UH Screenings Feature African-American Filmmakers

Four African-American filmmakers, including UH research professor and artist Carroll Parrott Blue, will share their experiences with their craft during special screenings of their works.

Co-sponsored by the Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP), Creative Methods in Film is planned for 6 - 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, July 10 and 11, in the auditorium of the UH Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture. The event is free and open to the public. Parking is $3 on Friday and free on Saturday.

The Academy Foundation, Texas Learning and Computation Center, Southwest Alternate Media Project and The Dawn Project are event co-sponsors.

"This series is a rare opportunity for the general public to engage with African-American filmmakers who have worked in a variety of formats," Blue said.She also is director of The Dawn Project, a collaborative community effort to document the history of Houston's Third Ward through people's stories.

Blue is an award-winning filmmaker, author and interactive multimedia producer. Her project, "The Dawn at My Back: Memoir of a Black Texas Upbringing," is a combination book, DVD-ROM and Web site. It won the 2004 Sundance Online Film Festival Jury Award. She will screen her newest interactive, multimedia documentary, "Third Ward Community Stories."

Filmmakers Samuel Pollard, Judy Richardson and John Simmons also will screen their films.

Pollard's professional accomplishments as a feature film and television video editor and documentary producer/director span more than 30 years. He has edited a number of Spike Lee's films, including "Mo' Better Blues," "Jungle Fever," "Girl 6," "Clockers" and "Bamboozled," and is the supervising editor on the upcoming HBO documentary, "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama." He will screen the second act of "When the Levees Broke."

Richardson is a senior producer with Northern Light Productions, where she produces African-American historical documentaries for television and museums. Recent productions include the History Channel film, "Slave Catchers, Slave Resisters." Before her official premiere at the NAACP's 100 anniversary and national convention, she will screen her newest film, "The Orangeburg Massacre."

Simmons began his career in filmmaking in 1973. Currently, he is working on a weekly program featuring the Jonas Brothers for The Disney Channel. He will screen his first feature film, "Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored."

For more information, visit http://www.swamp.org/exhibition.html.

WHAT: Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP) Special Screening Series: Creative Methods in Film&

WHEN:  6 - 9 p.m., Friday, July 10 (Sam Pollard, Judy Richardson)

            6 - 9 p.m., Saturday, July11 (Carroll Parrott Blue, John Simmons)

WHERE: UH Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, Auditorium, first floor

For directions and parking information, visit http://www.uh.edu/campus_map/buildings/ARC.php