In a Day’s Time: Songs of the California Men’s Colony (2007)

NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD.

A chronicle of an ordinary day of music-making at the medium security California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, In a Day's Time offers an alternate view of these men behind bars. The performances (from rap to ranchero to rock) are interlaced with interviews and conversations, and reveal on a very human level how music is an inner and outer mirror for lives full of regret and hope, loneliness and camaraderie, and opportunities yet to come.

In a Day's Time was shot in one day to show the vitality of musical activity in the California Men's Colony. What emerges are startling momentary connections with inmates as they discuss and perform music that they assume no one beyond prison walls will hear. Moving across three medium security yards, we meet charismatic musicians with a range of talents from endearing amateurs to seasoned troubadours. The film presents uncut music, offering the opportunity to visit a variety of inmate musical worlds.

Today's musical inmates work with limited resources and personnel, often creating original music styles. Their songs are born out of a necessity to connect with each other and poetically grapple with the situation of incarceration. For example, a white country guitar picker collaborates with a black R&B crooner to deliver a powerful song about freedom and mortality. A songwriting group develops a rap inspired by Shakespearean themes about having artistic dreams given the reality of living on the streets. (32 min.)

Produced, directed and edited by Ben Harbert

video previews: Bobby and Richard | Studio Conversation

"Irresistible characters, powerful performances, and a film that lets the music and inmates speak for themselves." — SEEN

"The music is beautiful and the inmates are sincere and touching." — Angela Watkins, NewTimes

"Very humane, made with compassion for his characters" — Marina Goldovskaya, filmmaker

 

John (Ivan) Filcich, Life in the Circle Dance (2008)

John (Ivan) Filcich, the Croat in ethnic background, devoted his life to the preservation and promotion of musical traditions and dances of many ethnic groups in California. Filcich has been a music seller and record producer catering to ethnic communities in California for nearly sixty years. Since 1947, he has been a folk dancer, and then a teacher to the international folk dance community in California, and he was a founder of that community’s Kolo Festival.

In this documentary film John (Ivan) Filcich is portrayed as a treasure trove of knowledge and an invaluable source of information and documentation for all those fascinated by the musical and dance life of California’s ethnic groups in the second half of the 20th century. The film exposes Filcich’s vivid memories; his vibrant but modest personality; his warm, expressive way of presenting knowledge of oral cultural history of California; the caring way he shares music, dances, costumes, and information, and it documents his long-lasting relationship with Machvaya Gypsies, and his knowledge of their changing lifestyle within California’s multi-ethnic urban settings. (29 min.)

Directed by Ankica Petrovic
Produced and edited by Ben Harbert