BAD PRESS
CIRCLE CINEMA FILM FESTIVAL DOCUMENTARY SCREENING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH KOSU & TULSA ARTIST FELLOWSHIP
IMAGE: Bad Press fill still. Courtesy of Circle Cinema.
Saturday, June 15, 2023 | 1 - 4 pm
Reception with Catering Autumn Star Catering | 1 pm
Short Film Ghosts and Bad Press Screening | 2 pm
Circle Cinema x 10 S Lewis Ave, Tulsa, OK 74104
Join KOSU and Tulsa Artist Fellowship for the documentary screening of Bad Press at Circle Cinema's annual film festival on Saturday, July 15. The reception will begin at 1 pm featuring Autumn Star Catering followed by the short film screening Ghosts and the main feature at 2 pm. Afterward, there will be a Q&A session with Becca Landsberry-Baker (Director), Angel Ellis (Reporter featured in the film), Shannon Shaw Duty (Osage News Editor), and Jerrad Moore (Mvskoke Media Reporter), moderated by Allison Herrera (KOSU Indigenous Affairs reporter & Tulsa Artist Fellow).
BAD PRESS (2023, 98 min, US, Documentary)
Director: Rebecca Landsberry-Baker & Joe Peeler. Executive Producer: Brenda Robinson. Producers: Conrad Beilharz, Garrett Baker, Tyler Graim. Associate Producer: Gloria Shade. Cinematographer: Tyler Graim. Additional Camera: Shane Brown. Editor: Jean Rheem & Joe Peeler. Cast: Angel Ellis (Self).
Angel Ellis is just trying to do her job. She’s a reporter for Mvskoke Media in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and she wants to give her readers access to all the information relevant to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. But that’s not an easy task, given that Angel and her colleagues believe in truth and transparency and aren't afraid to challenge the integrity of some questionable tribal officials. Fast-forward to a confusing whirlwind of an emergency session at the National Council, where the 2015 Free Press Act is repealed, Mvskoke Media's independent editorial board is dissolved, and the newspaper is placed under the direction of the Secretary of the Nation and Commerce. Now the real fight begins.
Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler tell a nuanced, empowering tale of a modern Native community fighting for transparency and access to information in order to hold their government accountable. Bad Press is an energizing watch — full of humor, humanity, and numerous twists and turns.
For additional information about the film, visit badpress.film.
Tulsa Artist Fellowship is committed to arts accessibility and ticket subsidy is available for audience members experiencing hardship. Please contact info@tulsaartistfellowship.org for more information by noon, on Friday, July 14, 2023.
IMAGE: Bad Press fill still. Courtesy of Circle Cinema.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Rebecca Landsberry-Baker is an enrolled citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the executive director of the Native American Journalists Association. She is a recipient of the 2018 NCAIED “Native American 40 Under 40” award and was selected to the Harvard Shorenstein News Leaders Fall 2022 cohort. Landsberry-Baker made her directorial debut with the documentary feature film, BAD PRESS, which was supported by the Sundance Institute, Ford Foundation JustFilms, NBC, and the Gotham.
Joe Peeler is a Sundance award-winning director and editor whose work has appeared on NETFLIX, HBO, FX, ESPN, Hulu and CBS. Joe began his career apprenticing under legendary director Peter Bogdanovich, and from there edited Lucy Walker’s Academy Awards Shortlist documentary short The Lion’s Mouth Opens; multiple episodes of the Netflix original series Flint Town; and Margaret Brown’s SXSW premiere documentary short The Black Belt. Most recently, Joe co-directed Bad Press, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Freedom of Expression.
Shannon Shaw Duty, Osage from the Grayhorse District, is the editor of the award-winning Osage News, the official independent media of the Osage Nation. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a master’s degree in Legal Studies with an emphasis in Indigenous Peoples Law.
Angel Ellis is a Citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and has lived, worked, and played within the tribes' reservation boundaries most of her life. Growing up, her heroes had press passes rather than capes and inspired her to become a journalist Ellis became Director of Mvskoke Media in 2020. Not only did her advocacy help bring free press back to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, but she also advocated for the tribe's first FOIA law. In 2020 she joined the ranks of Elias Boudinot Free Press award winners.
Allison Herrera is a radio and print journalist who's worked for PRX's The World, Colorado Public Radio as the climate and environment editor and as a freelance reporter for High Country News’ Indigenous Affairs desk.While at The World, she covered gender and equity for a reporting project called “Across Women’s Lives,” which focused on women’s rights around the globe. This project took her to Ukraine, where Herrera showcased the country’s global surrogacy industry, and reported on families who were desperate to escape the ongoing civil war that they moved to abandoned towns near the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site. In 2019, she received a fellowship from the International Women in Media Fund to report on the issue of reproductive rights in Argentina, a country scarred by the effects of the Dirty War and a legacy of sexual and physical abuse directed towards women. In 2015 and 2016, Herrera co-created and produced the Localore project “Invisible Nations” with KOSU. The project included video, radio and live events centered on telling better stories about Native American life in Oklahoma. Invisible Nations received several awards from the Associated Press and the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2017, she and her colleague Ziva Branstetter received an Emmy Award nomination for their Reveal story “Does the Time Fit the Crime,” which centered on criminal justice in Oklahoma. In 2019, Herrera’s story for High Country News and Center for Public Integrity titled When Disaster Strikes, Indigenous Communities Receive Unequal Disaster Aid received a Scripps Howard nomination for best environmental reporting along with the One Disaster Away series. Herrera’s Native ties are from her Xolon Salinan tribal heritage; her family’s traditional village was in the Toro Creek area of the Central California coast.
ABOUT CIRCLE CINEMA FILM FESTIVAL
2023 Circle Cinema Film FestivalPresented by The Mayo Hotel. Celebrating Circle Cinema's 95th Birthday Thursday, July 13 - Sunday, July 16The Circle Cinema Film Festival returns this July with a special celebration for Circle Cinema's 95th birthday! Join us for four days of the best new independent art, music, and film from Oklahoma alongside memories from Circle Cinema’s history.