Join us for an important discussion about documentaries and democracy. We'll meet on Tuesday, February 11th, from 4pm to 6pm, in the Library (Room 1-470).
From Kartemquin Films, Gordon Quinn and Rachel Dickson will talk about the role of documentary films in a democracy. With clips from The New Americans, a 7-hour series on immigration, and 63 Boycott, about youth activists, they will look particularly at the strategies to address media literacy in documentary storytelling. They will examine how stories can challenge stereotypes and increase audience empathy for people who have different histories from themselves.
The New Americans
The New Americans follows four years in the lives of a diverse group of contemporary immigrants and refugees as they journey to start new lives in America. We follow an Indian couple to Silicon Valley through the dot-com boom and bust. A Mexican meatpacker struggles to reunite his family in rural Kansas. Two families of Nigerian refugees (including the sister of slain Ogoni activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa) escape government persecution. Two Los Angeles Dodgers prospects follow their big dreams of escaping the barrios of the Dominican Republic. A Palestinian woman who marries into a new life in Chicago, only to discover in the wake of September 11, she cannot leave behind the pain of her homeland's conflict.
’63 Boycott
In 1963, 250,000 students boycotted the Chicago Public Schools to protest racial segregation. '63 Boycott connects the forgotten story of one of the largest Northern civil rights demonstrations to contemporary issues around race, education, and youth activism.
Presenters’ bios:
Gordon Quinn
Artistic Director and founder of Kartemquin Films, Gordon’s documentaries include Home for Life, Taylor Chain, The Last Pullman Car, Golub, Hoop Dreams, Vietnam, Long Time Coming, Stevie and The New Americans. Recently he directed Prisoner of Her Past, A Good Man and 63'Boycott, shortlisted for the Oscar. He was EP on The Interrupters, The Trials of Muhammad Ali, The Homestretch, Life Itself , and America To Me and Oscar nominated Edith and Eddie, Abacus, and Minding The Gap. Gordon helped create the Documentary Filmmakers Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use and speaks on Public media, Fair Use, and documentary ethics.
Rachel Dickson
Rachel Dickson is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Chicago. Before working in film, she worked as a print and radio journalist in Latin America. She is currently the Supervising Producer of The School Project, a series of short documentaries and webisodes about public education. She is also a producer on ’63 Boycott, a Kartemquin production directed by Gordon Quinn.
