Women Make Movies Announces Broadcast Premiere Of THE LEARNING On PBS

Sept. 14, 2011 - PRLog -- New York - Women Make Movies (WMM), the nation's oldest and largest distributor of films by women and about women, announces the broadcast premiere of THE LEARNING, a film by Ramona Diaz. The film will be seen on the Emmy® Award–winning PBS series POV, television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films, on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 10 p.m. (check local listings).
 
THE LEARNING follows four Filipina teachers – Dorotea, Angel, Grace, and Rhea - during their first year in America. There is a shortage of teachers in American public school systems and consequently, a significant number of urban school districts across the country have begun hiring foreign teachers. School districts across the nation have traveled the world in search of highly qualified teachers. In this search, the Philippines has emerged as a recruitment hub American-based education system, and its English-speaking population.

Across the school year's changing seasons, the film chronicles the sacrifices they make as they try to maintain a long-distance relationship with their children and families, and begin a new one with the mostly African-American students whose schooling is now entrusted to them. Their story is at once intensely personal, as each woman deals with the implications of her decision to come to the U.S., and fundamentally public, as they become part of the machinery of American education reform policy.

"THE LEARNING is an important film that explores the changing world of education in America as well as the new faces of American immigrants," said Debra Zimmerman, WMM Executive Director.  "For the last 40 years, WMM has been dedicated to distributing films that provide audiences with insight to women's lives worldwide - and THE LEARNING is a wonderful example of how the economic realities for women abroad now translate into an entirely different set of issues in their new homeland."    


The Learning is a co-production of CineDiaz and the Independent Television Service (ITVS), in association with The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), and American Documentary | POV
Executive Producer for ITVS Sally Jo Fifer; Executive Producer for American Documentary | POV Simon Kilmurry

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ABOUT WMM
From art houses to festivals to broadcasts, Women Make Movies is the world’s leading distributor of films by and about women. Since 1973, WMM has brought audiences critically-acclaimed, award-wnning and innovative films by women directors, tackling global, national and local issues that affect us all. For five years in a row, a film from Women Make Movies has won awards at the Sundance Film Festival, including 2011's PARIAH; for the fifth time in six years, a WMM film has been nominated or won an Academy Award, including this year's SUN COME UP. For more info, visit www.wmm.com.