FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Filmmaker Jonathan Demme and Author Daniel Wolff have
spent the last eight years documenting post-Katrina New Orleans and will screen
New Home Movies from the Lower Ninth Ward
at The Theater at 500 First Street in Napa on Saturday, January 18 2014 to
support The Oxbow School.
Jonathan Demme is
among Hollywood’s first rank of filmmakers, with credits
that include Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, Beloved, The Silence of the Lambs, for which he won an Oscar, and a trilogy
of Neil Young documentaries. Tackling challenging and controversial subjects,
he’s directed eight different actors in Oscar-nominated performances. Demme is
also an activist, whose concern is reflected in such projects as Artists for
Democracy in Haiti, the documentary New
Home Movies from the Lower Ninth Ward on post-Katrina residents of New
Orleans and its follow-up, the portrait documentary I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful.
Daniel Wolff is
an accomplished talent as an author, poet and filmmaker. His writing has
appeared in numerous diverse publications, ranging from Vogue to Education Weekly,
and his non-fiction books include How
Lincoln Learned to Read and an award-winning and best-selling biography of
crooner Sam Cooke. He’s also received credits on such documentaries as The Agronomist, about slain Haitian civil
rights leader Jean Dominique, and several projects on post-Katrina New Orleans,
including I’m Carolyn Parker—the
catalyst for his look at the lives of everyday American heroes in his text, The Fight for Home.
Funds raised
support Oxbow’s scholarship fund whose goal is to build a community of economically, geographically, racially and ethnically
diverse young people from across the country interested in visual arts. Since
the school opened its doors thirteen years ago, two-thirds of the students have
received financial support.
The Oxbow School: The Oxbow
School is a unique, interdisciplinary semester program for high school
students that combines innovative academic courses with rigorous studio art
practice. The School’s mission is to strengthen student abilities in
critical as well as creative visual thinking, verbal articulation and
collaborative problem solving. The School works to develop a stronger
sense of identity, self-worth and confidence in students while encouraging them
to embrace responsibility for their own learning and lives.
