Directed by Jennifer Burton
Screening at MIT
March 10, 2015 from 7-9pm
Barnum 008
Tufts University Campus

 Tell Her Story and Belinda’s Petition are the first films created for Jennifer Burton’s new Half the History project, a short film series highlighting the under-told stories of women in American history. These shorts were directed by Burton and produced by Five Sisters Productions with the undergraduates in Burton’s DR 152: Producing For Film course at Tufts University. Music for Belinda’s Petition was recorded by Tufts University Kiniwe West African Drumming and Dance Ensemble with Professor David Locke. Tell Her Story introduces the diversity of historical women’s stories yet to be told. Belinda’s Petition, about the formerly enslaved Medford woman who successfully sued for reparations in 1783, is inspired and grounded by her actual petition to the Massachusetts Legislature. These films were produced with the support of the Tufts Diversity Fund, the Tisch Faculty Fellows Program, the Department of Drama and Dance, Film and Media Studies, and the Royall House and Slave Quarters in Medford.

 The screening will be followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Jennifer Burton.

 Burton is Professor of the Practice in film studies at Tufts University. With her four sisters, she also helms the independent film company Five Sisters Productions. Her films include Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens (premiering in April), The Happiest Day of His Life (MTV/Logo), a new comedic web series on ageism (Old Guy), and Manna From Heaven (MGM/SONY).