National

On October 24^th, the VTIFF hosted A Tribute to George Stoney: How Film Can Change Lives at the Film House at Main Street Landing in Burlington, Vermont from 1 – 5 p.m. The Tribute featured a panel of social documentary leaders who worked with George Stoney and consider their work to be a continuation of his legacy. The afternoon includes extensive excerpts from his films, too rarely seen by today’s audiences. The discussion was followed by a screening of Stoney’s highly regarded The Uprising of ‘34– a “startling film” about a massive but little known strike by hundreds of thousands of cotton mill workers who challenged a long-standing system of mill owner control during the Great Depression.  

Moderated by Greg Epler-Wood (longtime public access advocate), the panelists include Professor Larry Kirkman (Professor in Film and Media Arts and former Dean of the School of Communication at American University), David Bagnall (film maker, Professor of Film/ NYU) documentarian), Judith Helfland (film maker, teacher, activist, collaborator on “The Uprising of ‘34”0 and Lauren-Glenn Davitian (executive director of CCTV and co-founder of community media in Vermont).

The panel featured excerpts from All My Babies (1953) – used to educate midwives in the Southern United States, now on the National Film Registry, VTR St. Jacques (1969) – an experiment in video recordings an closed circuit television to stimulate social action in a poor Montreal neighborhood, You are on Indian Land (1969) – showing the confrontation between police and Mohawks on the St. Regis Reserve, Interview with George Stoney and The Uprising of ’34 (1995) –uncovering the little known strike by Southern cotton mill workers during the Great Depression.

A Tribute to George Stoney: How Film Can Change Lives is of interest to social activists, community developers, media makers and students of social change. All are welcome. Admission is free.