Saturday, June 16, 2007

Dare Not Walk Alone: An educator's take on "the most gritty" civil rights film

After a recent screening of Dare Not Walk Alone a high school teacher sent these comments to the film's director, Jeremy Dean:

"My students have awarded you their highest accolade--they found your piece to be interesting and more important, relevant to their own lives--they have told me that way too many documentaries are done in such a dry and droning fashion, and are so repetitive and so deeply anchored in the past, that kids today struggle to make any kind of personal connection with most historical documentaries. Your's was a delightful and wonderful exception to their common experience.

"You have created not only a beautifully filmed and edited piece of work, but what I believe is a very historically important film, to boot. You maintained such incredible objectivity throughout the piece--it was a very impressive accomplishment.

"Your willingness to spend time with my students and the audience after the film truly enhanced our experience. We held an intensive post-film processing session today, and they were unanimous--they want to see the film again.

"...just let me add, from my heart, that your film moved me in ways I hadn't expected. It is a truly incredible piece of work...
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