The Independent Television Service (ITVS), which is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, manages a Diversity Development Fund which offers research and development funding of up to $35,000 for “filmmakers of color.” ITVS says the applicants’ documentaries can be “on any subject, viewpoint, or style.”
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who is Ranking Member on the House Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, argues that “because white filmmakers are facially ineligible for this seed money, the fund runs afoul of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.”
Note: ITVS was established through legislation by Congress in 1988, “to expand the diversity and innovativeness of programming available to public broadcasting.”
Because white filmmakers are facially ineligible for this seed money, the fund runs afoul of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) February 1, 2024
I’m urging the taxpayer funded Independent Television Service to remove race as an eligibility…
In his letter to ITVS, Cruz wrote: “I’m urging the taxpayer funded Independent Television Service to remove race as an eligibility criterion for the Diversity Development Fund.”
“ITVS appears to almost exclusively fund documentaries from a liberal viewpoint, and may be discriminating against certain filmmakers based on political ideology,” Cruz told The Daily Wire.
ITVS is currently promoting its new documentary film Sister Úna Lived a Good Life. It chronicles the last nine months of the life of Sister Úna, a White “smoking, drinking, wisecracking Catholic nun dedicated to social justice.” Trailer below.
The producer Ali Hart (raised Jewish) and director Par Parekh (raised Hindu) said Sister Una “shattered the stereotypes” they had of Catholic nuns, and that her message was universal: to “embrace your humanity, warts and all, and approach the world with kindness.”
Sister Una will premiere on Monday, February 5 on PBS’ Independent Lens and Amazon Prime.
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