University Calendar
SCM Colloquium Series Presents: Social Justice in Documentary Film: A Discussion with Filmmaker Dawn Porter
Dawn Porter will discuss her work as a documentary filmmaker tackling major social issues including the criminal justice system and the history of segregation in the south. Dawn is a documentary filmmaker. She made Gideon's Army about three black public defenders working in the American South. The film won the Ridenhour Award for best documentary film in 2014. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College (1988) and Georgetown University Law School. Trained as an attorney, she became a filmmaker and financed her film with assistance from the Ford Foundation. Porter owns Trilogy Films.
Porter's second film project is Spies of Mississippi, which debuted on PBS in 2014. It is a documentary about Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (MSSC) efforts to preserve segregation during the 1950s and 1960s, including the use of an extensive spy network and violent coverups. Porter also produced a biography of Chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli for the Cooking Channel. Register here.