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Bearing Witness - Film
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Overview:
Bearing Witness: A Name & A Voice delves into the backstories and convictions of four extraordinary newspaper reporters. Their distinct personal narratives explain the profound motivations that fuel their work, as well as the indelible stories that continue to resonate within them - revealing the who behind the who-what-when-where & why. The film challenges audiences to transcend the monolithic term "The Media" and instead see clearly individuals who propel it forward.
Director Biography- Dina Jane Rudick:
Dina Rudick is a documentary filmmaker with deep roots in journalism and a passion for telling critical and complex stories. Her other films include: "The Race," "The Promise," "A Fallow Year," and "Practice: Change. The Africa Yoga Project Story."
Dina has won 4 regional Emmy Awards for her video and documentary work, as well as dozens of national photography awards during her decades-long career as a photojournalist at the Boston Globe, and later as a documentary filmmaker. She is the owner and director of Anthem Multimedia, a video production company in Boston that specializes in short-form cinematic documentary work.
Dina has done extensive documentary work around the globe, including in Kenya, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bolivia, and Haiti, and the Americas.
With a background in science and decades in journalism, Dina gravitated to telling complex medical and scientific stories, with special focus on rare diseases. Her films have been screened and won awards at film festivals around the world, and her series about cystic fibrosis was the centerpiece of a months-long international advocacy and education campaign.
Director Statement:
After spending 16 years working in newspapers, I left journalism to pursue filmmaking - but I never left in spirit. "Bearing Witness" is my cinematic love letter to journalism and to the remarkable colleagues who dedicate themselves to this profession worldwide.
I chose to create this film because it reflects my personal storytelling philosophy, one deeply rooted in admiration for those who courageously tell the truth, especially in today's complex world. My years as a journalist taught me that stories are ubiquitous, every life is an epic, people long to be understood, and the act of bearing witness is invaluable, potent, and, to me, almost sacred.
The mantra "To understand all is to forgive all" has guided my life and work, drawing me to empathetic storytelling as a means to navigate through life's intricate complexities. In "Bearing Witness," I wanted to tell this story through the perspectives of four incredible journalists I know and admire: Patty Wen, Evan Allen, Meghan Irons, and Mark Arsenault.
Patty is constantly evaluating and questioning, always seeking context and fairness, as informed by her family’s migration story. Evan's personal struggles with mental health sensitized her to society's marginalized individuals, inspiring her to amplify their voices. Meghan, an immigrant and quiet poet, became a trusted ear to her community, particularly in racially charged times. Mark, with his restless curiosity and obsession with accuracy, is driven by the conviction that unless someone asks, nothing will change - so he has to ask, and he has to get it right.
Telling the truth is almost a political act these days, and journalists are under literal attack, but we need truth-tellers, investigators, and watchdogs - we need witnesses - now more than ever. My hope is that after watching this film, audiences question the monolithic term “The Media,” and instead simply see people. Inspiring, incredible people.
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