2005 Institute News

December 2005

Negroes with Guns to Premiere on Independent Lens

Negroes with Guns will premiere on Independent Lens on PBS on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 at 10 p.m. Check www.pbs.org/independentlens for local viewing times.

November 2005

Successful Premiere for 24/7

24/7 recently made its film festival debut at the Reno Film Festival and captured the award for Best Documentary. The film, produced by 2005 graduates Mary Fallon and Daniel Priest, competed against more than 30 entries in the documentary category.

October 2005

Institute Featured in communigator

The Documentary Institute and our latest production, Angel of Ahlem, were featured in the Fall 2005 issue of communigator, the College’s alumni magazine.

DVDs Now Available

Negroes with Guns is now available on DVD from California Newsreel.

Freedom Never Dies is now being distributed through Documentary Educational Resources.
Dirty Work

Behind the Scenes of Dirty Work

University of Florida graduate Tim Nackashi recently spoke with Institute students and faculty about the production process behind his first documentary film Dirty Work. The film, which he co-produced with David Sampliner, was recently picked up by the Sundance Channel. In addition to sharing anecdotes about the production, Nackashi also discussed his experience in marketing the film at Sundance.

Festival Update

Key West Cock Tales is a finalist in the Angelus Awards Student Film Festival. The film, produced by 2005 graduates Christa Carnell, Michelle Phillips and Craig Roberts, explores the island’s somewhat comical struggle to keep its chicken population in check. The festival winner will be announced later this month in Hollywood, California.

Miss Lil’s Camp, produced by 2004 graduates Suzanne Niedland and Anberin Pasha, took home a Special Jury Prize at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival for Best Student Documentary. The film also recently screened at GirlFest in Hawaii and at the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival in California.

Buried in the Backyard, produced by 2004 graduates Monica Bigler and Sarah Prior, was recently purchased for broadcast by LinkTV, a cable channel that strives to offer a “global perspective on news, current events and culture.” In addition, the documentary recently screened at DocNZ—International Film Festival New Zealand and the Chicago Underground Film Festival.

Ocoee: Legacy of the Election Day Massacre, produced by 2002 graduates Sandra Krasa and Bianca White, recently screened at the 3rd Annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival.

August 2005

Smithsonian to screen Negroes with Guns

As part of its ongoing series on Civil Rights history, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will host an exclusive preview of Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power on September 15. The program, presented by the Museum’s Program in African American Culture, also includes a discussion with the filmmakers and a reception hosted by the College of Journalism and Communications.

Good News for Key West Cock Tales

Key West Cock Tales, has made it into the semi-final round of the Angelus Awards Student Film Festival. The film, produced by 2005 graduates Christa Carnell, Michelle Phillips and Craig Roberts, explores the island’s somewhat comical struggle to keep its chicken population in check.

This is the fourth consecutive year an Institute production has made it into the semi-final round of the festival. The festival will take place in Hollywood, California in October.

July 2005

Miss Lil’s Camp Captures a Golden Eagle

Miss Lil’s Camp, produced by Anberin Pasha and Suzanne Niedland, was recently named a Golden Eagle Award Recipient in the Student Division of the CINE Competition.

Founded in 1957, CINE is renowned for the Golden Eagles it award for excellence in documentary and other informational film and video production.

Miss Lil’s Camp has also been invited to screen at the Girl Fest Film Festival in Hawaii.

May 2005

Buried in the Backyard recently screened at the San Francisco Film Festival. The documentary, produced by 2004 graduates Sarah Prior and Monica Bigler, was also featured at the Lower Westside Film Festival in New York and the Sehsuechte International Film Festival in Berlin-Potsdam, Germany.

April 2005

The Documentary Institute screened six films this year in its 6th Annual Student Documentary Screening. The yearly event showcases the work of the Institute’s graduating class. You can find a brief description of the featured student films on the Student Productions Page.

March 2005

More Festival News

Buried in the Backyard, produced by Sarah Prior and Monica Bigler, is the winner of the Director’s Circle Award at the Black Maria Film Festival. The Black Maria Festival is an international juried competition and award tour which features works from independent film and videomakers. Buried in the Backyard will also screen at the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Wisconsin Film Festival and New York Underground.

Miss Lil’s Camp took home second place honors in the documentary short category at the Hearts and Minds Festival in Wilmington, Delaware. The festival’s mission is to provide a venue for films promoting social awareness. The documentary will also be appearing at the East Lansing Film Festival, the Ashland Independent Film Festival, UNIFEM Women’s International Film Festival and the Artivist Film Festival.

February 2005

Subject of Institute Documentary Featured in The New York Times

Vernon Tott, the subject of the Institute’s upcoming documentary Angel of Ahlem was featured in a recent article in The New York Times. The article, “Reliving the Holocaust in a Soldier’s Snapshots,” (free registration required to view) focuses on Vernon’s most recent meeting with two Holocaust survivors and his continuing efforts, despite his failing health, to locate the survivors who appear in the photos he took more than 60 years ago when liberating the Ahlem slave labor camp in Hanover, Germany.

January 2005

Distribution Deal for Negroes with Guns

Home and educational distribution rights for Negroes with Guns have been sold to California Newsreel. Considered a leading resource center for African-American feature films and documentaries, California Newsreel prides itself on bringing “cutting edge social interest documentaries to universities, high schools and public libraries.”

Negroes with Guns Screening at MLK Historic Site

Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power will screen as part of the D.R.E.A.M. Film Series hosted by the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia. The series is being hosted in conjunction with Independent Media Artists of Georgia, Etc. (IMAGE).

The screening will take place on March 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site Screening Room. A question and answer session featuring Rob’s wife Mabel Williams will follow the screening.

Big News from Big Sky

The Big Sky Film Festival will feature two Documentary Institute productions. Negroes with Guns is an official selection in the Documentary Feature Competition and Buried in the Backyard, produced by 2004 graduates Monica Bigler and Sarah Prior, is an official selection in the Documentary Short Competition. The festival will be held in Missoula, Montana February 17-23.

Hometown Screening in India

Miss Lil’s Camp has been invited to screen in Bangalore, India—the hometown of co-producer Anberin Pasha. The documentary will screen as part of “U.S. Docu FilmFest,” a festival showcasing documentaries produced by filmmakers based in the United States.