ABOUT THE FILM
Capturing The Flag is an urgent cautionary tale and close-up look of American democracy at its most vulnerable point - the ballot box. Through the intimate experiences of the film’s citizen volunteers we are inspired to vote, to help someone else to vote, and to get involved in the growing non-partisan efforts to protect our fragile democracy. The shocking voter suppression we see unfold in real time in Capturing The Flag is proliferating across the country, as those who control local elections have been emboldened to rewrite access to the ballot box along partisan lines. With verité footage of Barack Obama and Reverend Dr. William Barber II, the film is also a powerful call to arms for what we all can and need to do in the ongoing battle for voting rights.
Synopsis: A tight-knit group of friends travel to Cumberland County, North Carolina - named a “posterchild” for voter suppression - intent on proving that the big idea of American democracy can be defended by small acts of individual citizens. What they find at the polls serves as both a warning and a call to action for anyone interested in protecting the “One Person, One Vote” fundamental of our democracy.
Capturing The Flag begins in the fall of 2016 as three old friends - Laverne, Steve and Claire – travel from New York to North Carolina to do voter protection work at the polls. Laverne and Steve have been volunteering their time and resources in this way since 2008, but this is Claire’s first election as a U.S. Citizen after immigrating from South Africa 18 years ago. In North Carolina, they are joined by a fourth friend, Trista, who was inspired to volunteer at the last moment. We spend the days before Election Day in Cumberland County, fully embedded with our team as they work to protect voters in the first presidential election since the 2013 dismantling of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Through their eyes and efforts -- and the hundreds of voters they try to assist -- the human dimension of democracy comes into focus. Their intimate journeys as citizens of conscience uncover stories about the strength and fragility of American democracy that are rarely heard.
Dealing with themes that are constantly sensationalized and manipulated in the media -- Left vs. Right, North vs. South, Black vs. White -- Capturing The Flag offers instead deeply personal, often surprising perspectives on the 2016 Presidential Election and its aftermath.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Anne de Mare
Director/producer
Anne is an Emmy-Award winning documentary filmmaker and recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Media and Journalism Grant. Her film The Homestretch explored the realities of youth homelessness and received a 2015 Emmy for Outstanding Long Form Reporting (Independent Lens). More recently, Anne was Co-Producer on the PBS documentary Deej (America ReFramed), winner of the prestigious 2017 Peabody Award. She has been a Sundance Institute Fellow, part of the U.S. State Department’s American Film Showcase program, and an Associate Artist with Chicago’s legendary Kartemquin Films. Her work has been supported by MacArthur Foundation, Sundance Institute, Carnegie Corporation of New York, ITVS, Chicken & Egg Pictures, and POV/American Documentary Inc. (among others). Anne’s first feature, Asparagus! Stalking the American Life, explored the relationship between asparagus farmers in rural western Michigan and the changing global economy. That film was winner of the 2006 W.K. Kellogg Good Food Film Award as well as Audience Choice and Best Documentary awards at festivals across the country. In 2010 and 2011, she worked closely with the late, great historian Michael Nash and NYU Bobst Libraries to create an extensive filmed archive of women who worked in munitions factories during WWII, accessible online as The Real Rosie The Riveter Project. Together with her long-time film partner Kirsten Kelly, Anne runs Spargel Productions, where they are currently in development for a documentary exploring the cycle of male violence against women, and, together with producer Elizabeth Hemmerdinger, recently premiered The Girl With the Rivet Gun, a dynamic animated documentary short based on personal histories of real-life Rosie the Riveters (Jury’s Choice Award, 2020 Black Maria Film Festival).
