01_cover press kit

Directing Dissent is a film about John Roemer, teacher and social activist, and his decisions to either live within the law,

or have a sound basis for civil disobedience.

A Film by Sophie HamacherDIRECTING DISSENT

“This project was made possible by a grant from the Maryland Humanities Council, through support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommenda-tions expressed in this film do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the Maryland Humanities Council.”

SYNOPSIS

Directing Dissent is a documentary about John Roemer, teacher and social activist, and his decisions to either live within the law, or have a sound basis for civil disobedience. Set in Baltimore, a city with a turbulent history of charged race relations, Roemer's story takes us through the heated battles of the civil rights movement and involves dramatic experiences in the fight to desegregate Maryland.

As an activist and teacher, John Roemer not only shaped public discourse on matters of equal rights before the eyes of the law, but also took it upon himself to foster principles of equality and freedom in the many students he taught at two of Baltimore city’s prominent educational institutions - the Friends School and the Park School. Through Roemer’s experiences, we look at the junctions between civil rights and civil liberties, integration, and the peace and justice movements of the 20th and 21st century. This film shows the continued relevance of causes such as civil rights and social justice in today's world and how one can apply an activist philosophy to everyday life.

Directing Dissent intends to engage Marylanders in an intergenerational dialogue about the legacy and impact of the Civil Rights movement and the Anti-Vietnam War movement, and the state of civil liberties and political activism in today’s climate.

For more information about Directing Dissent and to view the trailer, visit: www.directingdissent.com or contact [email protected]



collage for the movie Directing Dissentrealized by Sophie Hamacher

John Roemer teaching

Vietnam War - collage for the movie Directing Dissent realized by Sophie Hamacher

left: John Roemer 1969right: Anti-War Demonstrators Storm Pentagon 1967

for high/low res images please go to: www.directingdissent.com

CREWResume and Bios of Key Personnel and Advisers


Sophie Hamacher (Director and Producer), an artist and filmmaker from Berlin and Baltimore, works primarily with collage, reconfiguring media images by using documents and reclaiming them from their mere informa-tive quality. She has written extensively on the relationship between art and document, and the unconscious or conscious witnessing of historical events through photography and film. She has directed, and written a collaborative film in Tehran, has co-curated the exhibition Überleben (2007), has taught and organized various seminars and is currently working on a documentary film about the decisions of a teacher and activist – to either live within the law, or have a sound basis for civil disobedience. Her films have been shown in interna-tional video festivals and symposiums in Cairo, London, Berlin and New York. (Sophie’s resume is attached as an appendix.)

Johanna Schiller (Producer) spent the last 12 years working as a DVD producer for the Criterion Collection. She supervised over 65 DVD releases of classic and contemporary films, including the work of Ingmar Bergman, Jean Renoir, Roberto Rossellini and Barbara Kopple, conducting interviews and producing documentary bonus features, recording and editing audio commentary tracks and overseeing all aspects of production. Highlights include a landmark box set Five Films by John Cassavetes and deluxe editions of Bergman’s Scenes From a Marriage, Fanny and Alexander and The Seventh Seal. Johanna also produced DVD editions of the debut films of Lynne Ramsay, David Gordon Green and Noah Baumbach, and the first ever home video release of Barbara Kopple’s Academy Award-nominated documentary, Harlan County USA.

Sebastian Gollek (Visual Effects and Additional Editing) coming soon

Max Schneider (Sound Design) coming soon

Glenn Marcus is a documentary filmmaker, adjunct professor, history and education consultant, and award-winning media (PBS) and Foundation (NEH) project manager with expertise in creating, selecting, supervising, distributing and promoting history, education and civics material at the network and national school level. Glenn earned a degree in history from Johns Hopkins University under the tutelage of the renowned Stephen Ambrose. Recent experience includes: Producer/Writer of PBS National Primetime programs Hallowed Grounds, 2009; The World War II Memorial: A Testament to Freedom, 2004; March of the Bonus Army, 2006; Associate Editor of companion volume from Smithsonian Books; and Associate Producer of 2002 Nat’l Emmy Award Winner for Outstanding Historical Documentary Korean War Stories.

Sebastian Saam (Advisor) is a free-lance journalist and documentary filmmaker living in Berlin, Germany. Over a decade now, he has worked for the pan-European news channel EuroNews, the Franco-German cultural station ARTE, as well as for German and Austrian public broadcasters ZDF and ORF. His reports cover European political and cultural issues with a special view to South-East Europe where he has lived, studied, and produced over a dozen TV reports and documentaries. In 2008, he was commissioned by Amnesty International to do a docu-mentary on the impunity for war crimes against ethnic minorities in Croatia. The film was broadcast on Spanish Tele Cinco and shown at public screenings around England, Germany, and Austria. He is a regular at many international film festivals (including Berlin, Abu Dhabi, Kiew, and Fribourg), and he produces reports for EuroNews's cultural magazine "Cinema".

