Carvalho Proposal

DOWN LOW PICTURES LLC 55 Washington St, Suite 630

Brooklyn, NY 11201 Tel: (718) 624-5033 Fax: (718) 624-5034

CARVALHO’S JOURNEYA One-Hour Documentary Film

Solomon Nunes Carvalho,Self-portrait

Daguerreotype, 1850

Proposal for a PBS documentary film about the life and times of Solomon NunesCarvalho, 19th Century Jewish-American artist, photographer, explorer, and inventor.

Carvalho’s Journey, proposal for a documentary film 2

American Jews no longer thought in terms of defined limitations but rather as Americans whose mindsand opportunities knew no boundaries and could expand with the West. A new Jew was being formed.When presented with the opportunity, the American Jew, even if a recent immigrant, reached for theGolden ring and went through the "Golden Door."

-Jerry Klinger

…My heart beat with fervent anxiety, and whilst I felt happy, and free from the usual care and trouble,I still could not master the nervous debility which seized me while surveying the grand and majesticworks of nature. I was far way from the comforts of my home. A deep sigh of longing for the society ofman wrested itself from my breast. Shall I return, and not accomplish the object of my journey? No, Iwill onward, and trust to the Great Spirit…

-Solomon Nunes CarvalhoIncidents of Travel and Adventure in the Far West, 1854

A faded daguerreotype of Native Americanlodges sits in the Library of Congress, one of theoldest existing photographs of the AmericanWest. It is presumed to be the work of SolomonNunes Carvalho, an artist and daguerreotypistwho accompanied explorer John C. Fremont onhis fifth and final expedition to the West in1853. How Carvalho came to this most illustriousand dangerous of positions and how it affectedhim for the rest of his life is the subject of ourstory.

The tale of Solomon Nunes Carvalho is one of the greatest untold stories in American Jewishhistory. Born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1815, Carvalho was an observant Jew who madeextraordinary contributions to American history and culture – a man whose talent andingenuity vaulted him to the highest ranks of the country’s practitioners of art and science - yetwho remained firmly rooted in his devotion to his own community and beliefs.

Carvalho’s Journey is a one-hour documentary film for PBS that examinesthe 19th century Jewish-American experience through the lens of oneextraordinary man’s eclectic and exemplary life. A Sephardic Jew of Spanish-Portuguese descent, Solomon Nunes Carvalho hailed from Charleston butlived at various times in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York, and traveledwidely across the country. Fueled by artistic talent, adventurous spirit,commitment to community, and an unquenchable curiosity about the naturaland spiritual worlds, Carvalho cut a wide swatch across the major cultural,intellectual, and historical currents of the 19th century.

Carvalho’s professional accomplishments – as a successful painter, pioneeringdaguerreotypist, explorer, inventor, and published memoirist – were matched

only by his personal ones, as a community-minded Jew, a founder of Jewish organizations innumerous American cities, and a leading participant in many of the pressing religious and


intellectual issues of his day. Carvalho was a product of a singular period in American andJewish history, when the young country was full of creativity, industry, and independent spirit,and its small community of Jews was figuring out how to fit into the larger culture while stillmaintaining its unique religious identity.

THE FILM

Produced for broadcast on PBS, exhibition at film festivals, and forwide educational and DVD distribution, Carvalho’s Journey will tell thelittle-known story of Carvalho’s life and works, centering on his daringand exhilarating journey across the continent as the officialphotographer of John C. Fremont’s 1853 expedition, a journey whichalmost cost him his life. Drawing extensively from Carvalho’s best-selling memoir, Incidents of Travel and Adventure in the Far West, the filmwill be both an introduction to and an examination of Carvalho’samazing life story, as well as an incisive and penetrating look at theJewish-American experience of the mid-19th century. The film willutilize interviews, narration, voiceover recordings, original music,period paintings and photographs, dramatic landscape cinematography,and Carvalho’s own paintings and daguerreotypes to weave a complexand visually stunning narrative presentation of the story.

In addition to his adventures in the West, the film will explore the story of Carvalho’s early lifeand education, his youthful wanderings which took him to sea and abroad, his experimentationwith the earliest forms of photography (he is almost certainly the first Jewish Americanphotographer), his late career as a successful inventor and elder statesman, and, especially, hiscareer as a successful portrait and landscape painter in studios he established in Charleston,Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Considered by many to be the first Jewish American to make hisliving solely as an artist, Carvalho specialized in portraiture but was also devoted to creatinghistorical and Biblical narrative paintings.

