Culture Archives - Tim Frakes Productions

Not the Cuban music you were expecting. D`Cámara Opus 5, J. Strauss

timfrakes — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 17:15:31 +0000

With all the hubbub surrounding the recent trend toward normalizing relations with Cuba, I thought I would repost this March, 2011 video I recorded in Matanza, Cuba. My friend Tony Fernandez is the bass player in this wonderful string quintet. D`Cámara Opus 5 is popular in Cuba and has toured in the United States, Europe and around the Caribbean. Tony asked me to record them during my visit. Here they perform Johann Strauss, Roses from the South.

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Mausoleum of Meher Ali Shah Golra Sharif, Pakistan

timfrakes — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 21:20:45 +0000

Today the world learned that Taliban gunman stormed a military-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan and massacred 141 people, nearly all children. My heart goes out to the vast majority of peace loving Pakistani’s and especially the families of children and staff who lost their lives.

This spring I visited a Sufi Shrine, the Mausoleum of Meher Ali Shah in Golra Sharif, Pakistan with Intersections International. This community opened their doors, welcomed us, fed us lunch and invited us to witness their worship. It is a lovely memory and how I choose to think of Pakistan.

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American Friends of Pakistan

timfrakes — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 16:05:37 +0000

Here is a short video I produced for Intersections International in Islamabad, Pakistan this spring for Intersection’s annual gala event in New York City. This video is not without irony. My flight to Islamabad few directly over Kandahar Airfield, where my son is currently deployed with the US Army 4th ID where he serves in an infantry battalion. Clearly a paradox.

With the natural beauty of the peoples and culture of Pakistan as the backdrop, UPIC delegates share their thoughts about the need to dispel the fears and misconceptions Americans have of Pakistan and to continue efforts to build relations between our two countries. Reflecting on the importance of this vital goal are; Rev. Dr. Dick Hamm, Former General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); Rabbi Dr. Reuven Firestone, Professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, CA; Kelly McGrath, a George Mason University, PhD Student, Rabbi Amy Joy Small, Director of Deborah’s Palm Center for Jewish Learning and Experiences in Morristown, NJ; Riaz Siddiqi, Founder and Managing Partner of Denham Capital and Board Chairman of the American Pakistan Foundation and Fred Johnson, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Intersections International.

Facilitated by Intersections International — in collaboration with the International Islamic University in Islamabad (IIU), the US-Pakistan Interreligious Consortium (UPIC) spent March 11-14, 2014 in Pakistan. UPIC is an initiative undertaken by Intersections that seeks to bring together religious leaders from the US and Pakistan to build relationships, shatter stereotypes, and create an action agenda that will help build bridges of mutual respect and understanding between our two countries.

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Frakes Family Christmas

timfrakes — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 13:23:00 +0000

I pulled together some of my dad’s home movies a few years ago. He was a pretty good shooter.
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Sacred Space: Balwant S. Hansra on Sikhism and the Gurdwara

timfrakes — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 18:19:24 +0000

I produced this story for the Council for a Parliament of World Religions at the Sikh Gurdwara in Palatine. Shortly after we recorded this story (which was great fun and I was treated royally), a gunman killed six people at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, near Milwaukee.

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Cornerstone 89 Family Reunion

timfrakes — Wed, 30 May 2012 23:21:50 +0000

In the summer of 1989 I produced this half hour documentary while working for WCFC-TV38 Chicago. Cornerstone is a Christian Rock music festival connected with Jesus People USA. We recorded this at the Lake County Fair Grounds in Grays Lake, Illinois. Interviews include event coordinator Henry Huang, rockers Charlie Peacock, Margaret Becker, Glen Kaiser (REZ Band), Ken Tamplin (Shout), Mylon LeFevre and the late Larry Norman.

Tim Frakes, Writer/Producer
Debra Revitzer, Marcella Raymond, Field Producers
Wade Bobbitt, Clark Gray, Tommie Skinner, Minicam
John Haney, Post Production Editor
Kevin San Hamel, Narrator
Ray Hibbs, David Franklin, Engineers
Cynthia J. Oney, Graphics

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Honoring MLK, KKK Cross Sculpture at Chicago Temple

timfrakes — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:00:18 +0000

If you are in Chicago’s Loop, stop by the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple and check out a sculpture based upon a cross that was burned on the lawn of Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi in the autumn of 1963. The students were being encouraged by Ed King, the campus minister to go into the city and to try and desegregate the churches on Sunday morning.

That not only led to the arrests of the students, but also led to the KKK burning a cross on the college lawn. Ed King kept the cross and gave it to the United Methodist Church who were in the process of trying to desegregate the denomination nationally. So, this cross became the symbol for the desegregation of the United Methodist Church in the 1960’s.

Eventually, the cross was taken to Pittsburgh at the general conference and walked around the conference hall. It became a rallying point. Later, the cross was given to Gerald Forshe, a pastor in Chicago, who brought home. He took it to Jack Kearney who was a very well regarded sculptor in town.

Kearney took that charred wooden cross, encased it in a kind of skin of metal, so that it wouldnt disintegrate. On it, he placed the obviously African American, distressed, truncated Christ. And so Jerry has had this sculpture for over 40 years in his own possession.

But when Jerry was very ill last spring he wanted to make sure that First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple received it and put on public display. The cross is a gift to the church that we can make available to people who visit and want to know the story. This cross not only referrers back to 1963, but it, holds a great deal of power for us today.

This summer, First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple had a guest who came to worship. He was a retired university administrator from Mississippi. He saw the figure on the cross and immediately said, “That is James Chaney.” James Chaney was one of the three young men who were murdered as they tried to register voters in Mississippi in 1963. Chaney was the only African American among the three. And so at least for that person, he saw in this figure, that historical moment.

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Havana Cuba

timfrakes — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:14:03 +0000

Recorded these shots while in Havana, Cuba, March, 2011.

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Blessing of the Animals

timfrakes — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 16:48:35 +0000

Every year Bethany Lutheran Church in Cherry Hills, Colorado offers a “Blessing of the Animals” event held in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.

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Brookfield Zoo, Holiday Magic

timfrakes — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:08:40 +0000

Each December, the Brookfield Zoo, Brookfield, Illinois hosts Holiday Magic, a festival of lights, ice and animals.

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