Elizabeth Hemmerdinger
PRODUCER
Elizabeth Hemmerdinger is an award-winning documentary film producer, playwright, and screenwriter. She is the Producer of the feature documentaries Perfectly Normal for Me (Winner, 2019 Christopher Award); Capturing The Flag; and Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (named one of the five essential documentaries of 2013 by Tribeca Film Institute); as well as the critically acclaimed animated documentary short The Girl with the Rivet Gun. She is also Associate Producer on The Homestretch (Winner, 2015 Emmy Award), and Executive Producer of Lost and Sound. Her films have broadcast on PBS and screened at MoMA, Walker Art Center Cinema, Lincoln Center, Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, Tribeca Film Festival, Full Frame, Hot Docs, SXSW, Margaret Mead Film Festival, Sheffield DocFest, Black Maria Film Festival (and many more). Hemmerdinger was Visiting Artist at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and worked in collaboration with NYU/Bobst Libraries to create the video archive The Real Rosie the Riveter Project. She has spoken about her documentary film work at NYU (Tamiment Library, Villa La Pietra and Skirball Center with Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II), Hunter College, Vassar College, The Naval War College, and the American Museum of Natural History. Hemmerdinger began her storytelling career as a playwright and librettist, winning the prestigious NYU/Tisch School of the Arts Goldberg Prize as an MFA student for her play We Can Do It! Her original plays and musicals have received productions, workshops and residencies at the Williamstown Theater Festival, The Kennedy Center, Museum of Jewish Heritage, Provincetown Theater, The Denver Center, Tiffany Theater, University of Texas Austin, NY Stage & Film, The Lark, and Pulse Ensemble Theatre (among others). Her most recent project is the libretto for a musical based on We Can Do It! with lyrics by Anton Dudley and music by Robert Cioffi. Her published plays Squall, Road Rage and Pissed Sister are available through Playscripts, Inc. Hemmerdinger also wrote and produced the narrative short film, Good Sister, starring Jessica Hecht and Grant Shaud. Hemmerdinger is a Board member of PEN America and The Hunter College Foundation. She was the first recipient of the Hunter College Elementary School Distinguished Almuni Award. More information at www.providence-productions.com.
LAVERNE BERRY
PRODUCER
Although slightly unusual, the driving force of the film's narrative is also central to the producing team. Laverne Berry (Producer) is an entertainment and media business affairs attorney representing independent film and television producers, directors, production companies, distribution companies, authors and media companies. Drawing on eighteen years as a television producer and distribution executive before becoming a lawyer, Laverne understands both the business and legal sides of the media marketplace. She acted as Executive Producer for Perfectly Normal For Me (produced by Elizabeth Hemmerdinger) and The Silent Truth. She was the co-executive producer for Emmy-nominated Chely Wright: Wish Me Away, and The Lady in Question is Charles Busch. Laverne also has been involved in Alternative Dispute Resolution almost 25 years. She is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Dispute Panel, American Arbitration Association (AAA) Commercial Arbitration Panel and Mediation Panel. Laverne has been named a New York Metro Area Super Lawyer for eight years, including for 2019, by Thompson Reuters; and was included in the New York Metro Super Lawyers supplement to The New York Times newspaper, The Top Women Attorneys in New York, 2014- 2019.
Satoko Sugiyama
editor
Satoko is a New York City based editor and media artist. Satoko has worked as an editor on hundreds of projects in both documentary film and television. Her work has screened globally and been broadcast on Showtime, PBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, Discovery, TLC, The History Channel, National Geographic, MTV, MSNBC, Nickelodeon, and ESPN. Satoko, a native of Japan, has traveled around the world and lived in six different cities on three continents. She received her B.A. in Communications from the University of California, San Diego and an M.F.A. in Integrated Media Arts from CUNY Hunter College.
Aljernon Tunsil
editor
Aljernon's awards in the category of Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming for the PBS film Freedom Riders include the 2010-2011 Primetime Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and the American Cinema Editors 2010-2011 Eddie Award. Aljernon has been editing films on a range of topics from civil rights, Native Americans and political issues for more than a decade. Recent credits include the critically acclaimed Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (PBS Independent Lens, 2016) and Freedom Summer (Sundance, 2014). His other films include the Emmy Award winning Jesse Owens and The Abolishonists, a 3-hour documentary film about a brave multiracial abolitionist movement that banded together to end slavery in the United States.
NELSON WALKER III
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Nelson began his filmmaking career while a student at Brown University, working on documentaries for Discovery Channel, History Channel and PBS’s NOVA with the Rhode Island-based company Providence Pictures. He later moved to New York to pursue and MFA in Film Directing at Columbia University. While at Columbia, Nelson began working with cinema vérité pioneer Albert Maysles as a camera assistant and second camera. Along with his wife, Lynn True, Nelson has directed award-winning films, including iThemba|Hope (2005), Lumo (2007), and Summer Pasture (2012), which won the prestigious Peabody Award. His most recent film, In Transit (2014), was made in collaboration with Albert Maysles. Nelson’s cinematography has appeared in many highly lauded films, including The Gates, Watchers of the Sky, King Georges, Dior and I, and Iris. Nelson is currently the acting board chair of the Maysles Documentary Center, where he also curates and directs the annual film series, Congo in Harlem.