The film will be produced and directed by Steve Rivo, anaward-winning documentary filmmaker who has worked as aproducer of a number of historical documentary films made forpublic television (see bio below). The film will principally drawon the book Photo Odyssey: Solomon Carvalho’s RemarkableWestern Adventure, (Houghten Mifflin, 2000) by ArleneHirschfelder, and will also feature the work of RobertShlaer, a present-day daguerreotypist who retracedCarvalho’s journey for his book Sights Once Seen (University of

New Mexico, 2000). The film is sponsored by the National Center for Jewish Film, anon-profit distributor, motion picture archive, and resource center, with the largest, mostdiverse collection of Jewish-themed film in the world.


THE STORY

At the time of Fremont’s expedition in 1853, SolomonCarvalho, then 38 years old, was a successful artist,businessman and active member of the Jewish communitywith a wife and three children. Some years earlier,Carvalho had gained prominence for his role in the debateover Orthodox versus Reform Judaism, which had begunin Charleston during the 1820’s. Carvalho’s father, David,helped found the first Reform congregation in the U.S.,but surprisingly, Solomon held fast to Orthodoxy andactively tried to promote and advocate for traditional

Jewish practice. In the Jewish newspaper The Occident, he wrote,“Religion must signify itself in our actions in life, ay, it must embracethe whole sphere of our activities and affections.” Yet he saw littleconflict in his devotion to religious practice and faith and his fullparticipation in secular culture and endeavors. So when the famedexplorer John C. Fremont announced that he was commissioning aphotographic and artistic record of his fifth and final expedition insearch of a railroad route to the Pacific ocean, Carvalho, who hadrecently begun practicing the new art of daguerreotyping, jumped atthe chance to join Fremont.

Carvalho was selected to document the journey, and along the way, hekept an extraordinary journal. His writings resulted in a book-lengthaccount, which when published in 1857, made him a minor celebrity. The journal is aninsightful, heartfelt, and harrowing account of the Fremont expedition, and it provides an

unusually rich and detailed foundation for a documentary portrait of dailylife on the dangerous westward trail. Carvalho related the dramaticadventures of the group’s 2400 mile, five-month journey from New YorkCity to Parowan, Utah, which included a disastrous attempt to cross theRocky Mountains in the deep freeze of winter. Traveling by stagecoach,steamer, pony, mule and by foot, Carvalho and his fellow explorers facedtremendous obstacles, including grass fires, frigid winds, drenchingrainstorms, and driving snow, but they also discovered astonishing vistasand the stunning terrain of the unexplored middle American West. As anurbane Jewish city dweller, Carvalho took great pleasure in detailing hisexperiences and poking fun at himself while learning to ride a horse andsaddle a mule, hunt buffalo, and live off the land. He described the difficultyof hauling his cumbersome gear and making daguerreotypes in waist-deepsnowdrifts, and, perhaps most challengingly, trying to maintain his

commitment to Judaism while adapting to the food (horsemeat was a staple) and the extremelychallenging conditions. By turns amusing, absorbing, and startling, the book’s narrative begins asa story of a promising and educational journey and becomes a life-or-death odyssey of nearstarvation, freezing limbs, and tragedy before the group reaches safety among the Mormons ofUtah.


Carvalho’s life was dramatically transformed by the experience. Thebreathtaking landscapes of the American West energized his spiritualand creative pursuits, but the trip also offered Carvalho uniquepossibilities for cultural interactions that he never could havedreamed of while living in Charleston or Baltimore. His experienceswith the American Indian guides in his group (from the Lenape tribe)and other members of the Cheyenne and Ute he encountered, aswell as an historic encounter with Mormon leader Brigham Young,broadly widened his view of the world – and were unique for a Jewof his generation. Young, one of the most fascinating characters ofthe 19th century, assisted in Carvalho’s rescue from near death andfacilitated his rehabilitation in Salt Lake City, where the two enjoyedwide-ranging conversations about their respective religiousconvictions.

After the expedition and a brief stay in Los Angeles, where heopened an art studio and helped the tiny Jewish community establisha Hebrew Benevolent Society, Carvalho returned east, carrying theinfluences of his western journey with him. He continued painting and making photographs, butnow focused on landscapes, and he played an active role in numerous Jewish communities,helping to found synagogues and Hebrew schools, serving on numerous boards, and directingefforts to fight anti-Semitism. In Baltimore, Philadelphia, and eventually New York – where helived out the rest of his life – Carvalho wrote about and participated in local and nationaldialogues about Jewish affairs, politics, education, and art. In 1869, after he developed cataractsand became unable to paint, Carvalho resumed work on an old invention, a steam-heatingapparatus, which earned him three patents, a Medal of Excellence from the American Institute,and greater financial success than his painting studios, allowing him to live comfortably until hisdeath in 1897 at the age of 82.

