Virginia Film Festival

Focusing on these two celebrated figures, director Eduardo Montes-Bradley creates comprehensive biographical sketches, steeped in historical achievement and personal emotion. A series of in-depth interviews with both Poet Laureate Rita Dove, and Civil Rights legend Julian Bond in their respective films traces back to their roots. Rita leads us through a journey from her middle-class childhood to her college years that bleed into travels abroad, honing her exceptional, individual style to give voice to her work in the 1960s social transformations. For Julian, growing up in the segregated South with regular visits from intellectuals like Paul Robeson and Langston Hughes spurred his spirited activism in the Civil Rights movement, and beyond. These documentaries confront the audience with a unique opportunity to observe the 20th century through the eyes of two of its key witnesses. Discussion with Rita Dove, Julian Bond, director Eduardo Montes-Bradley, and Douglas Blackmon (U.Va)

Supported by U.Va. Office for Diversity and Equity