For Immediate Release
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Contact: Beth Spezia, WSIU Educational Outreach Coordinator, (618) 453-5595, beth.spezia@wsiu.org; Donna Hardwick, Independent Television Service (ITVS), (415) 356-8383; donna.hardwick@itvs.org
WSIU, Carbondale Public Library to Host Free Screening of Oscar-Nominated Film “I Am Not Your Negro"; Event Scheduled for Sunday, November 19, 2:30pm at the Library
Carbondale, Ill. – WSIU Public Broadcasting, a public media service of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, the Carbondale Public Library, the Independent Television Service (ITVS), and the PBS series Independent Lens will present an Indie Lens Pop-Up screening and discussion of the Oscar-Nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro.
The event will be held on Sunday, November 19 at 2:30pm at the Carbondale Public Library, 405 West Main in Carbondale. A moderated discussion will follow the film screening.
In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, to be called Remember This House. The book was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and successive assassinations of three of his close friends – Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. But at the time of Baldwin’s death in 1987, he left behind only 30 completed pages of his manuscript. I Am Not Your Negro envisions the book Baldwin never finished. This radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America uses Baldwin’s original words, spoken by Samuel L. Jackson, and a flood of rich archival material.
The program also will air on WSIU Public Television on Monday, January 15 at 8pm.
Two additional Indie Lens Pop-Up film screenings will be held at Carbondale Public Library next spring: Tell Them We Are Rising on Sunday, February 11, and Dolores on Sunday, March 25, both at 2:30pm.
Watch for updates from WSIU on the air, online, and in WSIU’s monthly program guide, Previews, or contact WSIU Outreach Coordinator, Beth Spezia, at (618) 453-5595, beth.spezia@wsiu.org.
Questions about Indie Lens Pop-Up screenings at the Carbondale Public Library should be directed to (618) 457-0345. Learn more about the community engagement series on WSIU’s local Indie Lens Pop-Up webpage at http://www.wsiu.org/indielenspopup.
About WSIU Public Broadcasting
WSIU Public Broadcasting is licensed to the Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University and is an integral part of the College of Mass Communication & Media Arts on the Carbondale campus. The WSIU stations reach more than three million people across five states and beyond through three digital public television channels, three public radio stations, a radio information service, a website, and an education and community outreach department.
WSIU's mission is to improve the quality of life of the people they serve. The WSIU stations partner with other community organizations to promote positive change and to support the academic and public service missions of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Learn more and get the latest station news online at wsiu.org and on WSIU's Facebook and Twitter pages.
WSIU's programs and services are partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
About the Carbondale Public Library
The Carbondale Public Library provides resources and services to support the educational, informational, cultural, and recreational needs of the Carbondale community. The library provides free services to all residents living within the city boundaries and is part of the Shawnee Library System.
About the Filmmaker
Raoul Peck’s (Director/Producer/Writer) complex body of work includes feature narrative films like The Man by the Shore (Competition Cannes 1993), Lumumba (Director’s Fortnight, Cannes 2000, bought and aired by HBO), Sometimes in April (HBO, Berlinale 2005), Moloch Tropical (Toronto 2009, Berlin 2010) and Murder in Pacot (Toronto 2014, Berlin 2015).
His documentaries include Lumumba, Death of a Prophet (1990), Desounen (1994, BBC) and Fatal Assistance (Berlinale, Hot Docs 2013), which was supported by the Sundance Institute and Britdoc Foundation (UK) and broadcast on major TV channels (Canal+, ARTE, etc.)
He has served as jury member at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and at the Berlinale, is presently chairman of the board of the national French film school La Fémis, and has been the subject of numerous retrospectives worldwide. In 2001, the Human Rights Watch organization awarded him the Irene Diamond Lifetime Achievement Award. He recently completed his latest feature film, The Young Karl Marx, a European co-production, shot in Germany and Belgium (produced by Velvet Film, in coproduction with Agat Films) that will be released in the U.S. in the coming months.
About Indie Lens Pop-Up
Indie Lens Pop-Up is a neighborhood series that brings people together for film screenings and community-driven conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on the PBS series Independent Lens, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws local residents, leaders, and organizations to discuss what matters most, from newsworthy topics to family and relationships. Make friends, share stories, and join the conversation. Can't attend in person? Find Independent Lens on Facebook for information on our online Pop-Up events.
About Independent Lens
Independent Lens is an Emmy® Award-winning weekly series airing on PBS on select Monday nights at 9pm CST. The acclaimed series features documentaries united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement, and unflinching visions of independent filmmakers. Presented by Independent Television Service, the series is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, with additional funding from PBS and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. For more visit pbs.org/independentlens. Join the conversation at facebook.com/independentlens and on Twitter @IndependentLens.
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