|
 Illinois
youth ages 11-21 can create short films on topics related to racial
healing. The Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation will help run the
contest and select winners in three age groups.
First place recipients in each category receive $2,000, with smaller
prizes being awarded to second and third places. All winning films
will be shown at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
and the EbertFest film festival in Champaign. Illinois schools will
use the films, and supplemental curriculum created by educators, to
talk about race and the harmful impact of bias and injustice.
The contest’s name was inspired by Lincoln’s Second Inaugural
Address, in which he called for Americans to end slavery and rebuild
the nation “with malice toward none, with charity for all.”
The project is funded through the Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Library Foundation with a grant from Healing Illinois, a racial
healing initiative of the Illinois Department of Human Services in
partnership with The Chicago Community Trust.
“President Lincoln urged Americans to ‘bind up the nation’s wounds.’
But to heal, we must first listen to the expression of people’s pain
and lived experiences. Storytelling through film has the power to
change hearts and minds. It’s essential that the next generation who
will lead us to a better place has a chance to be heard,” said Chaz
Ebert, chair of the Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation and a member of
the Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation’s board of directors.
Students will compete in three age brackets: 11-14, 15-18, and
19-21. Entries are due by April 30. Live action films must be
between three minutes and seven minutes long. The minimum length for
animated films is 45 seconds.
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Competitors will be able to get advice from
professional filmmakers in Zoom sessions in February and March. Chaz
Ebert, who promotes justice and a better world by highlighting
important voices in film and supporting young artists, has arranged
for presentations by:
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Pamela Sherrod Anderson, founder of Graceworks
Theater and Film Productions and an award-winning writer,
filmmaker and playwright
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Troy Osborne Pryor, a Chicago-based producer,
host, and actor
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Documentarian Steve James, who directed the famed
movie “Hoop Dreams”
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Rita Coburn, a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning
director, writer, and producer
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T. Shawn Taylor, a writer, consultant and
documentary filmmaker.
Get all the details at bit.ly/NoMaliceFilmContest.
“We’re excited to see the new ideas and fresh perspectives generated
by this contest. The topic is incredibly important and also one
deeply entwined with President Lincoln’s legacy,” said Melissa
Coultas, acting executive director of the Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library and Museum. “Thank you to our partners at the
Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation, the Department of Human Services,
The Chicago Community Trust and the Lincoln Presidential Library
Foundation for their support.”
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is dedicated to
telling the story of America’s 16th president through old-fashioned
scholarship and modern technology.
The library holds an unparalleled collection of Lincoln material, as
well as some 12 million items pertaining to other aspects of
Illinois history. The museum uses exhibits, eye-catching special
effects and innovative story-telling to educate and inspire visitors
from around the world.
Learn more at
www.PresidentLincoln
@illinois.gov
[Christopher Wills] |
