UNCW CARE Film Series Debuts with Family Tragedy Documentary Screening March 19
3/13/2007 10:58:09 AM
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Wilmington, N.C. - The first documentary about the worst mass murder in the history of North Carolina is coming to Wilmington for a limited engagement. A Christmas Family Tragedy will be screened at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 19 in the Lumina Theater in the Fisher Student Center on the campus of University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Coming to UNCW after an exclusive one-week run at the Carousel Grande theaters in Greensboro, NC, the feature length documentary about the mysteries and legends still surrounding North Carolina's worst mass murder, is an historic and horrific example of domestic violence.
A Christmas Family Tragedy explores one of the most baffling tragedies in the history of North Carolina. On Christmas Day 1929 in Stokes County, NC, a well-respected and prosperous tobacco farmer named Charlie Lawson systematically murdered his wife and six of his seven children before killing himself.
There have been countless myths and legends surrounding the Lawson family murders, and the makers of A Christmas Family Tragedy were determined to cover the history of the legend while allowing the audience to decide for themselves among competing theories as to Charlie's motives.
The mystery remains to this day unsolved. The film, which features interviews with descendants of the Lawson family and their neighbors, exclusive photographs, period style recreations, and music (including a cover of the infamous "Murder of the Lawson Family" ballad by Katharine Whalen of Squirrel Nut Zippers fame) is already gaining momentum throughout the state, spreading now, as it did nearly 80 years ago, throughout the heart of Appalachia.
An independent film in the truest sense of the word,A Christmas Family Tragedy is the debut feature film from Break of Dawn Productions. Eric Calhoun and Matt Hodges produced the film, which Hodges also directed.
The film is sponsored by UNCW CARE: Collaboration for Assault Response & Education and is part of an ongoing Relationship Issues Film Series. All showings are free and open to the public and will be held in the Lumina Theater.
Other films in the series include:
Hitch, Friday, March 30 - Love is New York's greatest matchmaker's job. But just when you think you've found true love, there's always a HITCH. Showings at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Volver, Monday, April 16 - This stunning Spanish film based in Madrid has garnered amazing reviews. The film weaves a variety of genres together to create an affecting work about the damage that violence laced with secrets does to everyone in the family constellation - and the magical healing available in family love. Showing at 7:30 p.m.
The CARE Relationship Issues Film Series is part of a variety of programs addressing the importance of building of healthy relationships, as well as the painful effects of unhealthy or abusive relationships on our lives. These programs are one aspect of "Weaving the Fabric of a Non-Violent University," a two-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Education. For more information on this project, visit www.uncw.edu/care or call 910.962.CARE.
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