Cinema Pacific’s TRIBUTE TO JAMES BLUE April 23-26, 2014

Co-sponsored with the UO School of Journalism and Communication “What is Documentary?” conference, UO Libraries, and the James and Richard Blue Foundation.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23 (EUGENE)

JAMES BLUE ARCHIVE OPENING AND LECTURE

James Blue

Official welcome and a talk by Christina Kovac on Preserving James Blue’s The March

4:00 p.m., Free, Browsing Room, UO Knight Library

Join us for a brief ceremony in which University of Oregon officials will welcome the gift of the James Blue Archive to the Special Collections Library by the James and Richard Blue Foundation. This will be followed by a talk by Christina Kovac from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Christina will discuss the photochemical preservation of all of James Blue’s United States Information Agency titles at NARA with special emphasis on the preservation and digital restoration of The March, the acclaimed film that documents the 1963 March on Washington.

 

KENYA BORAN

With codirector David MacDougall
7:00 p.m., Free, UO Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Lecture Room

(Kenya-United States, 1972, 66 min.) Kenya Boran documents the changes that come to a previously insular desert people as Kenya is rapidly developed in the 1970s. A busy new road has split the mountainous upper portion and lowlands of the Boran land, forcing the herding people to adapt to an environment changing without their consent. The Boran people struggle to accept rules of a new government that is ignorant of their long-enduring ways.

 

THURSDAY, APRIL 24 (EUGENE)

VISUAL JUSTICE: DEMOCRATIZED VIDEO AS EVIDENCE

Kelly Matheson Filming in Bomassa

A talk by Kelly Matheson

5:00 p.m., Free, Knight Law School 110

Kelly Matheson will address how videos documenting injustices, captured on phones and other cameras by citizens who are often risking their lives, can be used as evidence in judicial proceedings and for human rights advocacy. She will present a number of case studies from Syria and other locations across the globe demonstrating how video has been used to secure prosecutions of the guilty or exonerations of the innocent. Cosponsors: Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics and the Good Works Film Festival.

 

FRIDAY, APRIL 25 (PORTLAND)

David MacDougall (Photo by Steef)

DOCUMENTARY FILM AS PROCESS: IN HONOR OF JAMES BLUE

A talk by David MacDougall

9:00 a.m., Free, George S. Turnbull Center, 70 NW Couch St., Portland

In this talk, MacDougall will focus on the distinction between filmmaking conceived as a form of publication and filmmaking as an exploratory process. Referring to his experiences of filming at an elite boarding school in India, he will discuss some of the shifts that can occur in both the form and underlying meanings of such projects.  Cosponsored with the “What is Documentary?” Conference.

 

JAMES BLUE’S DOCUMENTARY LEGACY

Gerald O'Grady and James Blue

Gerald O’Grady and James Blue

with Christina Kovac, Daniel Miller, Gerald O’Grady, and Suzanne Clark

5:30 p.m.–7:00 p.m., Free, George S. Turnbull Center, 70 NW Couch St., Portland

This panel will celebrate the extraordinary archive of James Blue’s work that is now joining the permanent collections at the University of Oregon Libraries. Daniel Miller will comment upon James Blue’s powerfully cinematic approach to documentary in his exemplary film, The March. Christina Kovac will discuss the restoration of Blue’s The March for the National Archives; and Gerald O’Grady, who collected and maintained the collection through the years, will speak about the archive’s invaluable recordings of Blue’s interviews with documentary legends.

 

TRIBUTE TO JAMES BLUE: THE MARCH AND A FEW NOTES ON OUR FOOD PROBLEM

James Blue EditingWith special guests Richard Blue, Gerald O’Grady, Christina Kovac, and Gill Dennis

8:00 p.m., Whitsell Auditorium, Portland Art Museum

Fifty years ago, Portland-raised director James Blue led a team of fourteen sound and cameramen in documenting the landmark civil rights event, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. And in 1968, Blue served as director, scriptwriter, narrator, and editor of A Few Notes on Our Food Problem, a visionary essay film that looks at the green revolution and the development of agricultural production on three continents. Following the two half-hour films, Blue’s colleague Gerald O’Grady will moderate a panel discussion on Blue’s films.

 

SATURDAY, APRIL 26 (PORTLAND)

HONEST TRUTHS: WHY HUMAN RIGHTS PRINCIPLES SHOULD GUIDE DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING

Kelly Matheson

A talk by Kelly Matheson

9:00 a.m., Free, George S. Turnbull Center, 70 NW Couch St., Portland

More human rights video is being captured, produced, and shared by more people in more places than ever before, often in real-time. This has, in turn, raised a new series of ethical challenges that we must address to ensure that the thousands of people using video for human rights can do so as effectively, safely, and ethically as possible. Cosponsored with “What is Documentary?” Conference.

 

FOUR ON BLUEfob-poster-3

Brian Lindstrom, Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher, and Penny Allen discuss documentary filmmaker James Blue

2:30 p.m., Free, George S. Turnbull Center, 70 NW Couch St., Portland

Is it possible to capture the truth, using a camera? James Blue probed this question throughout his career as a director, journalist, film historian, and educator. In this onstage conversation, four Oregon documentarians explore and celebrate the life and work of Oregon’s first Oscar-nominated director, and its relevance to their filmmaking practices today. Illustrated with clips from his films.

 

Kelly Matheson

Kelly Matheson

JAMES BLUE AWARD PRESENTATION AND CLOSING RECEPTION

6:45 p.m., George S. Turnbull Center, 70 NW Couch St., Portland

The first James Blue Award will be presented to Kelly Matheson by Richard Blue, Chairman of James & Richard Blue Foundation. The award presentation will be followed by a closing reception for the “What is Documentary” conference and James Blue Tribute sponsored by the James & Richard Blue Foundation and the UO School of Journalism and Communication George S. Turnbull Portland Center.