David Gray (Advisor) is a film editor based in New York with over 10 years of experience in television and feature films. He was Assistant Editor for several feature films including y tu mama tambien, and something’s gotta give, and he has edited four feature length documentaries, including 13 (director: Gela Babluani), and Lockup: inside Angola (director: Jonathan Stack). He has experience with commercials, corporate industrials, trailers, documentaries, and music videos.

PRESS


“Shooting the Good Guy in Black”written by Cassie Paton for bmoremedia.com

http://www.bmoremedia.com/features/directingdissentjohnroemer062811.aspx

Full Circle’s “Moving Passages,” Tim Krieder’s “We Learn Nothing,” and John Roemer of “Directing Dissent”Andy Bienstock “The Signal” for NPR

http://www.wypr.org/podcast/full-circle%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cmoving-passages%E2%80%9D-tim-krieder%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cwe-learn-nothing%E2%80%9D-and-john-roemer-%E2%80%9Cdirecting-

CREDITS


Directed and Produced by:Sophie Hamacher

Co-Produced by:Johanna Schiller

Edited by:Sophie Hamacher

Additional Editing and Visual Effects:Sebastian Gollek

Cinematography:Sophie Hamacher

1st Assistant Camera:Tom Colley

2nd Assistant Camera:Craig Feldman

Sound Design:Max Schneider

Original Music:Zomes

Central Characters:John Roemer IIIMary RoemerFrank BondAnne Morrison-WelshTrudi SchutzAllan BrickJim GriffinSteve Sachs

Also:Traci WrightMaya Fox & Rachel KohnSusan WeintraubZee BeamsParvin & Jean ScharplessNorman DorsenZee BeamsMichael Hill

Also:

Elsbeth BotheEdgar FeingoldDrew TildonJohn Roemer IVLisa Roemer Bev Benner

Graphic Design:Veronika Bjarsch

Legal Counsel:Matthew Rogers

Intern:Miranda Naberman

Archival Footage Courtesy of:University of Baltimore, Langsdale Library Special Collections WMAR-TV, Universal Newsreels, Prelinger Collection, Archive.org

Stills Courtesy of:The Roemer Family, Afro-American Newspaper, The Baltimore Sun, The News American,Anne Morrison-Welsh, The Occupied Wall Street Journal

Archival Audio Courtesy Of:NPR radio

Transcriptions:Lisa AmesKyle Clark GoodallMaurice OrdLlaima SanfiorenzoJudith AzolaJulie SoloMiranda NabermanNat Munari

CREDITS


Kickstarter Co-ProducersPeter Burian, Zaneb Beams, Glenn Marcus, Michael Schaffer, Stephen Conn, Teadoro Rouse, Julia Abramoff, Steve Weintraub, Tom Pettit, Eve K Tremblay, Alex Overley, Anna and Ed Burns, Katie Frankel, Carl Robbins, Gerald Faro Sole, Michael Murphy, Adam Gidwitz, Alex Schapiro, Lindy Lord, Aaron Brager, Michelle Feller-Kopman, Paul Nestadt, Micah Gates, Susan Weintraub, Matthew Zaft, Joseph Kronsberg, Zee Beams, Josh Baylin, Emily Datnoff, Richard A. Cone, Ryder Daniels, Alex Beth, Tilghman Pitts, Rachel Rabinowitz, John Roemer IV, The Weintraub Family, The Park School Library, The Park School Archives

Kickstarter SponsorsDaniel Morris, Kate Gill Kressley, Judith Golding, Chris Kiehne, Ellee WallaceJoan Shaull, Meghann Shutt, Lena Liberman, Ryan Buckner, Robert WolffCraig Hankin & Tom Chalkley, Robin Frank, James Bair, Rignal Baldwin, Rebecca Koh, Lisa Gottlieb, Jennifer Klein, Alex Clark, Veronika Bjarsch, Frank Herterich, Eckart Förster, Florian Kitt, Andrea Ryan, Angelika Fuchs, Jean-Luc Nancy

