Stanley Nelson blog

My Morocco Memories: Stanley Nelson Blogs About Screening Freedom Riders in Morocco

From September 24th to October 1st, Stanley Nelson, director of FREEDOM RIDERS, and Cherien Dabis, director of AMREEKA, traveled to Morocco as part of Film Forward to present their films and conduct filmmaking workshops. Film Forward organized this whirlwind tour to the Kingdom of Morocco where participants exhibited films, engaged audience members and exchanged information with local filmmakers and film Industry leaders. Nelson described his trip as "incredible" and wrote a blog about his experience. One attendee asked him whether blacks in the United States still needed to protest now that Barack Obama is president and whether we still need people like the Freedom Riders. Check out Nelson's response to this question and his blog by going to: http://www.sundance.org/filmforward/blog-entry/my-morocco-memories/.

Tales from the Bronx - Stanley Nelson Blog October 2011

Recently I was a guest at the Cinema School as part of the Film Forward program with The Sundance Institute. The Cinema School is a New York City High School in the Bronx that focuses on film studies. It is a very new program, and at the present time teaches only narrative film, so that as a documentary filmmaker, I was a little apprehensive about my trip.

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What's Next at Firelight? -- Stanley Nelson Blog August 2011

What’s Next at Firelight?

Freedom Riders has proven to be a wonderful, yet never-ending, journey. While we continue roll out our Freedom Riders Community Engagement Campaign, there are few more pots brewing on the stove.

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The Rock Stars of 1961 - Stanley Nelson Blog July 2011

The Rock Stars of 1961
by Stanley Nelson

I can’t believe it. Its been more than two months since Freedom Riders aired on PBS and since the surreal appearance of over 200 original Freedom Riders on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The journey of making this film is done. The process of the film unearthing a lost history of sacrifice and triumph is still unfolding.

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Straight From China: Stanley Nelson Blogs About His Experience Screening FREEDOM RIDERS in Beijing

Stanley Nelson is screening FREEDOM RIDERS throughout China for two weeks. The tour is sponsored by Film Forward, an initiative of the Sundance Institute. Below is his blog entry:

I didn't know quite what to expect as the plane approached Beijing. I had been there 16 years ago but I heard the city had changed a great deal since 1996. There was no way that I could have anticipated the massive changes that have occurred. One of the first things that struck me was that there are cars everywhere and smog to go with it. Our hotel is more modern then any hotel I had seen in the States. American and European stores are all over and the people are very, very fashion conscious. When I remarked to a Chinese person about the changes they replied "Oh you must have been here when it was still 'the time of the bicycles.' "

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