Docs in Progress and the Center for Media and Social Impact will come to campus today with their series event, Docs In The City. The event will be held in the Malsi Doyle and Michael Forman Theater on the second floor of McKinley and will include screenings of various films and discussions with the audience.
Docs in Progress, a non-profit documentary organization, has created this program thanks to increased funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Center for Media and Social Impact also hosts screenings open to the public.
“Our mission is to tell real stories by assisting current filmmakers, aspiring students and writers to connect with their audiences,” said Erica Ginsberg, executive director of Docs in Progress. “We help organize workshops to encourage people becoming part of the creative process and offer feedback.”
The first program offers a screening of filmmaker Stephanie Lucas’ work-in-progress documentary, “Unfinished Work,” followed by an audience feedback session with Lucas and moderator Michele Stephenson.
“Docs in Progress is a crucial and unique opportunity for people in the field to hone their skills and learn from each other,” Stephenson said. “A story, whatever the genre, if told powerfully, using the tools of character development with honesty while being true to ourselves as filmmakers can definitely move audiences.”
The second program is a screening of Joe Brewster’s and Michele Stephenson’s “American Promise,” an intimate documentary sharing the complicated truths about America’s struggle to come of age on issues of race, class and equal opportunities.
Stephenson explains that the vulnerable take on the lives of two black, American families has been able to touch countless lives since its release three years ago.
Many have described “American Promise” as a rorschach test, and Stephenson commented that the best stories leave their audiences to interpret the meaning in motivation of the characters they connect with on the screen.
“I have no control over how audiences will react to our stories,” Stephenson said. “But I am invested in telling a good story and pushing the boundaries of good creativity I have access to.”
Docs In Progress aims to host more Docs In The City events that are open to the public for viewing and discussion.
Ginsberg said the highlight of the event will be “to see good storytelling and the process of it.”
The promo code for AU Students to get a free ticket to the event is CPAU17 on the Docs In Progress Event Grid. Whether you’re a film fanatic, film student or filmmaker, Docs In The City invites you to participate in this engaging and interactive learning experience.
