January 25, 2018:
Join us for a screening of Byrd 1933 followed by a Q&A with Director/Filmmaker, Pamela Theodotou, Polar Curator for the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Laura Kissel, and Geochemist, Melisa Diaz.
Byrd 1933 Press Release from Wexner Center for the Arts:
Culled from ten reels of 35mm film found in the papers of Admiral Richard E. Byrd and recently preserved by the National Film Preservation Foundation, Byrd 1933 is a glorious cinematic record of the famed explorer’s expeditions in 1928–30 and 1933–35. This unprecedented visual diary, shot by Paramount Studios cameramen, was largely a silent film with some short studio recreations. Through extensive archival research in Byrd’s own papers, filmmaker Pamela I. Theodotou has painstakingly cataloged film clips using the scripts for Byrd’s lectures, crafting a film that captures the expedition as a whole. Byrd’s own voice and the environmental and animal sounds of Antarctica originally recorded by scientists on the expedition can be heard in the film thanks to audio found in and adapted from Ohio State’s Byrd Papers archive.
Panelists:
A photographer, filmmaker and writer, artist Pamela I. Theodotou holds her Master of Fine Arts from CCAD, her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Denison University and a Law degree from Case Western Reserve University.
Her photography and films have been exhibited in Europe and the USA and toured the festival circuit garnering prizes for her experimental style. Her screen writing has been recognized in national competition. Most recently she directed and produced Byrd 1933 which premiered at the Wexner Center for the Arts in 2015, produced through her documentary, narrative, and experimental production company NYXFILM.
Laura Kissel is the Polar Curator for the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program (Polar Archives), a position she has held since 1996. She has a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University and a master’s degree from Kent State University. While the Polar Archives holds hundreds of collections, the cornerstone of the repository is the Papers of Admiral Richard E. Byrd. Laura’s primary responsibilities include assisting the many researchers and scholars who use the collections, as well as donor relations, exhibitions and other education and outreach activities.
Melisa Diaz is a Ph.D. student at The Ohio State University, affiliated with the School of Earth Sciences and Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. She has recently completed her second Antarctic season, this year at the Shackleton Glacier with 5 PIs from varying institutions, investigating how biological communities respond to the advance and retreat of glaciers.
Where: STEAM factory, 400 W. Rich Street, Columbus OH. Enter via the Blue Door
When: January 25, 2018. Doors Open at 6 p.m.; Film at 6:30 p.m.; Q&A at 7:45 p.m.
