Tag: Film

Meet Jeremy Spracklen, Film Preservation Technician

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Jeremy Spracklen is the Film Preservation Technician for the G. William Jones Film & Video Collection at the Hamon Arts Library. He received his undergraduate degrees in History and Philosophy and recently earned his MA in History – all from the University of Texas at Arlington. Additionally, Jeremy is the Projectionist at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth as well as the Traverse City and Telluride Film Festivals. Furthermore, he has served as the Technical Director for the USA Film Festival since 2002. In addition to his technical duties for film festivals, Jeremy has also put together commissioned tributes for visiting actors and directors, including Rob Reiner, Ed Harris, Carol Kane, Wes Anderson and Malcolm McDowell. Spracklen also recently presented his thesis Cinema I & II: A History of the Movies in Dallas as Seen through NorthPark’s Iconic Theater at this year’s Dallas VideoFest and also recently worked with 70mm Ultra Panavision format in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming film The Hateful Eight. Continue reading “Meet Jeremy Spracklen, Film Preservation Technician”

The travels of The Blood of Jesus

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One of the most significant of the Tyler Race Films is The Blood of Jesus, written by and starring Spencer Williams.  As with many of Williams’ films, this is a study of the continuing conflict between good and evil, holiness and godlessness, church and juke joint.  Williams filmed it with a largely amateur cast and with a minimal budget in 1941 for distribution to the 1200 or so movie houses that catered to all-black audiences at that time.   Despite the limitations imposed by its restrictively small budget, “The Blood of Jesus” was a financial success. Continue reading “The travels of The Blood of Jesus”

Grant writing for the arts

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Beverly Mitchell, Art and Dance Librarian, presented a workshop today on grant writing for the arts. In attendance were SMU students and staff and representatives from Dallas non-profits. Continue reading “Grant writing for the arts”

Making the write moves: Grant writing workshops November 16-17

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This workshop presents organizational steps to help you begin your research for funding sources and craft clear and compelling proposals. Presented by Beverly Mitchell, Art and Dance Librarian. Continue reading “Making the write moves: Grant writing workshops November 16-17”

Pictorial: Collecting the macabre, Part 2

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Does Fondren have ghosts? Some say yes. As far as we know, the only entities haunting Hamon late at night are SMU students. Let’s get on with the second installment of Collecting the macabre. Continue reading “Pictorial: Collecting the macabre, Part 2”

Pictorial: Collecting the macabre, Part 1

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In the spirit of Halloween, we’ve gathered here some of the most macabre items from Central University Libraries’ special collections.

Continue reading “Pictorial: Collecting the macabre, Part 1”

The late Omar Sharif’s time in Dallas

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Egyptian actor Omar Sharif, who died July 10th, was best known for his roles in films such as “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Funny Girl,” and “Doctor Zhivago.” But Sharif also made a name for himself in Dallas as a bridge player over the last half of the 20th century, joining his group the Omar Sharif Bridge Circus with the Dallas Aces in 1970 for a bridge tournament. Continue reading “The late Omar Sharif’s time in Dallas”

The National Film Preservation Foundation Now Streaming Jones’ Catskill Honeymoon

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In 2011, the National Film Preservation Foundation awarded Hamon’s G. William Jones Film and Video Collection a grant of $31,000 to support the preservation of the Yiddish-language film Catskill Honeymoon (1950, directed by Joe Berne). We are happy to announce that the NFPF has now made the film available for viewing on its website. Continue reading “The National Film Preservation Foundation Now Streaming Jones’ Catskill Honeymoon”

The Blood of Jesus at Texas Theatre: 2/19 @ 7:30pm

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This week Oak Cliff’s historic Texas Theatre will be hosting three nights of black cinema. On Thursday, February 19th at 7:30pm, the theatre will be screening Spencer Williams’ The Blood of Jesus (1941), a film from SMU’s Tyler, Texas Film Collection. Following its screening of The Blood of Jesus, on Friday, February 20th at 8pm and Saturday, February 21st at 5:30pm, the Texas Theatre will be screening Spike Lee’s new film, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2015). Da Sweet Blood of Jesus features music by Dallas rapper Buffalo Black, who will perform after Friday’s show. “The Texas Theatre is proud to work with SMU to present Spencer Williams’ rarely seen race classic,” says Barak Epstein, director of programming at the Texas Theatre. “We had been wanting to screen this film for quite some time, and the timeliness of Spike Lee’s new release made it fit our programming schedule.” Continue reading “The Blood of Jesus at Texas Theatre: 2/19 @ 7:30pm”