“DURHAM” Screens in Raleigh Saturday

Think you know Durham?  N.C. Museum of History screens “Durham” documentary film tomorrow(3/8) for free at 2pm 3/8.  The full Release below:

Full Release:

DURHAM, N.C. – This Saturday, residents of Raleigh have a chance to better understand sister city Durham when the documentary film “Durham: A Self-Portrait” shows at the N.C. Museum of History. More than three years ago, Emmy-winning filmmaker, Dr. Steven Channing, set out in search of an authentic depiction of Durham, his longtime home. Having heard all the stereotypes over his 20 years in the Bull City, he wondered, “What is the true face of Durham?”  The answers are sure to surprise, according to Dr. Channing.

Nearly 3,000 people crowded the sold-out Carolina Theatre for three screenings of “Durham: A Self-Portrait” during its premiere weekend this past November.  Many more have seen the film at seven screenings around Durham and Chapel Hill in recent weeks.  This weekend, Raleigh gets a long-overdue look at “Durham.”

The documentary film of the city’s history is captured through the lens of Dr. Channing.  A diverse cast of everyday characters, spanning generations and from every walk of life, share intriguing tales of the unique City of Durham they call home. This is particularly interesting in light of this region’s perceptions of the community and its relationship with Duke University.

“Community support has been terrific. We’ve heard positive feedback from those who believe the time has come for Durham to tell its own story,” said Executive Producer Dr. Steven Channing, founder of Video Dialog Inc. “People want to better understand the authenticity that makes up Durham, and beginning with the premiere back in November, we’ve had many requests to screen the film.  Our road show is now ready for Raleigh.”

“Durham: A Self-Portrait” will be shown Saturday, March 8, at 2 p.m. at the N.C. Museum of History in downtown Raleigh. Tickets are free.

According to Dr. Channing, the film opens with historian John Hope Franklin narrating a story of the “secret game,” a basketball game played one Sunday morning in 1944 between all-black N.C. Central University and an all-white team from the Duke University medical school. This frames a set of stories over six film chapters, told by Durham people from every walk of life.

“More than 70 interviews were completed, combined with rarely seen film and video images and an original music score that combines to tell an intriguing story of race and class,” said Dr. Channing.

The film covers the birth of the tobacco era and “Black Wall Street,” as a bustling new industrial city develops at the turn of the 20th century. It continues with the impact of modernization and the Civil Rights movement, alongside the rise of Duke University and growing minority populations. Under the glare of the national media, the community struggles to confront crime and despair, and keep an open dialogue.

An honest and engaging project, “Durham: A Self-Portrait” has garnered support from around the Triangle thanks to organizations such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the Duke Endowment, GlaxoSmithKline, Liggett-Vector Brands, Capitol Broadcasting, SunTrust, among other corporate, foundational and private supporters.

With a few screenings left in the community, Dr. Channing’s focus will shift to an education campaign that includes a companion video and teaching guide for use in the Durham Public Schools and other school systems in the region.

Writer-Producer Dr. Steven Channing has taught at Kentucky, Stanford and Duke Universities. His books include the national prize-winning “Crisis of Fear – Secession in South Carolina,” and “The Confederate Ordeal” for Time-Life’s Civil War series. Over the past two decades, his documentaries have explored race and class in America, and he won an Emmy Award for “Alamance.”  His most recent work is the nationally broadcast PBS special “February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four,” on the 1960 lunch counter sit-in that re-ignited the Civil Rights movement. For more information visit: http://www.portraitofdurham.com.