Graduate, undergraduate and law school students have teamed up as part of a new interdisciplinary class to create, film and produce short documentaries that will be presented Tuesday night at 7 in the "Documenting Justice" film screening event, hosted by the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at the Bama Theatre.
The event will feature seven documentaries filmed by 14 students as the culmination of a yearlong course teaching students how to film, edit and produce a documentary about a social justice issue presented from an Alabama perspective.
The seven documentaries screened will deal with varied topics:
* "Trained In" is a film about Collegeville, a small neighborhood located in North Birmingham that is surrounded by train tracks, causing problems and limiting access to area residents.
* "Spanglish" is a film about the life of a Hispanic family living in Tuscaloosa.
* "Thank You For Listening" will discuss healthcare for veterans.
* "Speaking without Speaking" is a film about a couple who gives free classical dance classes to children in the Black Belt.
* "Very Source of Life" is a film about industrial agriculture and the demise of small family farms in Alabama.
* "No Sympathy for the Debtor" will discuss predatory loan companies and how predatory lending can be problematic.
* "Portraits in Restorative Justice" depicts a Montgomery court that brings victims and offenders together to bring about healing.
The class was created by the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility, under the leadership of Stephen Black, and was modeled after a similar class at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Like the UAB class, the UA class has three professors: Aaron Greer, a UA telecommunication and film professor; Rachel Morgan, a professor at Lawson State Community College; and Michele Forman, a UAB co-professor of the similar course.
The first semester of the year-long class serves as a crash course in production, during which time students learn how to edit and shoot as well as study documentary theory and criticism. At the end of the first semester, students pick a partner and a topic to research that will be filmed and produced during the spring semester.
Students taking the course have different ideas of what they want viewers to get out of their films.
"I want them to stop for a second and think of the implications the food they eat has on them and our planet," said Elliot Knight, a senior in New College who worked on the film "Very Source of Life." "I'm not trying to be preachy in the film, I'm just trying to provide information and let people take away from it whatever they want."
Edward Miller, a third-year law student who worked on the film "Portraits in Restorative Justice," said he wants viewers to see the legal system in a new light.
"I'd want the audience to come away with an open and curious mind about how we can support and improve the criminal justice system," he said.
Maryella Matthews, a graduate student who worked on the film "No Sympathy for the Debtor," agreed with Miller.
"I hope that people will take the initiative to get involved in the legislative process and be aware of justices and injustices that take place every day," she said.
Students who took the class got involved for various reasons.
"I thought it was a great opportunity to insert myself in the film world," Miller said. "And also as a way to ask myself, 'What are the important issues in Alabama?'"
Matthews said the project was an avenue for her to put her experiences into action.
"It's a good way for me to take what I've learned in class and to put them on screen and turn my academics into real life and make them accessible to a real audience," Matthews said.
Morgan said the class gives students a new insight into the media and also allows students to leave the class as filmmakers.
"It gives the opportunity for students in other disciplines to tell really important stories through the media," she said. "You'll be a filmmaker when you leave this class. We can't promise you'll be a good one, but you will be a filmmaker."
A reception will take place at Mugshots prior to the screening at 5:30 p.m. The films will be shown at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Bama Theatre in downtown Tuscaloosa. The event is open and free to the public.
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