Double Feature: 2 Films Shown Oct. 19th

The North Carolina Literary Review is hosting a double feature on Saturday, October 19 at the ECU Main Campus Student Center Blackbox Theater:

· 1:00: Screening The Playmaker: The Story of Paul Green (documentary directed by Hannah Bowman, PBS NC Presents, 2024)

· 2:30: Intermission, with snacks and drinks, sponsored by Harriot College of Arts and Sciences

· 3:15: The Problem of the Hero (starring J. Mardrice Henderson and David zum Brunnen, directed by Shaun Dozier, EbzB Productions, 2023)

· 5:00: Panel Discussion

This event is free and open to the public; guests are welcome to attend one or both of the films. RSVP here, so we save you a seat (and order enough food):

https://ecu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2tK04EoXK2P1ghM

In July 2024, PBS North Carolina Presents released The Playmaker: The Story of Paul Green, a documentary directed by Hannah Bowman about this North Carolina Pulitzer Prize playwright, author of The Lost Colony, which has been performed in Manteo every summer since 1937 except for the blackout summers of World War II and Covid. The documentary explores Paul Green’s life, writing, and social justice advocacy.

In 2018, the North Carolina Literary Review brought to Greenville the play Native by Raleigh playwright Ian Finley, produced by EbzB Productions. The Problem of the Hero is a film adaptation of that play. The story dramatizes the relationship between Paul Green and Richard Wright, author of Native Son, as they collaborated in 1941 on adapting Wright’s novel for Broadway. The film has received Best Production Design at the 2023 Santa Fe Film Festival, the Impact Award at the 2023 Naples International Film Festival, Best Period Film (and 6 other award nominations) at the 2024 New Hope Film Festival, Best Supporting Actor (and 2 other award nominations) at the 2024 Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival, and Judges’ Choice Narrative Film at the 2024 Longleaf Film Festival. The movie has also been an official selection for screening at 8 other film festivals in 2023 and 2024. Read reviews here.

There will also be a discussion after the viewing with actors and producers of The Problem of the Hero, J. Mardrice Henderson, David zum Brunnen, Serena zum Brunnen, and the editors of and a writer included in a 2024 collection Paul Green: North Carolina Writers on the Legacy of the State’s Most Celebrated Playwright,Paul Green Foundation Executive Director Georgann Eubanks, NCLR Editor Margaret Bauer, and Eastern North Carolina playwright and fiction writer Jim Grimsley. Copies of the book and issues of the North Carolina Literary Review featuring Paul Green will be available for purchase, and with each purchase, the Paul Green Foundation is giving away a FREE copy of Watering the Sahara: Recollections of Paul Green from 1894 to 1937 by James R. Spence.

We hope to see you there! RSVP: https://ecu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2tK04EoXK2P1ghM