Filmmaker to speak, show documentary at Arts Center

NEWS RELEASE LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY *************************** Myra Ottewell to speak, show documentary on race during free public program on February 19 at LSSU Arts Center SAULT STE.

NEWS RELEASE

LAKE SUPERIOR
STATE UNIVERSITY

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Myra Ottewell to speak, show documentary on race during free public program on February 19 at LSSU Arts Center

SAULT STE. MARIE - Documentary filmmaker Myra Ottewell will be the guest of Lake Superior State University’s Diversity Committee during a public presentation at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 19, in the LSSU Arts Center.

Ottewell will be speaking and showing her film Mississippi ReMixed, which was originally shown as part of the PBS Point of View Series.

There is no admission fee for the program, and those who can’t make it for Thursday’s show are invited to see it at 10 a.m. on Friday, February 20, in the Arts Center, when there will be a special viewing for students who participate in LSSU’s GEAR-UP program.

After speaking and showing the film, Ottewell will answer questions from the audience.

Born in Mississippi, Ottewell is a retired Canadian high school teacher.

She began the documentary after students challenged her memories of life in the South.

She returned to her birthplace to capture how things had changed since the 1960s, but in the process had to confront her own past.

The film takes an inspiring and hopeful, yet unflinching look at the struggles and successes Mississippi is having with race relations.

In a very clear way, viewers learn through Ottewell’s story how the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow laws and white privilege marked our history.

“At times I felt like giving up,” Ottewell said. “Making a documentary of this nature and having to be vulnerable and address my own past was emotionally demanding. Now it is so rewarding to know that through its airing on public television, not only will it spark discussion, but it could also promote healing and understanding."

As viewers journey back in time with Ottewell as their guide, Mississippi ReMixed exposes audiences to rarely seen archival footage, interviews with civil rights leaders, everyday citizens and high school students, and in doing so it shows first-hand that through education and changes of the heart, transformation is possible in Mississippi.

In one interview, Ottewell said: “One of my goals in making the documentary was to extend the conversation about race, not just in Mississippi, but to other places around the world. The issues in the South are mirrored, including here in Canada, with how we treated our First Nations community, and how we treat our new immigrants. I’m finding that people are really eager to share their feelings and my film is a jumping-off point of sorts.”

Ottewell’s appearance is made possible by an LSSU Issues and Intellect grant, as well as a grant from the LSSU King-Chavez-Parks fund.

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