Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies hosts public screening, discussion with filmmaker Keith Beauchamp Oct. 30 at The Warehouse

Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies hosts public screening, discussion with filmmaker Keith Beauchamp Oct. 30 at The WarehouseOctober 16, 2007Erica Blustesblust@syr.edu

The Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies in Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts will present a film screening and discussion with filmmaker and producer Keith Beauchamp on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. in the main auditorium of The Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St. The screening and discussion are free and open to the public. On- and off-street parking is available in areas adjacent to The Warehouse. A reception will follow.

Beauchamp will present his award-winning 2005 documentary film “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till,” an investigation into the 1955 abduction and brutal murder of Till, a 14-year-old African American male, in Mississippi. Till, who was from Chicago, was visiting relatives and allegedly whistled at a white woman in public the day of his murder. The acquittal of the suspects by an all-male, all-white jury and the suspects’ subsequent confession and lack of punishment outraged many Americans and helped ignite the Civil Rights Movement.

Seeking justice for Till through his film, Beauchamp conducted extensive research and interviews with Till’s family and witnesses over an 11-year period. The U.S. Department of Justice credited the film and Beauchamp’s discovery of evidence implicating new suspects as a major factor in its decision to reopen the case in 2004. This led to the exhumation of Till’s body and a 2007 decision by a Mississippi grand jury to not indict the remaining suspects.

Beauchamp studied criminal justice at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., before deciding to move to New York City to become a filmmaker and address issues of racial and social injustice. He is the founder of Till Freedom Come Productions, a company devoted to socially significant projects that can both teach and entertain. “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till” has received numerous awards and nominations, including a 2007 Emmy Award nomination for Best Documentary, the 2007 American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award, a 2007 NAACP Image Award nomination and a 2006 Media Arts Fellowship.

Beauchamp’s visit is sponsored by the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies under the auspices of the Public Memory Project, an interdisciplinary SU initiative dedicated to exploring the importance of our collective memories.

For more information, contact Amos Kiewe at (315) 443-5132 or akiewe@syr.edu.