7th Annual Gala Evening
The Coolidge Corner Theater
Monday, February 27, 2006
Tonight’s Filmic Selection
The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang-Bang Club
2005 Student Academy Award Winner
Director: Dan Krauss
Running Time: 27min.
Originally Titled: “The Life of Kevin Carter”
Official Film Website: http://www.kevincarter.com
Film Synopsis: Photographer, Kevin Carter, along with four friends called themselves The Bang-Band Club. As Photojournalists, they captured the horrors of the world, including groundbreaking work about apartheid in their native South Africa. The same images that he captured with his camera were haunting him through his nightmares, reliving those disturbing moments. On an assignment to the Sudan he photographs a starving young girl about to die alone. In the background is a vulture stalking the innocent child waiting for his opportunity. When Carter receives the prominent Pulitzer Prize, and earning the New York Times it’s first Pulitzer for photography in 1994. What started as a time of celebration ended in tragedy for the young photojournalist as the media asked the question: why didn’t you save her? The pressure, and guilt was mounting and it ended with Carter committing suicide at a nearby park.
Dan Krauss is a San Francisco based filmmaker who worked as a professional photojournalist for nearly a decade, shooting assignments throughout the United States, Africa, and the Middle East. Krauss is a graduate UC Berkley’s Graduate School of Journalism it’s the only student Academy Award nominee to ever be nominated for a regular Oscar nod category.
Final Cinematic Thought: ‘Tragic, and haunting. One of those short subject documentary films that deserves your attention’ Daniel Berman, Newton Magazine
God Sleeps In Rwanda
Directors: Kimberlee Acquaro, & Stacy Sherman
Narrated By: Rosario Dawson
Running Time: 30min.
Official Film Website: http://www.godsleepsinrwanda.com
Film Synopsis: The genocide that devastated Rwanda in 1994 also left in it a population that was suddenly 70% female. This presented Rwanda’s women with an extraordinary burden and an unprecedented opportunity. In retrospective to the Academy Award nominee Hotel Rwanda this filmic triumph reminds you of another brilliant piece of filmmaking. God Sleeps In Rwanda traces the lives of courageous women as they struggle to rebuild their lives and bring hope to their community.
Kimberlee Acquaro is a photojournalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Time, and Mother Jones and many international publications. She was awarded a Pew Fellowship in International Journalism for her work documenting Rwandan women’s emerging rights.
Stacy Sherman is a screenwriter and filmmaker who previously worked on, waitress, a documentary short film.
Final Cinematic Thought: ‘God Sleeps In Rwanda’ is a strong reminder of the chaos, bloodshed, and the struggle to overcome the devastation of war.’
Daniel Berman, Newton Magazine
