Elizabeth L. Miller
Professor
MFA, Electronic Arts, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
BA, Social Thought & Political Economy, University of Massachusetts
WHAT’S NEW FALL 2011?
We have just launched our book/DVD/website, Mapping Memories and are now
beginning our speaking tour at participating schools and universities.
Contact me for more information or visit – www.mappingmemories.ca /
www.lifestoriesmontreal.ca
A new video – An Unconventional Soap – http://vimeo.com/16568416
The International Association of Women in Television and Radio will be
having their 34th biennial conference in November in Malaysia. For more
information, www.iawrt.org
HIGHLIGHTS:
The Water Front has won seven awards including the “Community Empowerment
Film Award” from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC,
2009)
and the “Silver Drop” award from the World Water Forum in
Instanbul (2009). The film has also been aired on the Documentary Channel
and PBS in the U.S. http://waterfrontmovie.com/
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
video advocacy, web documentary; community media, gender and
communication, electronic art, documentary, video art, youth media, Latin
American film, food politics, water privatization, migration, refugees
rights.
BACKGROUND:
As an independent documentary maker, multimedia artist, and professor who
lived in Central and South America for over six years, I am committed to
producing work that connects individuals across cultures. Fifteen years of
community media experience and a background in political economics,
electronic media art, and Latin American studies, fuel my exploration of
new media as art and as an educational tool. I am interested in new
approaches to community collaborations and the documentary format and my
work connects personal stories to larger social concerns.
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS:
IAWRT: I evaluate and work with womens’ organizations internationally and
have been studying innovative communication projects developed by women. I
currently serve on the board of the International Association of Women in
Television and Radio – www.iawrt.org
WITNESS: Human Rights Advocacy. For two years we hosted the WITNESS Video
Advocacy Institute at Concordia to train human rights activists in new
media advocacy – www.witness.org
PROJECTS:
Mapping Memories, 2007 – present – www.mappingmemories.ca.
A collaborative multi-media research-creation program with refugee youth
exploring how innovative new media techniques like digital cartography can
be used to solicit unique artistic expression, while empowering subjects
in the process. Making use of virtual and community platforms, we explored
virtual (on-line) and physical (on-ground) bus and walking tours and
offered new models of collaboration and audience engagement with
place-based media. We organized the personal narratives into a
multi-platform resource, a book/DVD/website with twenty digital stories
and documentaries that offers context and insights on dealing with
sensitive stories in both the creation and dissemination stages of a
participatory project. We are now launching a youth and teacher training
speaking tour.
The Water Front, 2007 – www.waterfrontmovie.com
A documentary film project that brings the controversial issue of water
privatization to the larger public. The film has been screened around the
world, won seven awards and been broadcast in Spain and the United States.
The project involves a viewing/curriculum guide, a screening guide, an
interactive website (powered by Drupal), an on-line streaming media
channel with 8 short videos, a 20-minute educational version, a feature
length documentary for festivals and broadcast, and a DVD with educational
materials. In coordination with a national environmental organization,
Food and Water Watch, the film toured around the Great Lakes from
September 2008 to March 2009, and visited 30 cities. To build
participation amongst youth, we launched an on-line audio remix
competition of the theme song of the film, which was written by legendary
blues singer, Joe L. Carter. www.waterfrontmovie.com
Novela, Novela, 2002,
http://www.redlizardmedia.com/novela/index.html
A 30-minute documentary about a group of Nicaraguan feminists who have
fused human rights with popular culture to create Nicaragua’s most popular
tele-novela (soap opera). Novela,Novela examines how this ground-breaking
series made it to broadcast, and how the creators, writers, actors and
viewers grappled with controversial themes like domestic violence and
homophobia. The project has won five awards including:
*Women’s
Rights Award, Media That Matters Festival, 2004
*Honorary Mention,
International Association of Women in Radio and TV, 2004
*Latin
American Studies Association Award of Merit in Film, 2004
*Freedom
Award, Outfest, Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival,
2003
*Frameline Finishing Funds, 2002
Memories Under Construction, 2000
A nation wide project of the National Endowment for the Arts and Mid
Atlantic Arts Foundation – Artists and Communities: America Creates for
the Millennium. I produced nine short video portraits, Parkville Portraits
that were screened before feature films in the Real Art Ways Cinema.
Portraits were also projected on buildings throughout the community and
featured on a website. The project was featured on NPR.
Moles, 1999
A personal web narrative using body moles as a navigational device. This
early web documentary won three awards:
*First Place, THAW 00, Fifth Annual Festival of Video, Film, and Digital
Media of the Institute for Cinema and Culture, 2000
*Co-winner of Art and Science, Collaboration, Inc. Digital 99 Competition.
*2nd Place, McKinney Writing contest
Just Here, 1999
Four youth, ages 14-17 from the Taylor Housing Projects were hired to
produce a personal story about living in a housing project. Their stories
were cut into a 23-minute documentary. The project was broadcast on Free
Speech TV and won the Golden Apple Award, (National Educational Media
Network, 1999)
Last update: October 18,2011
