Filming Emotional Truth

Inviting Empathy Through Documentary Filmmaking

Documentary filmmaker and community artist Erin Hudson will share her process of storytelling based on human dignity, vulnerability and emotional truths as part of a residency program at Dickinson, which will include screenings of Afloat and Our Time is Now on Tuesday, March 7, at 7 p.m. in the Stern Center Great Room. She will also give a lecture, “Inviting Empathy through Documentary Filmmaking,” on Wednesday, March 8, at 7 p.m. in the Anita Tuvin Schlechter (ATS) Auditorium.

Afloat is a short documentary, released in 2009. Shot in a swimming pool, both under and above water, the film creates a gentle meditation on growing old, feeling young and living life. Our Time is Now, released in 2013, is a coming-of-age documentary that follows six rural New Mexican teenagers as they struggle to finish high school and pursue their dream of attending college. The film describes the teenagers’ personal challenges, including the struggle of balancing school and work. It aired locally and nationally through the PBS television program American Graduate.

Hudson is the founder of the documentary film production studio Rotation Films. She works as an independent director, producer, editor and cinematographer. Hudson is the recipient of multiple awards, including a student Academy Award, The International Documentary Association Student Award, A New Visions New Mexico Award and Best Documentary at the Angelus Awards. She was also a member of the artist team for the yearlong arts community collaboration Stories of Route 66: The International District.

Hudson’s residency is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and a Civic Learning and Engagement Initiative grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It is co-sponsored by the departments of English and German and the film studies program. It is part of the Clarke Forum’s semester theme, Media, Technology and Civic Engagement.

Learn more

• Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues
• Department of English
• Department of German
• Film Studies Program
• Latest News

Published March 3, 2017