Independent documentary filmmaker Louis Massiah screens film at Duke Law on Jan.24
On Friday, Jan. 24, at 6 p.m. in Room 3043, independent documentary filmmaker Louis Massiah will screen his film, Power!, a one-hour segment from the award-winning PBS "Eyes on the Prize II" series. The screening will be followed by a question and answer period, then by a reception on the 3rd floor loggia. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served.
This program, which is open to all members of the law school community, is sponsored by the Public Interest Book and Film Club, the Black Law Students Association, the Public Interest Law Forum, the Duke Bar Association and the Hispanic Law Students Association.
Massiah produced two segments for the "Eyes on the Prize II" series and has directed many documentaries, including "Trash" (1985), "The Bombing of Osage Avenue" (1986), "Cecil B. Moore" (1987), and "W.E.B. Du Bois - a Biography in Four Voices." He is also the founder and director of the Scribe Video Center, where members of community organizations and emerging video-makers are trained to address social issues through the creative use of video.
Massiah received a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a master's degree from M.I.T. His films have been shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Berlin Film Festival, the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, and FESPACO in Burkina Faso. His works have won many honors, including the Dupont-Columbia Award, the George Foster Peabody Award, Prized Pieces - Best Documentary, and the CPB Award. In 1996, Massiah was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his film work. In 2002, he became an Artist-in-Residence at the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
In Power!, Massiah explores the dynamic nature of the black power movement as it revealed itself in major cities across the U.S. For example, in Cleveland, the use of the ballot box lifted Carl Stokes to the office of mayor; in Oakland, the Black Panther Party, armed with law books, breakfast programs and guns, was born; and in Brooklyn, substandard teaching practices prompted parents to gain educational control of a Brooklyn school district, which led them to a showdown with New York City's teacher's union.