CHRISTOPHER NORTH
COMPOSER
Christopher is a composer for Film, TV, Theater, Dance and various ensembles (jazz, chamber music, orchestral, etc.) His latest released features are Sam Pollard’s Grammy Nominated Civil Rights music documentary Two Trains Runnin’, the romantic comedy All In Time, and the thriller Cut Shoot Kill, all of which feature the composer on all instruments. He was a 2015 Sundance Institute Fellow participating as a Composer in their Music and Sound Design Lab for Documentary Film at Skywalker Ranch. Hailing from Texas, Christopher now lives in Brooklyn, with 18 albums and over 50 composer credits on IMDB. Variety called him a "notable asset” to work "well served by a fine soundtrack.” Christopher is also a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumental musician whose playing can be heard on a number of Grammy Award winning recordings.
MARY ANN NEWMAN
SPANISH LANGUAGE TRANSLATION
Mary Ann Newman is a translator by vocation and cultural administrator by profession. She has translated such major Catalan authors as Quim Monzó, Josep Carner, and Josep Maria de Sagarra. Her professional life has revolved around Catalan and Hispanic literatures and cultures. She was the founder of the Catalan Studies Program and the Catalan Center at New York University. She is the founder and executive director of the Farragut Fund for Catalan Culture in the U.S., the President-Delegate of the Premi Internacional Catalunya (International Catalonia Award), and a member of the international advisory board of Diplocat, the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia. In 1998 she received the Creu de Sant Jordi (Cross of St. George), the highest honor awarded by the Catalan government and was awarded the 2017 North American Catalan Society Prize for her translation of Private Life.
Michele Spitz / WOMAN OF HER WORD
ACCESSIBLE AUDIO DESCRIPTION
Professional voiceover artist, philanthropist and lifelong patron of the arts, Michele Spitz is dedicated to making the world infinitely accessible to all communities by providing her vocal talents to filmmakers, publishers, speaking venues and charitable organizations. Wherever Michele's voice is, her heart is also: short and full- length documentaries, feature films, children's programming, museums, industrial videos, audio manuals and public service announcements. The multiple aspirations and advocacy of Woman of Her Word have been featured in interviews with KPOO, KWMR, PRNFM, Examiner and Slate Magazine. The select catalog of films for which Michele voiced the audio description are listed on IMDb and can be found on Amazon, iTunes, Netflix, among other distribution platforms. Michele's endeavors are ongoing and endless in the pursuit for inclusion in the arts. Her presence is an inclusive and uniting force which brings equality of experience to all that she touches. More information available at www.womanofherword.com.
Un Kyong Ho
Impact Producer / CAMPUS TOUR
Un Kyong was born in Pusan, South Korea and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a filmmaker/writer/impact producer currently based out of Philadelphia, PA where she lives with her partner and children. Un Kyong straddles the worlds of academia, community organizing, documentary filmmaking, and social impact producing. She is Associate Producer of the Emmy- and Peabody-Award winning series A Chef's Life (PBS, ongoing) and the Emmy-nominated film Private Violence (HBO, 2014), and worked on the film’s social engagement campaign on domestic violence awareness and prevention. She produced & edited Affirmative Action in a Neoliberal Age (2013) for the Center for African and African American Studies at Duke University which looks at the diverse landscape of affirmative action around the globe after the Great Recession of 2008. She holds a BA in History and German from Ohio University and completed her JD/MA in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from the University of Cincinnati School of Law, where she served as an Innocence Project Fellow. Her scholarly work focuses on the intersections of intellectual property, food justice, and reproductive rights from a postcolonial, feminist perspective. During her time at UC, she also worked as the Program Coordinator for Diversity Education, overseeing their multicultural and social justice programming. Her documentary interests include Korean-American diasporic experiences related to identity, representation, and belonging.