Comfortably traversing many of thecompeting dualities that shape American life,Carvalho was a modern 19th century“Renaissance man” – an artist and scientist, afamily man and adventurer, a secularintellectual and traditional Jew with faith inboth God and the material world. Carvalho’sinsistence on maintaining his deep Jewish faithwithin the context of an increasinglymodernizing American world foreshadowsmany of the conflicts Jews – and otherminorities – met with at the dawn of the 20th

century and beyond. In Carvalho, as onewriter has argued, we can recognize a“trailblazing phenomenon” and the beginningsof the truly modern Jewish-American.


DISTRIBUTION

Carvalho’s Journey is being produced for national television broadcast on PBS, forscreening at film festivals, for DVD and educational distribution, and possibly for a limitedtheatrical release in selected markets. In early 2008, MPT (Maryland Public Television) agreedto serve as the film’s presenting station to PBS, to distribute the film nationally, and to providein-kind production services and creative oversight.

A PBS national broadcast gives the film the potential to reach nearly every Americanhousehold. The film’s PBS broadcast will be accompanied by marketing and publicity campaignsorchestrated by MPT that include off and on-air promotion, advertising, press releases,television reviews, and newspaper and magazine articles in publications related to film, art &photography, Jewish life and American history. The wide appeal of the subject matter and little-known aspect of story has drawn early interest from writers from national magazines, andindicate that the film’s release will be widely covered in the media.

Additionally, Jewish film festivals are a significant and growing means of distribution, andserve to create excellent press opportunities, in addition to bringing Jewish films to disparateaudiences in the far reaches of the U.S. and around the world. There are over 50 active JewishFilm Festivals including noted ones in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Jerusalem, Toronto,Vancouver, Washington D.C., London, Miami and other places. The producers have alreadyreceived inquiries from directors of the Sephardic Jewish Film Festival, held annually in NewYork, and the New York Jewish Film festival, both of which expressed interest in screening thefilm upon its completion. Because the subject matter of Carvalho’s Journey is quite uniquefor a Jewish film (American Jewish and Sephardic history), the producers have been assured thatthe film will have a busy life on the Jewish Festival “circuit.”

In educational markets, the film has already been picked up for distribution by theNational Center for Jewish Film (also the project’s Fiscal Sponsor). NCJF, a non-profitorganization, is the largest distributor of Jewish-themed film and video material in the world,and has over 25 years experience distributing hundreds of films to schools, libraries andcommunity centers all across North America, as well as experience creating successfuloutreach programs and teachers’ guides to accompany films in the classroom. Last year, theCenter provided 35mm and 16mm films and professional-grade video rentals to theaters, filmfestivals, educators, libraries, museums, universities, and community centers in such places asStockholm, Hong Kong, Vienna, Beijing, Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, Berlin, Juno, and Krakow,and at the Jerusalem Film Festival (for the 19th consecutive year), the Palm Springs InternationalFilm Festival, Lincoln Center and Film Forum in New York, and the U.S. Holocaust MemorialMuseum in Washington, D.C.

When Carvalho’s Journey is complete, the producers plan to work diligently to raiseadditional funds to travel with the film and create as much opportunity as possible to participatein community outreach screenings and discussions.


THE FILMMAKERS

Producer/DirectorSteve Rivo

Steve Rivo is an award-winning documentary film and television producer and the founder of Down LowPictures. He has produced, directed or written documentaries for PBS, Court TV, VH1 andindependently. Selected credits include co-producer of the Emmy and DuPont award-winning, multi-part PBS series New York: A Documentary Film (directed by Ric Burns), producer of two of Burns’ filmsfor the PBS series American Experience: Eugene O’Neill (2006, Emmy Award) and Ansel Adams (2002,Emmy award), director and producer of numerous documentaries for Court TV including Tragedy inTelluride (2008, Telly Award) Heartshot (2004, Telly Award), A Deadly Campaign (2003, Telly Award),Mad Scientist (2007) and the limited documentary series High Stakes with Ben Mezrich (2005). Steve hasalso produced and directed documentary projects for non-profit organizations including ColumbiaUniversity, the American Institute of Architects, and the Center for Online Judaic Studies.

