Notable filmmaker gives free lecture today

Distinguished filmmaker Julie Dash will give a public lecture at 4:30 p.m. today in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. Dash will speak about filmmaking and how it has influenced her life, according to a press release for the event. \nIn conjunction with the lecture, a screening of Dash’s film “The Rosa Parks Story” will be shown at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. She received an Emmy directorial nomination for the film and became the first black woman nominated in the category of Primetime Movies Made for Television at the Directors Guild of America in 2002. Both of the events are free and open to the public. \n“It’s definitely an honor for us because we don’t have a lot of good film events here compared to the way we do music events,” said Dave Pruett, marketing director of the Buskirk. “It’s obviously good from that standpoint that it kind of adds to our film offering in a really significant way.”\nThe event, hosted by IU Libraries, seeks to illustrate the importance of films and film-related collections and their influence on teaching and research. \n“We’re very pleased that Dash is coming to help the library celebrate a month-long series of events about archives and special collections,” said Eric Bartheld, director of communications for IU Libraries. “... A committee of many campus units decided she would be a wonderful candidate to bring to campus.” \nDash was born and raised in a housing project in New York and went on to receive a master’s degree in film and television production at the University of California at Los Angeles. Her debut film, “Daughters of the Dust,” marked the first full-length theatrical release for a black female, according to a press release. \n“It interests me that she gives a historical perspective about the Civil Rights Movement and I believe it’s important for everyone to know our country’s history,” said Shawny Taysom, assistant to the Dean of Libraries. “Whether they’re interested in film or not, just being able to hear what she has gone through and capturing that through film is a one on one experience and that makes things come alive to people.” \nAside from being a notable filmmaker, author and director, Dash is also the founder of Geechee Girls Multimedia, a company that develops interactive applications for the Internet, CD-ROM and DVD, according to the company’s Web site.\n“She is the keynote speaker in a whole month of events and it just helps show the broad range of film resources this campus has to offer,” Bartheld said.