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MEDIA CONTACT: Frederick Douglass Institute (585) 275-7235 or Sharon Dickman 585.275.4128
March 30, 2004
TIME, DATE, AND PLACE: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 14, in Hoyt Hall on the University of Rochester’s River Campus
ADMISSION: Free and open to the public
Independent filmmaker Yvonne Welbon will introduce her documentary, Sisters in Cinema (2003), and answer questions after its screening at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 14, in Hoyt Hall on the University of Rochester’s River Campus.
Welbon’s film offers an overview of the lives and work of African-American women who made contributions as feature film directors from the early part of the 20th century until today. Welbon began the project after realizing she knew of only one African-American woman director when she began film school in 1991.
She has created more than a dozen award-winning works that have been screened on public television, cable, and in film festivals around the world. Welbon received a bachelor’s degree in history from Vassar College, a master of fine arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a doctoral degree in radio, television, and film from Northwestern University. Sisters in Cinema was developed from a book based on her Ph.D. dissertation.
One of her films, Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100 (1999), has won 10 best-documentary awards. Ellis was a businesswoman, artist, and community activist whose Detroit home became a meeting place for African-American lesbians and gays who were discriminated against in bars before the civil rights movement.
The screening is free and sponsored by the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies and the Film and Media Studies Program at the University of Rochester. For more information, contact (585) 275-7235.
The University of Rochester (www.rochester.edu) is one of the nation's leading private universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and the Memorial Art Gallery.
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