In 1966, six African American boys living in west Philadelphia made a film about their lives. As the newly formed Tabernacle Film Club, the boys conceived, shot, edited, and narrated the film, which they titled Not Much To Do.

With the help of former Tabernacle Federated Church minister Reverend Bob Stoddard and support from the Board of Christian Education and Presbyterian Women of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., funding was secured to undertake the project. Ben Achtenberg, a master's student at the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, was brought on board to direct the film. Achtenberg's role was to teach the boys filmmaking techniques without influencing the decisions that ultimately would lead to the final cut.

Film Trailer	Article
	Venture, January, 1968, from the archives at PHS

Panelists

Ben Achtenberg is the founder and director of The Refuge Media Project which is producing a documentary, Refuge: Caring for Survivors of Torture about immigrant survivors of torture, and some of the organizations that provide healthcare and rehabilitative services to them. Ben also publishes a regular blog on issues related to immigration, torture, and political violence.

Ben is an Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker, and for many years owned and ran Fanlight Productions, a respected film distribution company specializing in documentaries on important social issues. Ben's Oscar nomination was for one of his first films, Code Gray, which dealt with the ethical dilemmas faced by hospital nursing staff. His other award-winning films have focused on such topics as parenting, homelessness, disabilities, and aging. He was for many years a Program Committee member of the Ignacio Martín-Baró Fund for Mental Health & Human Rights.

Bob Stoddard is an ordained Presbyterian minister and honorably retired member of New Castle Presbytery. He retired in 2005 as vice president for development for Presbyterian-related Lebanese American University in Beirut, Lebanon (formerly Beirut College for Women). Bob has spent considerable time in Lebanon and also in Egypt while executive director of HANDS, Inc. which supports the ministries of the Coptic Evangelical Church. After visiting Israel/Palestine in 2006, he became active in the PC(USA) Israel/Palestine Mission Network. In retirement he has founded Delaware Churches for Middle East Peace, Career Insights for Teens and the Warner School/Arts Alliance. Bob has a B.A. from the College of Wooster and an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and is currently writing a history of the "origin and evolution of American female education in Syria/Lebanon." He and his wife, Judy, live in Wilmington near their two children and four grandchildren.

Richard Chalfen is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Temple University and on the Senior Research Staff at the Center on Media and Child Health at Boston Children's Hospital. He is past president of the American Anthropological Association's Society of Visual Anthropology, former Chair of Temple University's Department of Anthropology and Director of the MA Program in Visual Anthropology.

Richard's research focuses on home media and visual communication and the visual culture of modern Japan. At the Center he uses participant media methods to study childhood chronic illness and relationships of camera phones and young people. His publications include Snapshot Versions of Life (1987), Turning Leaves--The Photograph Collection of Two Japanese American Families (1997), Through Navajo Eyes (co-author, 2001); and most recently, PHOTOGAFFES—Family Snapshots and Social Dilemmas (2012). For papers on teenage filmmaking in Philadelphia, see: http://astro.temple.edu/~rchalfen/teenfilm.html.

Host and Moderator

NBC10 veteran newsman Terry Ruggles has been reporting stories for over thirty years. In his long tenure in the Philadelphia market, Ruggles has covered a variety of stories from local politics, the infamous MOVE event, and the 9/11 tragedy. He has traveled to England, Germany, Haiti, Italy, France and Saudi Arabia to get the local angles on international stories. In 1993, Ruggles was named the WCAU-TV New Jersey reporter. During that time, he was responsible for covering the Garden State from Trenton to the shores of Cape May Point.

Ruggles currently serves on the board of directors for both Philadelphia's Fireman's Hall Museum and Smith Memorial Playgrounds and Playhouse in Fairmount Park. He and his wife Maryjane reside in South Jersey and are the parents of two children.

Presented by the Presbyterian Historical Society
October 17, 2012, 6pm
At Old Pine Street Church
412 Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA

Reserve your ticket by October 9th

At http://notmuchtodo.eventbrite.com Or call Kate Fox at 215.928.3895

Tickets are $10, payable at the door