Presented by Bread Garden Market, Little Village, and FilmScene
DIALOGUE: Filmmaker Conrad Beilharz in person Sunday, November 12, 7pm
Vino Vérité welcomes Conrad Beilharz to share a rousing film from the heart of the Muscogee Nation about the tenuous state of the free press.
The Vino Vérité series features talented new voices and established filmmakers influenced by the vérité tradition in person to present their thought-provoking, chance-taking, and visually-arresting films. Each selection is paired with hand-selected wines from Bread Garden Market.
Tickets: $25 public / $20 members / $12 students. Includes wine tasting, film, hors d'oeuvres and filmmaker reception.
6:30 Hors d'oeuvres & wine tasting
7:00 Screening
8:45 Q&A + Reception with filmmaker, wine and dessert
"The perfect illustration of what happens when you dismantle the Fourth and Fifth Estates and wind up putting democracy in peril, and it’s something everyone in America should be worried about right now." — Hollywood Reporter
"A riveting, thrilling, and sometimes depressing commentary on why the press needs protection across all the nations in America, Tribal and federal." — Geeks of Color
"A movie can grab hold of you simply through the power of its subject. That’s true of Bad Press, an absorbing, eye-opening look at the fight for a free and open press." — New York Times
ABOUT BAD PRESS
The Muscogee Nation is one of a few tribal governments with free press protections. But when the tribe’s hard-hitting news outlet begins to get too close to sensitive topics, the government abruptly repeals its landmark Free Press Act. Among a charismatic newsroom, defiant and foul-mouthed journalist Angel Ellis emerges as a leader in the fight, charging headfirst into a historic battle to restore her tribe’s press freedoms.
The suspense is captured in tense verite moments and perceptive documentary pursuit in this timely film about dogged journalists fighting a corrupt system for their fellow citizens. The film ticks with the nail-biting rhythm of classic investigative thrillers, and Ellis's persistence in the face of all too familiar foes provides a rousing inspiration that all is not lost even when the odds are clearly stacked against the truth.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Producer Conrad Beilharz is a Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, NBC Universal Original Voices, and Ford Foundation JustFilms grantee with his 2023 Sundance Film Festival Award-winning film, Bad Press. He produced the 2019 Sundance Film Festival Premiere virtual reality experience Embody; and the California Film Award-winning documentary Mule Days. Conrad is currently producing the feature documentary Rina Sarina Wild Ballerina, about a polyamorous death midwife.
Sundance Film Festival (2023) — World Premiere, Winner U.S. Documentary Special Jury: Freedom of Expression
Dallas International Film Festival (2023) — Winner Grand Jury Prize, Documentary Feature
RiverRun International Film Festival (2023) — Winner Jury Prize, Best Documentary Feature
True / False Film Festival (2023) — Official Selection