Director of PhotographyDavid A. Ford

Over the last decade David has worked on countless commercial, narrative and documentary films. Ascameraman, some credits include the Emmy-winning PBS documentaries New York: A Documentary Film,and Divided Highways, as well as biographies of Eugene O’Neill, Alexander Calder, and Richard Rogers.David has also shot for New York Times Television, TLC, A&E, MTV, Court TV and many otherproducers and networks. David recently Executive Produced and shot GidyUp! On The Rodeo Circuit forLogo/MTV. His lighting designs can be seen in four feature-length Independent films. David teachesCinematography in the Columbia University Graduate Film Department.

Associate ProducerDan Lewis

Dan Lewis has worked as associate producer at Down Low Pictures since 2005 on all companyproductions including Mad Scientist, Family Betrayal and Tragedy in Telluride (all for Court TV). Dan beganhis career as an intern and production assistant at Moxie Firecracker Productions where he workedmany projects including Girlhood, Pandemic: Facing AIDS, A Boy’s Life and The Nazi Officer’s Wife. He wasthen a production assistant for Social Media Productions on The Fight for the PBS series AmericanExperience, and an associate producer and videographer with Documania Films on The Voices of CivilRights for The History Channel. At KPI Telelvion he associate produced A&E Network’s BiographySeries, and programs for OLN Network and TLC.

Fiscal SponsorThe National Center for Jewish Film

The National Center for Jewish Film -- a unique non-profit motion picture archive, distributor, andresource center -- houses the largest, most comprehensive collection of Jewish-themed film and video inthe world. The ongoing mission of NCJF is to collect, restore, preserve, catalogue, and exhibit filmswith artistic and educational value relevant to the Jewish experience and to disseminate these materialsto the widest possible audience. NCJF is a 501c3 non-profit institution located at Brandeis University inWaltham, MA


BOARD OF ADVISORSThe project has assembled a distinguished board of advisors drawn from academia, the artworld and film to advise the production.

Elizabeth Kessin BermanAuthor and curator of 1989 Maryland Jewish Historical Society exhibit on Solomon Carvalho.

Ric BurnsDocumentary Filmmaker and director of numerous PBS films including artist biographies Andy Warhol(2006), Eugene O’Neill (2006) and Ansel Adams (2002).

Daniel J. CzitromProfessor of American History and Culture, Mt. Holyoke College; Specialist in 19th century urbanhistory.

Arlene HirschfelderCurator, educator and award-winning author of over two dozen books including Photo Odyssey: SolomonCarvalho’s Remarkable Western Adventure 1853-54.

Ava F. KahnAuthor of Jewish Life in the American West, and author of the introduction to new version of Carvalho’sIncidents of Travel and Adventure in the Far West.

David OestreicherLeading authority on the Lenape (Delaware) and related tribes; Curator, writer and scholar ofAnthropology and Hebraic Studies.

Sharon Pucker RivoCo-Founder and Executive Director of National Center for Jewish Film; Adjunct Associate Professor inthe Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department at Brandeis University.

Dale RosengartenCurator of the Jewish Heritage Collection at the College of Charleston; editor of A Portion of the People:Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life.

Jonathan SarnaBraun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University; Author and leading scholar ofAmerican Jewish History.

Eileen Hallet StoneOral historian, author and scholar specializing in Jews in Utah.

Robert ShlaerAuthor and photographer of Sights Once Seen: Daguerreotyping Fremont’s Last Expedition through theRockies; Professional daguerreotypist and scholar.


INTERVIEWSConductedArlene Hirschfelder, writer and curatorEileen Hallet Stone, writerRobert Shlaer, author and daguerreotypistMartha Sandweiss, Professor of American Studies, Amherst CollegeJohn Mack Faragher, Professor of History, Yale University

PlannedElizabeth Kessin Berman, former curator, Jewish Museum of MarylandAva F. Kahn, Professor of Jewish HistoryJonathan Sarna, Professor of History, Brandeis UniversityJoan Sturhahn and Jonathan Ffrench, relatives of Solomon CarvalhoPatricia Nelson Limerick, scholarDale Rosengarten, curator, College of Charleston

FILMING LOCATIONSNew YorkBaltimoreCharleston, S.C.Kansas City, MO (Westport)Bent’s Fort Historic Site, La Junta, COSalt Lake CityGoblin Valley and Capitol Reef State Parks, UtahParowan, UtahCimarron Ridge Colorado


FOR MORE INFORMATIONPLEASE CONTACT

Steve RivoProducer/director

Down Low Pictures LLC55 Washington St, Suite 630

Brooklyn, NY 11201718-624-5033

[email protected]

All contributions to support the production of Carvalho’s Journeyare tax-deductible

Carvalho Proposal

Documents

Transcript of Carvalho Proposal