(Shadow & Act Exclusive): Here is the premiere of the new, full-length trailer for Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities.
Written, directed and produced by Stanley Nelson and produced by Firelight Films, the 90-minute film will air nationally on the acclaimed PBS series Independent Lens on Monday, February 19, 2018, 9 pm – 10:30 p.m. ET (check local listings). The film will also be available for online viewing on PBS.org beginning February 20, 2018.
HBCU Rising is the multi-platform engagement campaign for the film designed to highlight aspects of the HBCU experience and to connect with the HBCU community and beyond. To extend the conversation and ensure that each of the more than 105 colleges and universities are represented, HBCU Rising is anchored around the HBCU Digital Yearbook. The Yearbook is an online platform for students, alumni and historians to archive their campus memories through personal memorabilia – photos, videos, newspaper clippings, awards, graduation diplomas and campus life activities. Photos and videos can be submitted here.
Firelight Media’s Documentary Lab is the largest program in the United States aimed specifically at developing the documentary projects and professional skills of emerging diverse documentary filmmakers.
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities is the second in a three-part series called America Revisited that includes The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, which was the most watched Independent Lens program ever, and the forthcoming, The Slave Trade: Creating A New World
Nelson has directed and produced over twelve documentary features, including: The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, Freedom Summer, Freedom Riders, Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple and The Murder of Emmett Till. Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities, premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim.
Nelson’s accolades include a Lifetime Peabody Award, a Lifetime Emmy Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Documentary Association. He is a 2014 National Humanities Medalist, multiple Emmy Award winner, MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, and member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
A 10-campus HBCU tour kicks off today, Nov. 14 at Dillard University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Nelson will do a post-screening Q&A at all 10 campuses. The tour goes through January.
Follow Tell Them We Are Rising on Twitter and Instagram @HBCURising and Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HBCURising/
Watch the trailer below:
