Presentations by Recipients of the Certificate in Documentary Studies

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Photo of slide lecture "Walker Evans at 100"

PROJECTS BY RECIPIENTS OF THE CERTIFICATE IN DOCUMENTARY STUDIES
Awarded by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke and the Duke University Continuing Studies Program

Friday, December 2, 7 p.m.
NOTE LOCATION: Richard White Auditorium, East Campus, Duke University
Driving Directions: http://www.duke.edu/web/film/directions/Direast.html
Reception to Follow Presentations

Documentary Projects by:
Sue McMurray, video
W.C. Judge, video
Figen Tek-Puentes, video
Cami Kinahan, audio
Florence Hinkle, video
Brandon Miranda, audio and Super 8
Sandra Jacobi, video
Carol Thomson, interactive multimedia
Erika Simon, video
Lori Axler, video

Presentations will be made in the order listed above. Certificates will be rewarded at the end the session.

The public is invited to view presentations of final projects by December 2005 recipients of the Certificate in Documentary Studies, a program of the Center for Documentary Studies (CDS) at Duke in collaboration with Duke Continuing Studies. This term, graduates have produced multimedia, audio, and video work on a variety of subjects. Bios of the certificate recipients and descriptions of their final projects are listed below.

In addition to celebrating the work of the certificate students, this event is also a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Certificate in Documentary Studies. The program offers courses in photography, audio, video, oral history, documentary writing, and community documentary work. Certificate students must complete a total of six courses, including an introduction to documentary studies methods and ethics and a capstone seminar, which focuses on final project completion and presentation. Participants may also earn credit toward the certificate in weeklong summer intensive institutes. For more information on the Certificate Program, contact Dawn Dreyer, CDS Learning Outreach Director, at 919-660-3680 or dkdreyer@duke.edu, or April Walton, CDS Learning Outreach Coordinator, at 919-660-3670 or awalton@duke.edu.

PROJECTS AND PARTICIPANTS

New Horizons: The Story of a School
Sue McMurray
This film looks at a Durham alternative school for students suspended from, or with struggles in, regular public schools. These young people tell about gangs, problems they face, and also their hopes and dreams.

Filmmaker Sue McMurray is a retired teacher living in Durham.

MicroGravity
W. C. Judge
When the shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry we lost seven brave astronauts. They were moms, dads, husbands, and wives; they were heroes. For Anne Cabrera, a classically trained musician, this tragic loss was more than a passing headline. Having recently lost her father, who was a space pioneer in the early days of NASA, her emotions were raw and she immediately identified with the families of the astronauts. This was the beginning of a musical tribute that would look at the lives and accomplishments of the seven incredible people aboard the Columbia and their successful scientific mission.

Bill Judge, Technical Animation Director for Applied Research Associates (ARA), is responsible for the creation of everything from 3D scientific visualizations to film documentaries depicting scientific processes. In his position with ARA, he is frequently asked to present cutting-edge technology for military contracts in a visual format, so he finds himself in the midst of some very exciting science. Although his day job may take him on some unusual adventures, he has found that his true passion is telling stories about people. His desire to share stories that touch our hearts and make us think and feel deeply led him to the Center for Documentary Studies, where he has honed his skills as a documentary filmmaker. Look for his films through Bodhi Tree Productions.

Rougemont Train Station
Figen Tek-Puentes
Rougemont Train Station focuses on the train station that operated from 1890 to 1967 in the small Southern town of Rougemont, North Carolina. Today all that remains of the station's presence is a crumbling building that silently sits on the side of the road.

Figen Tek-Puentes is a Web site designer/developer. She graduated from the Architect Sinan University in Istanbul and has an MA in Publications Design from the University of Baltimore. She moved to North Carolina in 1998 and started learning the techniques of camera use, editing, directing, and production of documentary films. She also has completed several short documentaries. She is married to Joseph Puentes.

High School Principal by Day/Hip-Hop Rapper by Night
Camil Kinahan
High School Principal by Day/Hip-Hop Rapper by Night is an audio documentary about multi-talented Mervin Jenkins, who started rhyming in the seventh grade and dreamed of going to New York City to be a professional rapper. But then his life took an unexpected turn: Instead of becoming a rapper, he became an assistant high school principal. Yet, just when he was convinced that he had given up rap for good, one of his students told him about a club in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with an underground rap scene. He took the mike that first night and never looked back. He began by rapping at local clubs and large concert venues. Then one of his single releases catapulted to the Billboard Top 100 Singles Chart. Mervin Jenkins, aka Spectac, became rap’s first high school principal.

