KIXE General Manager Rob Keenan took part in storytime on one of his more unusual work days, reading the story “Brick by Brick” to the families that had gathered.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced today its upcoming closure. For decades it has helped support 1,500 locally managed public television and radio stations nationwide.
At the KIXE public television station in Redding, there’s a third-Thursday-of-the month magic. It’s called KIXE Storytime, and children who show up with their parents, grandparents or other caregivers hear a story, take part in a related craft-making activity and enjoy a snack.
Because it’s free of charge, it’s available to families whose activities may be limited by their financial resources. It’s not the kind of program that you might immediately associate with a television station – but, well, this is the “public” in public TV.read more
A film on the humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, produced by immigration crackdowns over the past couple of decades, will be shown in a free KIXE PBS film screening at 6 p.m. Jan. 20.
Readers can register here to gain access, watch “Missing in Brooks County” at home, and also participate in an online community conversation afterward that will feature several local panelists, including ChicoSol Editor Leslie Layton, who has covered immigration from the Mexican side of the border.
The film tells the moving story of Eddie Canales, who has assumed an unofficial role as a human rights detective assisting families hunting for missing loved ones in the punishing landscape of Brooks County in south Texas.
The screening is sponsored by KIXE and the Shasta County Foundation and is part of the Indie Lens Pop-Up film series. The film includes a few heart-breaking stories and scenes that show images of deceased people, but tells a larger story from multiple perspectives — from that of desperate, brave migrants, heroic figures like Canales, and law enforcement officials and border patrol staff.
KIXE says it wants to encourage "collective effort"
by Lindajoy Fenly | Posted October 14, 2019
photo courtesy of KIXE
Colombian schoolteacher Luis Soriano began his literacy campaign with just a few books in the 1990s, delivering them to remote areas from the back of his burro.
His efforts have since become internationally known, bringing thousands of books to rural areas. The film “Biblioburro” that tells his remarkable story will be screened at the Butte County Library at 6 p.m. Oct. 17.
“Biblioburro” is part of a KIXE pop-up 12-film project geared to creating an environment in which the public can learn about and discuss important social issues, called the “Third Thursday Film & Discussion” series.
“We wanted to use documentary films as a catalyst for discussion about place, race, poverty and other important topics of social civic engagement,” Julie Driver told Chicosol in a telephone interview. “The underlining theme is collaborative impact that starts with one person.”
“Biblioburro” is in Spanish, but the film has English subtitles. It will be shown free of charge at the library at 1108 Sherman Ave. in Chico.
The public television announcement about the 2011 film notes that Soriano’s “library on hooves” had to face armed bands, drug traffickers, snakes and heat to deliver “an inspirational message about education and a better future for Colombia.”
In an email to ChicoSol, Driver said that KIXE staff hopes not only to “expose and educate viewers to different lives and different ideas,” but also to “move toward action… We want to highlight the power of collective effort that starts with seeing a need and collaborating with others to address it.”
In a partnership with Independent Lens, the station has been showing films in public locations in Redding for three years. KIXE expanded the program to Chico this year after hiring additional staff, says Driver, who handles the station’s corporate and community engagement.
As children’s fiction, a recommended reading is “Waiting for the Biblioburro” by Monica Brown and John Parra.
Other films to be shown in the Butte County Library over the coming year include:
On Nov. 21, “The First Rainbow Coalition” on the Chicago Black Panther Party’s work to form alliances across lines of race and ethnicity with other community groups;
On Feb. 20, “Always in Season” about how the victims and perpetrators of lynching work to heal the aftermath of violent history in four American communities;
On March 19, “Bedlam,” a psychiatrist’s work in emergency rooms, jails and homeless camps.
ChicoSol is one of several media partners for the Thursday film series.
