Last modified: Monday, September 24, 2007
Filmmaker Julie Dash to visit IU Bloomington Oct. 3-4
Screening of "The Rosa Parks Story" part of her visit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 24, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Acclaimed African American filmmaker Julie Dash will visit Indiana University Bloomington on Oct. 3-4. She will give a public lecture and also speak at a screening of her award-winning biography of Civil Rights heroine Rosa Parks.
Dash will speak on the theme, "My Narrative: Experiences of a Filmmaker," about the influences on her career, work and life. Her address will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 3 in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, 275 N. Jordan Ave.
Her film, "The Rosa Parks Story," will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave. It was written and produced in 2002 by Dash and stars Angela Bassett. Bassett received a 2002 Emmy nomination for best actress in a miniseries or a movie and won a NAACP Image award for her poignant portrayal of Parks. Dash also received an Emmy directorial nomination and became the first African American woman nominated in the category of Primetime Movies Made for Television at The Directors Guild of America.
Julie Dash
Both events are free and open to the public and are part of a month-long celebration of archives and special collections on the Bloomington campus. Hosted by the IUB Libraries with the support of many campus units, this year's activities highlight the importance of films and film-related collections to teaching and research. "Reel Images: Film in Teaching and Research" runs through October and features panels, speakers and film screenings.
Dash also will speak to students in IU's Hutton Honors Colleges, Wells Scholars Program and in several classes.
An accomplished filmmaker, writer and director, Dash is perhaps best known for her first feature-length film "Daughters of the Dust." The film portrays the lives and culture of a family of African slave descendents, living on the Sea Islands off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina, at the turn of the 20th century.
"Daughters of the Dust" won best cinematography at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival and was the first full-length film by an African American woman to have a national theatrical release. In 2004, the film was placed in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress to be honored and preserved as a national treasure.
Dash grew up in a housing project in Long Island City, New York. She earned a Master of Fine Arts in film and television production at the University of California at Los Angeles, a bachelor's degree in film production from City College of New York and was also a fellow at the American Film Institute's Center for Advanced Film Studies. She is the author of two books.
Her other films include "Love Song," "Incognito" and "Funny Valentines." She wrote and directed an episode of HBO's "Subway Stories" for producers Jonathan Demme and Rosie Perez.
Phone interviews for the media with Dash are available on Tuesday. To request an interview with her, please contact George Vlahakis at 812-855-0846 or gvlahaki@indiana.edu.
