Films on rebuilding Bosnia and appreciating the Cajun gulf coast airing at Centenary College Wed-Th, March 30, 31

Post-storm debris on the Gulf, a photo by trudeau on Flickr.

Centenary College will host filmmakers Dr. Elizabeth Coffman and Ted Hardin this week, says Michelle Glaros.

Hardin and Coffman are the co-founders of Long Distance Productions, a media company dedicated to bridging the distances between people, cultures, and traditions. In 2002 they produced One More Mile: a Dialogue on Nation-Building, a feature film that screened in festivals and universities around the world.

They are currently co-producing Veins in the Gulf, a documentary based in southern Louisiana on the disappearance of Cajun culture, poetry, and the wetlands.

Public presentations and screenings include:

***Wednesday, March 30, 7 p.m., Whited Room in Bynum Commons
Screening, One More Mile: a Dialogue on Nation-Building
Free and open to the public

What happens when the bombs stop falling from the sky? How does a country heal itself after the devastation of genocide? What role does the world play in nation-building in countries such as Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and now Iraq? One More Mile: a Dialogue on Nation-Building investigates the delicate and controversial role of the international community in a post-war society.

One More Mile centers on a series of interviews with individuals (from high-ranking international officials to Bosnian students, artists and workers) who recount their experiences in all phases of the recovery process - media, economy, education, law, the arts, and the more abstract healing of the soul. This feature-length documentary offers a glimpse into the personal and professional complexities of a massive, multinational reconstruction venture.

***Thursday, March 31, 11 a.m., Whited Room in Bynum Commons
Convocation: The Making of Veins in the Gulf

*** Thursday, March 31, 7 p.m., Whited Room in Bynum Commons
Screening, Veins in the Gulf
Free and open to the public

Veins in the Gulf is a documentary that traces the history of rapidly disappearing bayous, the environmental crisis of southern Louisiana, and the international impact of Cajun culture, which is quickly losing ground. Through interviews with fishermen, engineers, poets, and scientists, we bear witness as Louisiana residents confront the mortality of their culture and a community tries to solve its environmental crises.