A Conversation with 2012 MacArthur Fellow Laura Poitras

Date: Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Time: 6:00 PM talk, 7:00 PM reception
Location: Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University
Contact information: Kirston Johnson, 919-681-7963 or kirston.johnson(at)duke.edu

Join us for an evening with documentary filmmaker and MacArthur “Genius Award” recipient Laura Poitras at Duke’s Nasher Museum. Known for her incisive and nuanced portraits of individuals that emerge in and from wartime in the Middle East and New York City, Poitras is an Emmy and Academy award nominated filmmaker. Her films, My Country, My Country and The Oath won numerous awards including the Inspiration Award and the Special Jury Award at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival respectively.

Arts advocate, historic preservationist, author and accomplished television interviewer Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel will facilitate the discussion.

Duke University has established the Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel Visiting Filmmaker Series to feature artists whose work addresses significant contemporary topics of social, political, economic, and cultural urgency. Filmmakers chosen to participate have a recognized body of work and show promise of future contributions to documentary filmmaking. Visiting filmmakers are invited to Duke for a two-day residency.

The Diamonstein-Spielvogel series is unique in its exclusive attention to documentary filmmakers with a global perspective. By giving Duke faculty and their students an opportunity to explore the films of socially engaged filmmakers and discuss the work with them, this new series hopes to inspire and encourage the next generation of young documentarians.

Co-sponsored by the Rubenstein Library, the Program in the Arts of the Moving Image, Screen Society and the Center for Documentary Studies.