freedom riders

Black Youth Vote! Screens Freedom Riders!

On April 5, 2012, a diverse group of youth and elders gathered for a screening of Freedom Riders at the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum in Washington, D.C.

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Interview with Director Laurens Grant on New Film "Jesse Owens"

JESSE OWENS is a Firelight Films production for the PBS series American Experience. It centers on the African American track and field star, Jesse Owens, who triumphed at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin amidst the rise of Nazi propaganda. This is the first feature-length documentary directed by Laurens Grant for PBS. The film is also produced and written by veteran filmmaker Stanley Nelson with whom Laurens has worked with on a number of projects, including Freedom Riders, which garnered three Emmy Awards. JESSE OWENS aired on PBS on May 1, 2012.

Laurens is also a participant in the Firelight Media Producers' Lab where she is working on another film Rokia: Voice of a New Generation. Check out our exciting interview with Laurens below.

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FREEDOM RIDERS WINS PEABODY AWARD!

The PBS series American Experience, television's longest-running and most-watched history series, was honored last week with a George Foster Peabody Award, widely considered the most prestigious award for electronic media. Freedom Riders was among the series' showcase films.

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FREEDOM RIDERS ON BILL MOYERS' LIST OF 10 DOCS ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE

Veteran journalist Bill Moyers listed Freedom Riders as one of his 10 picks for documentaries about champions of social justice. He wrote: "The 10 powerful films below are...certainly proof enough that social change is possible, even under the most challenging conditions." Check out the list here.

Firelight Spring 2012 Calendar

Upcoming Events

Join us at these upcoming events featuring films and staff from Firelight.

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AN EVENING WITH FILMMAKER LAURENS GRANT

African American Women In Cinema celebrates Women History Month with a special Women In Film Series! The event will take place on March 21, 2012 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at the Showbiz Cafe located at 19 W. 21st Street btwn 5th & 6th Aves in New York City.

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JESSE OWENS TO PREMIERE AT FULL FRAME

The World Premiere of the new film JESSE OWENS, directed by Laurens Grant, is scheduled for the opening night at this year's Full Frame Film Festival. As the Opening Night Film, JESSE OWENS will screen Thursday, April 12 in Fletcher Hall at the historic Carolina Theatre. The festival will take place April 12-15 in Durham, North Carolina.

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FREEDOM RIDERS REACHED 3 MILLION VIEWERS -- "MOST WATCHED" ON AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN 2011

Freedom Riders, with three million viewers on PBS' American Experience, "was the most-watched in the franchise in 2011." Click here and scroll down to read the article "PBS On a Roll". Congrats to the Freedom Riders team!

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NEA Podcast: Interview with Stanley Nelson

Each Thursday, the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) releases a free podcast featuring interviews with everyone from NEA Jazz Masters to leading arts experts to National Medal of Arts winners and more. Check out this great interview with Stanley Nelson on his film Freedom Riders here: http://www.arts.gov/podweb/podCMS/pod.php?id=p0095.

Editors Lewis Erskine and Aljernon Tunsil Win "Best Edited Documentary" for FREEDOM RIDERS at ACE Eddie Awards

A special congrats to Firelight Films' beloved and talented editors Lewis Erskine and Aljernon Tunsil for bringing home the 62nd Annual American Cinema Editors (ACE) Eddie Award for "Best Edited Documentary" for the film Freedom Riders. Winners were revealed during ACE’s black-tie awards ceremony on Saturday, February 18, 2012 in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Click here for the list of winners.