Celebrate the Mixed Experience by viewing these amazing feature films during the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival. You’ll come away inspired, moved, and challenged by these truly remarkable films and extraordinary real-life stories.
Showing: Friday, June 15, 2012
Time: 7:00PM
Location: National Center for the Preservation of Democracy – Democracy Forum
Oscar-shortlist selection THE LOVING STORY, the debut feature by Full Frame documentary festival founder Nancy Buirski, is the definitive account of Loving v. Virginia, the landmark 1967 Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriage.
This evocative documentary, which incorporates luminous, newly discovered 16mm footage of the Lovings and their young Jewish lawyers as well as first-person testimony and rare documentary photographs by LIFE magazine photographer Grey Villet, recounts the little-known story of the Loving family. The marriage of Mildred (who was part-black and part-Native American) and Richard (who was white) was declared illegal in 1958 by their home state of Virginia. They refused to leave one another and, with the help of the ACLU, relentlessly pursued their right to happiness.
Their case made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court where it finally struck down laws against interracial marriage in this country, striking them down once and for all. THE LOVING STORY takes us behind the scenes of the legal challenges and the emotional turmoil of the legal victory, documenting a seminal moment in history and reflecting a timely message of marriage equality in a personal, human love story.
“What astonishes in Buirski’s docu is not just the quantity and quality of the black-and-white 16mm footage, but its unpressured candor, particularly in the harsh light of current media feeding frenzies. The Lovings’ unprepossessing affection, evident in every frame of their homemovies, forms a perfect intimate counterpoint to the historical upheaval and ultimate rendering of justice.” —Ronnie Scheib, Variety
“THE LOVING STORY is a dignified treatment of one of the most important legal fights in American jurisprudence.” —Michael E. Grass, Washington City Paper
“You’ll cheer at verité footage of the young and menschy ACLU lawyers Bernard Cohen and Philip Hirschkop, barely out of law school long enough to be admitted to argue before the Supreme Court. You’ll chuckle at their older selves recalling their first impression of taciturn Richard Loving as a redneck. (He kinda was.) You’ll find yourself wondering in amazement again and again at Mildred’s quiet country manners and her determination to make things better for her family and for other families like hers.” —Amy Monaghan, The Awl
– Official Selection, 2011 Tribeca Film Festival
– Winner, WGA Screenplay Award, 2011 Silverdocs Documentary Festival
– Centerpiece, 2011 Full Frame Documentary FIlm Festival
– Official Selection, 2011 Heartland Film Festival
– Official Selection, 2011 Saint Louis International Film Festival
– Official Selection, 2011 Virginia Film Festival
– Official Selection, 2011 Traverse City Film Festival
A Film by Jesse Freeman
Showing: Sunday, June 17, 2012
Time: 11:00AM – 12:15
Location: National Center for the Preservation of Democracy – Democracy Forum
As a mixed-race man growing up in the Jim Crow South, Raymond Andrews lived in a precarious racial position. Though identified by his home community of Plainview, Ga., as an African-American, Andrews’ skin was lighter than many of the white men he picked cotton for. Upon leaving for Atlanta in the 1950s, Andrews experienced prejudice from both sides of Atlanta’s racial divide, and often chose to walk long distances rather than find an appropriate seat on the bus. Later in life, Andrews’ best novels would deal squarely with mixed-race issues, especially his prize-winning novel, Appalachee Red, about a mixed-race man who returns to the South.
Filmmaker, Jesse Freeman, is an MFA candidate in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Maryland. Before returning to school he produced and directed commercial video projects in Atlanta, Ga. While living in Atlanta he also co-hosted the Georgia Public Radio talk show, Cover to Cover. He also contributed book reviews and feature articles to various print publications around Northeast Georgia.
Showing: Sunday, June 17, 2012
Time: 3:15PM
Location: National Center for the Preservation of Democracy – Democracy Forum
Olga does not see color or creed of her foster children of whom 16 are bi-racial, results of amorous relationships between local Ukrainian girls and African students. As a single mother, Olga fights tooth and nail to keep her family together and to give it strength and support with sometimes overbearing control. Olga’s limits are tested daily and her unwavering resolve becomes a refuge for some children and prison for others.
“When the kids grow up, at least they will have a mother to blame for all the failures that will happen in their lives”. In many ways, Olga’s words sum up the immense value of living with a Mother, ideal or not, biological or adoptive, versus being raised in the best orphanage where a child calls every caregiver “a mom” and might have twenty moms without knowing what a MOTHER is.
– 32nd GENIE AWARDS (Canada) (aka Canadian Oscars)
– “NOMINEE: Best Feature Documentary”
– 18th HOT DOCS FILM FESTIVAL (Canada)
– “Grand Prize: Best Canadian Film Award”
– 56TH VALLADOLID INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Spain)
– “Cultural Diversity Award” and “Time of History Third Prize
– 56TH VALLADOLID INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Spain)
– “Cultural Diversity Award” and “Time of History Third Prize”
– 6TH MIRADASDOC –DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
– GUIA DE ISADORA (SPAIN) “Audience Award”
SCREENINGS:
– SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL (USA)
– “PREMIERE -World Documentary Competition”
– IDFA – INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL AMSTERDAM (Netherlands)
– “BEST OF FESTS SHOWCASE”
– LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL (USA) “INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE”
– AFRICA WORLD DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL (CAMEROON, NIGERIA, USA, BARBADOS, UK)
