While there are always going to be unexpected factors at play when on a shoot or during the post-production process, we are successful when we are able to adapt to those situations and make the best of them. Sometimes, that’s when the most creative moments happen.
Cynopsis: How were the topics decided for Treasures of New York documentaries?
Masciale: We are lucky to have such of a wealth of interesting cultural institutions to pick from. We try to feature a diversity of organizations, ranging from a sporting arena, like the US Open, to a school dedicated to teaching the next generation of artists, like The Julliard School. We also try to feature geographic diversity. This season, we will be producing documentaries for the series in Staten Island, Manhattan, Queens, Long Island, and Upstate New York.
Cynopsis: Can you share particularly moving moments during filming?
Masciale: One of our productions airing this fall is Treasures of New York: Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center. We had a very special moment when filming with two of our interview subjects, Werner and Eva Reich. Both Holocaust survivors, they gave us a tour of the museum and pointed out their personal objects from World War II that they donated to the Center. It was a touching moment and one we felt very lucky to be able to capture.
Cynopsis: How do documentaries benefit the public?
Masciale: I think the more documentaries that are available to the public, the better. Of the topics we feature in Treasures of New York, some are beloved institutions, while others are less well-known. This series allows us to put both in the spotlight and to share with viewers the rich history of this region and a behind the scenes look they may not otherwise have access to.
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