By day, Cami Kinahan is a mom/entertainment lawyer/business executive. By night, she has attended classes at the Center for Documentary Studies for the last four years.

Lady Can Shoe
Florence Hinkle
Lady Can Shoe is a short video about a local farrier (someone who shoes horses). She is a hard-working single mother who excels in a field traditionally dominated by men because it's dirty, laborious, and sometimes dangerous.

Florence Hinkle is twenty-eight and lives in a house with an avid tennis fan and two cats (one feral and one with three legs). Her background is in photography and her favorite food is tacos.

Con Sus Propias Uñas
Brandon Miranda
Con Sus Propias Uñas is an intimate exploration into the Latino population in Durham, North Carolina. It focuses on the role of Latinos in the local community and their thoughts about their integration into Durham society. After Brandon Miranda moved to Durham from Austin, Texas, he noticed what appeared to be a lack of Latinos in the community. Quickly proved wrong, he realized that there are a lot of Latinos in Durham; they just are not as visible as they are in his home town. Motivated by this apparent lack of integration, he interviewed local Latinos about what brought them to Durham and how they feel they fit into society. Using audio complemented with Super 8 footage, Con Sus Propias Uñas gives a voice to part of Durham that has not been heard.

Brandon Miranda is a freelance sound engineer and photographer. He moved to the Durham area in August 2004 in order to continue his work documenting Southern folklore and musical traditions.

My Poet Son
Sandra Jacobi
My Poet Son profiles spoken word artist Christopher Dion Massenburg, aka Dasan Ahanu. Now in his thirties, Dasan teaches and uses poetry to share his thoughts with others. He was born when his parents were sophomores in high school. They never married and separated shortly after his birth. The video highlights the poem “Brown Bag Daddy” and reflections by Dasan and each of his parents.

Sandra Jacobi began studying video and film production in 1997. She is especially interested in documenting stories that explore the creative and sustaining energy that people find in their lives, either at work or otherwise. Her work has earned ITVA, Telly, Videographer, and CINE awards and been screened in Durham, at the DoubleTake (now Full Frame) Documentary Film Festival; in Seattle; and in Chicago.

Bridging Rails to Trails: Stories of the American Tobacco Trail
Carol Thomson
The American Tobacco Trail is a rail-to-trail project that is reclaiming twenty-two miles of abandoned rail corridor in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. The trail corridor's history reflects the rise and fall of Durham's tobacco industry and the region's evolution toward a healthier, more people-focused community in the 21st century. This interactive documentary explores the communities of the railway and trail spanning the past one hundred years.

Carol Thomson is a multimedia developer with a background in software development. Five years ago she began studying and producing documentaries combining video, other types of media, and advanced Web design.

Gemini World
Erika Simon
In the context of her dad's shop, Gemini Gallery of World Music and Art, in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Erika asks her father for relationship advice.

Erika Simon began taking classes at CDS nearly four years ago while she worked at The Sun magazine. She fell in love with video editing the minute she first tried separating pictures from sound, and has been introducing students to the basics of editing since 2003 in courses and at CDS Video Documentary Institutes. She's grateful for the capstone seminar, as it's gotten her to produce her first piece since 2002.

Between a Sponge and a Hardbat
Lori Axler
Between a Sponge and a Hardbat is a documentary video that gives a sneak peek into the underground world of table tennis, where dedication borders on addiction, competition is a way of life, and old legends battle new ways. This is not your basement Ping-Pong. Through the voices of five avid table tennis players, Between a Sponge and a Hardbat lets us in on the seduction of the sport, the loyalty of the players, and how one major moment changed the sport forever.

After Lori Axler graduated from the University of Texas with a BS in Radio-TV-Film, she moved to Durham, North Carolina, to study documentary filmmaking at the Center for Documentary Studies. Currently a freelance editor, she spends much of her free time working on her own shorts.

banner image:

Professor Alex Harris during a slide lecture accompanying the fall 2003 exhibition, Walker Evans at 100. Photograph by Christopher Sims.

Center for Documentary Studies
1317 W. Pettigrew Street
Durham, NC 27705

telephone: (919) 660-3663
fax: (919) 681-7600
email: docstudies@duke.edu

See: directions to the Center for Documentary Studies

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