November 23, 2020 – WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new and original documentary that allows civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer to tell her own story in her words, has been awarded The Better Angels/Lavine Fellowship, a new mentorship program for history documentary filmmakers whose work explores inclusive stories drawn from America’s past.
The Fellowship is a new element of the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, an annual award recognizing documentary films that use original research and a compelling narrative to tell stories about some aspect of American history.
“The Better Angels/Lavine Fellowship means that promising documentarians will receive the same kind of networking opportunities and support I received early in my own career — and which were key to my development as a filmmaker,” Ken Burns said. “It’s especially meaningful to launch this Fellowship in a year that has been so challenging for independent filmmakers. I’m proud to partner with Jeannie and Jonathan (Lavine) on this initiative.”
Each year, beginning in November 2020, five filmmakers who submit films to the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film and who demonstrate significant potential will be selected as Fellows. The film will receive a $5,000 grant and up to 10 hours of free mentorship and consultation with expert advisors from the professional filmmaking community.
Directed and edited by Joy Elaine Davenport, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America, is one of the beneficiaries.
"We are thrilled to be in the inaugural class of Better Angels/Lavine Fellowship awardees,” Davenport said. “No doubt, wherever she is, Mrs. Hamer is thrilled, too. Bringing her story to the screen, in her own words, is a gift for which the team at Fannie Lou Hamer's America will always be grateful.”
A Mississippi sharecropper-turned-civil-rights-activist, Fannie Lou Hamer is known for her powerful speeches, soul-stirring songs, and impassioned pleas for equal rights. A voting rights advocate and a humanitarian, Hamer helped thousands to register and vote in her home state and provided food, clothing, and shelter for the poor. Hamer helped organize Freedom Summer in 1964 and founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party which greatly influenced the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In her testimony before the Credentials Committee on national television, Hamer spoke out about the several assassination attempts on her life and the vicious beating she received at the hands of law enforcement agents in Winona, MS. Hamer died of breast cancer, hypertension and the after-effects of that jailhouse beating on March 14, 1977. Fannie Lou Hamer’s America uses archival audio footage, speeches and rarely seen television appearances recorded throughout her activist and political career to tell Hamer’s story.
"I cried when I saw it,” said Courtney Chapin, Executive Director of The Better Angels Society. “And we are so thrilled to recognize Fannie Lou Hamer’s America with a Better Angels Lavine Fellowship Award. This new program recognizes excellence in American history documentary filmmaking. Our goal is to collaborate with filmmakers telling America’s stories and provide them with resources and support. Like the Lavine Family, who makes this fellowship possible, we at The Better Angels Society recognize that our democracy is strengthened and enriched when more Americans see films like Fannie Lou Hamer’s America.”
Now in post-production and slated for broadcast in 2021, the film was produced and developed by Hamer’s niece, Monica Land, and filmmakers Dr. Pablo Correa and Robert “RJ” Fitzpatrick were videographers. The lead researchers and consultants were Fannie Lou Hamer historians and scholars Drs. Maegan Parker Brooks and Davis Houck.
