Modlin Center presenting series of six independent films
By Molly Gentzel | September 6, 2012Filmmakers will offer viewers a rare look into their creative process as they present their films during the Modlin Center for the Arts "On Screen/In Person" film series. "On Screen/In Person" is a series of six new, independent American films that will be shown from September to April at the Firehouse Theatre Project, located in downtown Richmond, Hooker said. The Modlin Center was one of eight recipients of a grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, through which this project was made possible, said Shannon Hooker, assistant director of the Modlin Center. This project is unique because the filmmakers will be touring with their films to conduct educational activities and provide context and greater information about the art of filmmaking, Hooker said. "Richmond has a thriving film community, so we wanted to be a part of developing it," Hooker said. Abigail Cheever, coordinator of the film studies program, was part of the committee that screened and helped select the films, Hooker said. Cheever said the small committee, which included faculty members from Latin American and Iberian Studies and film studies, had screened the films sent by the Mid Atlantic Arts Association and selected them based on the quality of the filmmaking and how well the topic fit the needs and interests of the Richmond community, both on and off campus. Topics that the committee was interested in included education, civil rights and issues related to the mass media, Cheever said. The final list of films in the series covers such topics as the older population of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people, dyslexia and public school cafeterias, according to the Modlin Center website. Cheever said she hoped that students would take advantage of the opportunity to hear the filmmakers explain the motives and ideas behind their film. "Directors and their films don't often come to places like Richmond," Cheever said.
