Purdue News

September 24, 1999 Purdue to present film that explores legacy of slavery WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue's Department of Communication will present "Family Name," an award-winning film about a man's search for links between black and white families in North Carolina, at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 18. The film, to be shown in Matthews Hall, Room 210, is free and open to the public. The filmmaker, Macky Alston, will be available to answer questions. Growing up in Durham, N.C., Alston never questioned why all the other Alstons in his childhood elementary school were black. As an adult, the white filmmaker learned that the Alstons were one of the largest slave-owning families in antebellum North Carolina. A real-life mystery story of buried family roots and well-kept secrets, Alston's documentary film chronicles his search for descendants of the slaves and slave owners from plantations once owned by his family. He journeys from New York to Alabama, to family reunions, picnics, housing projects, churches, graveyards, and back to original Alston plantations, asking questions and digging up clues. The people he talks to vary in age, race and class, but they all share one thing – the family name. "All of the people interviewed have stories to tell; some humorous, others poignant and surprising," said Cynthia Stohl, head of Purdue's Department of Communication. "This filmmaker's odyssey is an unforgettable emotional experience, and we are very pleased to have Macky Alston here and available to answer questions from the audience after the film. These sorts of interactions open up conversations that need to happen across all our communities." Alston will be joined by Leonard Cox, co-founder of River Films who is a Purdue alumnus and former director of external relations for the School of Science. River Films is the production company promoting "Family Name" that also is producing another Alston film entitled "Alan Smith's Life After Death," a documentary about faith in the face of tragedy. That film discovers how people – from Buddhists to born-again Christians, atheists to Orthodox Jews – find meaning in the midst of life's most devastating crisis. "Family Name" had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1997, where it won the Freedom of Expression prize. In May of that year, the film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Bermuda International Film Festival. As a result of its PBS broadcast in September 1998, "Family Name" was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Programming. The film presentation is co-sponsored by the African American Studies Program and Purdue Black Cultural Center. CONTACT: Stohl, (765) 494-3304; cstohl@sla.purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page