GenWex Presents: Documentaries Close-Up 

Documentary films have the capacity to educate as much as they entertain, but do they have the power to incite real change? Join GenWex, the center’s young patron initiative, and a selection of emerging local filmmakers, film experts, and enthusiasts for group discussions delving into the art of documentary filmmaking. Participants will engage with each other to discuss how documentary has evolved over time and why today’s young filmmakers are drawn to the genre. Plus you can share how documentaries have impacted you in informal conversations on personal favorites and the medium at large. Enjoy a cash bar and complimentary snacks while learning about film in a fun, relaxed setting.

Your ticket covers entrance to the event and free admission to the galleries to view our winter exhibitions Carmen Herrera: Lines of Sight and Sarah Oppenheimer: S-337473. Stick around for the 4 pm screening of Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro (2016), a powerful new documentary spotlighting James Baldwin’s final, unfinished manuscript. Be sure to present your film ticket to the front desk to get discounted admission to this program.

Our participating film experts have selected some of their favorite documentaries to serve as a jumping off point for discussion, including Cameraperson (2016), The Black Power Mixtape (1967–75), Cincinnati Goddamn (2015), Making Mail (2014), and The Wolfpack (2015), among others.

This event is 21 and over.

Participants

Amber Dupree keeps things running financially and logistically as the administrative associate in the Film/Video and Exhibitions departments at the Wex, with a side interest in filmmaking and producing. Dupree is a graduate of Ohio State’s film studies and strategic communication programs.

Paul Hill is an award-winning filmmaker, editor, and sound mixer. He joined the Wex’s Film/Video Studio Program in 1996, where he edits with world-renowned filmmakers and video artists. He also makes his own documentaries, including Myth of Father (2002), a personal film about his transgendered father that has screened and won awards at festivals worldwide. He was an editor for The Brandon Teena Story (which won best documentary awards at the Berlin and Toronto International Film Festivals) and a contributing editor for the Emmy-winning documentary A Lion in the House by Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar.

April Martin is a documentary filmmaker and photographer. She has created short documentaries about a range of subjects, including the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, young women’s health in underprivileged communities, Kerry James Marshall’s Rythm Mastr at the Wex, and the innovative restorative justice program, Rising Voices, in San Francisco. She has taught media classes at high schools and middle schools; been awarded a Puffin Foundation Grant and the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award; received fellowships from Northwestern University and C-Span Television; and been awarded artist residencies at the Wex and the Headlands Center for the Arts.

Mike Polk is an independent filmmaker living in Columbus. He graduated from Ohio State in 2012 with a BA in film studies and history. He directed the feature-length documentary Making Mail, several short narrative and documentary films, and was awarded the 2014 Greater Columbus Arts Council’s Media Arts Fellowship.

Heather Taylor is a multimedia artist living in Columbus. She has a BFA in cinematic arts through Columbus College of Art and Design. Her work expresses breathing as a motif, using fabrics and patterned objects to present a therapeutic, sensory experience through video, photography, sculpture, and performance art. Her video Dear at Dusk screened during the 2016 Ohio Shorts program here at the Wex.