Many Many Thanks ToJohannes Hamacher, Ursula Rütt-Hamacher, Werner Hamacher, Marleen DyettAl Burian, Tommy Rouse, Kerry Maeve Sullivan, Rebecca Kressley, Annie Dorsen, Matt Porterfield, Sebastian Saam, David Grey, Nat Munari, Liz Flyntz, Walker Teret, Kate Mumaw, Samantha Friedman, Benjamin Parris, Samuel Hendler, Julia Frank & Mark Graber, Molly Garfinkel, Geoffrey Brooks, Parvin & Jean Sharpless, Ruth Leys, Michael Brumley, Elizabeth K. Moser, Berna-dette Wegenstein, Carolyn R. Lord, Martin Burian, Robert Halle, Maria A. Lasagna, Melissa Maxman & Glenn Barnet Marcus, Carl Robbins, Sharon Rubinstein, Rochelle Tobias, Rochelle A. Rudo, Garry Francis Cerrone, John S. Casey, Kimberly D. Hendrickson, Filecard, Inc., Larry Jackson, Ralph Moore, Ann and Robert Faust, Katie Frankel, Yashar Mohagheghi, Doris Neumann, Eric Hatch, Elena Moscatt, Carlene Moscatt, Andrew Sisson, Gregoire Hervouet, Candy Carson, Tom Carson, Carl Robbins, Sharon Rubenstein, Akbi Khan, Sue Esty, Mardie Walker, Terry Halle, David Maloney, Saun-dra Bond, Deborah W. Callaud, Amy Weintraub, Roger Seidenman, Bonnie Hallam. Kara Loewentheil, Beth Dwyer, Rebecca Wilner, Brian Agamie, Carly Donnelly, Gabriel Meister, David Kramer, Edna Robidas, Paul Harnik, Emily Martin, Anna Brown, Josh Lauren, Emmanuelle Noar, Sarah Bendit, Maeve Doyle, Rachel Rowland, Megan Cohen, Kate Ewald, Gabe Milner, Candace Maslan, Ingrid Hora, Tessa Emmer, Gillian Braden-Weiss, Sharon Zell, Rachelle Work, Steven Madow, Becca Derry, Gregory Brandt, Daniel Cohen, Paul Worley, Jeff Weinstein, Carly Ries, Lucy Walker, Jon Cohen, Steven Kemper, James Doyle, Wade Armstrong, Jamie Gaughran-Perez, Lauren Crabtree, Jon Acheson, Ann Naito Haney, Jordan Greenberg, Jake Friedman, Corey Gaber, Jeanette Wiebush, Rachael London, Robert Taylor, Jr., Alexis Lucas, Leah Wissow, Edward Perkins, Valerie Lambros, Lauri Hidalgo, Sam Hoffberger, David Kolker, Rosalie Parker, Lisa Zeimer, Raphael Sigal, Laurie Rogers, Andrew & Kelly Gould, Becky Eisenberg, Zac Milner, Jessie Adler, Julien Colvin, Lia Boyle, Viktoriya Fuzaylova, Claire Slesinski, Judy McMullen, Evan Madow, Robert Gross, Erin Polley, Patrick Bobilin, Lily Johnson, Mike G., Ellen Small, Ellen Plant, Hillary Jacobs, Joby Taylor, Mike McGill, Laurie Richman, Matt Kelley, Matthias Munsch, Anna von Stackelberg, Malte Ludin, Joan Webber, Pete Hilsee, Jed Dodds, Thomas L. Hollowak, Nora Knox, Jason Urick, Dave Tracey, Pamela Cohn, Irena Stein, Glenn Marcus, Cassy Paton, Darrell Friedman, Friends School, The Wine Source, Whole Foods, The Criterion Collection, Video Americain, Breathe Books, Red Emma’s Bookstore

Additional Thanks ToDavid & Barbara Hirschhorn Foundation, The Jim and Patty Rouse Foundation, Baltimore Landmark Homes, The Creative Alliance, Kickstarter.com, The Maryland Humanities Council, The American Friends Service Committee, Maryland Chapter of the American Constitution Society, Baltimore Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union


Special Thanks ToRick Prelinger and www.archive.org

Music: “Chord Forms”Written by Asa OsbornePerformed by ZomesCourtesy of Asa Osborne and Holy Mountain Records

“Near Unison”Written by Asa OsbornePerformed by ZomesCourtesy of Asa Osborne and Holy Mountain Records

“All Together”Written by Asa OsbornePerformed by ZomesCourtesy of Asa Osborne and Holy Mountain Records

Fiscal Sponsor:

Produced with the Participation of

In Memory of Benjamin Chappel1979 - 2006

© Directing Dissent, LLC

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