Kate Quinn will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, May 13 at noon to portray the founder of Mother’s Day. One of WV's little known heroes, Jarvis led an interesting life. From the Civil War to the 1940's she tells tales of her family and their many contributions to our state. UPDATE: L. Wayne Sheets, author of Mother’s Day: The Legacy of Anna Jarvis will join Kate on stage to talk about and will sign copies of his book. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are served. Please visit ohiocountylibrary.org, call 304-232-0244, or visit facebook.com/lunchwithbooks for more information.
On Tuesday evening, May 13, beginning at 6:00
pm, the Ohio County Public Library in Wheeling will host a screening of a new
documentary, "An American in Madras," by Indian filmmaker Karan Bali
about the early work of Wheeling filmmaker Ellis Dungan and Dungan’s surprising
contributions to Indian cinema.
Ellis R. Dungan
was born May 11, 1909 in the small town of Barton, Ohio. After studying at
USC’s cinema department, he went to India in 1935. Intending to stay
there for six months, he ended up staying for 15 years, making quite a name for
himself in the Tamil Film Industry in South India and helping it in its
developing years. Even after he left India he continued to return, working on
jungle adventure films. He moved to Wheeling in
1958 and, through his own Ellis Dungan Productions, produced and directed
industrial, business, and public relations films for entities like West
Virginia University, Wheeling Steel Corporation, Consolidation Coal Company,
and The Wheeling Ironmen. He resided in Wheeling until his death in 2001. Mr.
Dungan is best remembered in his home state and hometown as a talented producer
of regional documentary films such as “Wild Wonderful West Virginia,” “Time’s
Runnin’ Out,” and “High Speed Steel,” to name just a few. He was also
instrumental in producing “For Liberty and Union,” a film about West Virginia
Statehood, which is shown daily at West Virginia Independence Hall and “Wheels
to Progress,” a film about Wheeling in its 1959 heyday. Karan Bali is an Indian Filmmaker who became interested in the early history of Cinema produced in the Tamil region of India and realized the contribution Ellis Dungan had made to changing the nature of Tamil Films. Through reading Ellis Dungan’s Autobiography “A Guide to Adventure” which he co-authored with Wheeling author Barbara Smik [one of the daughters of country music singing legend Doc Williams and Aunt to Wheeling Mayor Andy McKenzie], Mr. Bali realized that Ellis Dungan had given his collection of films, photographs and papers to the West Virginia State Archives. Working with the staff of the State Archives, Mr. Bali found many of the materials he needed to make his documentary. He also searched archives in India and Malaysia to find other archival materials.
Recently, Mr. Bali
has been showing his film at many film festivals in India and elsewhere.
He is currently scheduled to appear at the prestigious New York Indian
Film Festival in early May and wished, after that, to visit Wheeling where Mr.
Dungan had lived and worked to show his documentary, talk about its making and
possibly meet people who knew Mr. Dungan. "Ellis
Dungan's fascinating story was one just waiting to be told,” said Bali. “I'm
surprised no one else did it earlier but I’m glad I could make this film
and bring to light, however belated, the efforts and achievements of a true
pioneer of the Tamil (and Indian) film industry. I especially wanted the people
of Wheeling, many of whom would have known Mr. Dungan personally and who
might have only heard about his adventures in India to actually see the huge
contribution he made while in India - not just to the Indian film industry but
also to the War Effort from 1941-45 in addition to photographing historic
events around Indian Independence from the British."
A reception
featuring light refreshments will begin at 6 pm in
the library's auditorium. The screening of "An American in Madras"
will begin at 6:30 pm, and a discussion
with the filmmaker, Karan Bali, will take place after the screening. The
program is free and open to the public. Please
visit ohiocountylibrary.org, call 304-232-0244, or
visit facebook.com/lunchwithbooks for more information.
No comments:
Post a Comment