Break-Out Box

How to do Good Reporting in the Era of Globalization

When: Friday, September 21, 2:00-3:30 pm
Where: Ford Classroom, Media Center, Swem Library

This informal workshop will focus on issues of journalistic story
telling in multiple media: How to find a story and get the scenes needed
to tell the story well across “platforms.” How to “sell” that story so a
national show will run it. And, crucially, how to confront the ethical,
logistical, cultural and other challenges in telling the story well,
especially a story from outside the United States.

/Free and Open to All Comers!/
/Bring Your Questions & Ideas!/

Mary Stucky has been a TV, radio, and web journalist for more than
fifteen years. She a co-founders of Round Earth Productions, which
writes and produces stories that explain how the policies and actions of
the developed world change the lives of people around the globe. Mary
and Round Earth aim for vivid, personal stories that will help listeners
in America make informed decisions about globally important issues.
Currently Round Earth’s stories focus on Latin America and are broadcast
on public radio’s national news and cultural programs. In addition,
Round Earth reporting is carried on the websites of 70 commercial
television stations across the country and on the World Vision Report,
which airs on 300 mostly Christian radio stations nationwide.

In addition to her work with Round Earth Productions, Mary has reported
on Chinese and Mmong immigrants as part of the public radio documentary
“Crossing East,” which won a 2006 Peabody Award, broadcasting’s highest
honor. Mary has covered social and cultural issues, foreign affairs,
public policy and the environment in South America, Mexico, Cuba, Europe
and Canada. For 13 years, Mary was a reporter/anchor for the NBC-TV
affiliate in Minneapolis. Mary’s reporting awards include the New York
Festival’s Gold World Medal.

For other screenings of the film studies and media center, visit our calendar at http://swem.wm.edu/services/media/calendar.cfm

Sept 6 Thu, 5 pm., Ford Screening Room at Swem Library Media Center
Who Will Sing a Lullaby …(29 min., dir. Nina Rudik, Ukraine 2006)

Masha’s father and Katya’s grandfather are on paternity leave. They are among the few men from Kiev who dared to use their right to take paternal leave. Challenging their traditional role as breadwinners, overcoming social stigma, and encouraging their wives to realize themselves outside of the home, Masha’s father and Katya’s grandfather do not think of themselves as heroes and dependants.

Sept 20 Thu, 5 pm., Ford Screening Room at Swem Library Media Center
There are Women in Russian Villages (Dir. Pavel Kostomarov and Antoin Kattin, Russia 2006)

In this film, two women, a mother and a her daughter, demonstrate that poverty in Russia is increasingly a women’s phenomenon. Liuba and Alesya are milkmaids at a state farm—a profession that is underpaid and perceived as too strenuous for most people. But Liuba and Alesya, who are raising children and fleeting domestic violence, have little choice.

Sept 25 Tue, 5 pm., Ford Screening Room at Swem Library Media Center
Kristina and Christ (Dir. Inesa Kurklietyte, Lithuania 2006)

In Lithuania, women occupy a lower position than men in the Lutheran Church hierarchy. Kristina, a graduate of Oxford University, is not ordained to become a priest because she is a woman. As an assistant pastor, she could act as a lay person only. Committed to theology and educating others, she has focused on encouraging women and girls in her community to seek equal rights for women and men in the Church and society at large.

Films are introduced by Elena and Alexander Prokhorov

Swem and  Film Studies has teamed up to bring some fine international films to campus. These are first-run films, not likely to ever make it to theaters here in Williamsburg. These films will be screened at the Kimball (in the screening room). Admission will be $1 dollar with W&M ID. More info is available here.  Also, don’t forget to keep tabs on Film Studies events here.

SCREENING

Friday, March 30, 2007
7:00 pm
Tucker Hall 120
This Event is Free and Open to the Public

WORKSHOP

Saturday, March 31, 2007
10:30 AM - NOON
Ford Classroom, Swem Library Media Center

Award-winning filmmaker and journalist David Taylor has long been fascinated by the U.S. Presidency in the 20th century. In this special program, he will present and discuss excerpts from his most recent film Nixon: A Presidency Revealed (first aired on the History Channel, February 2007) as well as his works on Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, and Reagan.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear an accomplished documentarian examine the challenging process of crafting responsible, meaningful, and entertaining films about the history of some of modern America’s best-known leaders.

David Taylor has produced over 100 films and programs for the BBC, Channel 4, PBS, The History Channel, A&E, and TLC. His films have been nominated for numerous Emmy Awards and have won four New York Film Festival Awards, among many others. He is currently a Senior Producer for Team Productions in Washington, D.C. A native of England, Taylor is a graduate of the College of William & Mary, class of ’76, where he studied Government and majored in History.

The Flat Hat and the William and Mary News have published their coverage of our long weekend of short filmmaking. Read more at:

The Flat Hat: Long night, long weekend, short films

William & Mary News: Weekend of Filmmaking at 24 Speed

The FilmMakers Society at the University of Virginia is now accepting submissions to the Salmagundi Film Festival. Held each spring, the festival was founded on the spirit of celebrating student filmmaking through the exhibition of their films. Today it continues to promote a diverse community of student filmmakers, emphasizing the creativity and perseverance required for Virginia students to learn about film. The primary goal of the festival is to enlighten and educate audiences on the unique and creative community of Virginia’s student filmmakers. The festival showcases exceptional student films and additionally awards prizes to the best of our official selections.
Salmagundi is open to all undergraduate students who attend a college or university in the state of Virginia. The festival runs over a two day period with screenings of various long films as well as a shorts program. The shorts program is comprised of films running no longer than 10 minutes submitted by students across the state of Virginia. Prizes will be awarded for the shorts program only. There will also be a festival party on the last night. Details of the specifics to the extra events will be sent closer to the event date. [ 2007 salmagundi film festival ]

The LCST/Film Studies series on “My Life in the Culture Industry” series resume this Friday (March 2nd) at 2.30 in the Ford Classroom in SWEM. Elissa Cohn, a film graduate from 2005, will talk to us about (and hopefully show us examples from) her work on a number of features films since she graduated, beginning as a PA, then as a script supervisor. She’s worked pretty well constantly since she left here, on projects in Florida, Pennsylvania, California and now the Southwest (she’s talking a red-eye from Phoenix to be here on Friday), and has some very useful advice on how you do that–and also, how it can help you to work towards making your own films, if that’s the ultimate goal.

24 Speed has officially been launched for its third year and is accepting registrations. The contest begins on February 22, where teams of filmmakers will be asked to conceive, shoot, edit and prepare for public screening a short film.

This semester we’re pleased to have Paul Harrill, self-reliant filmmaker extraordinaire, to judge the films and hang out with us.

To enter, you must register by February 16. For more information and to see the archives from the first two years, visit the 24 Speed web site.

5 students who work in the Media Center created and submitted a film for Apple’s Insomnia Film Festival. Check it out and vote for it!.