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A Production of the University of Central Florida Burnett Honors College.

Funded by the UCF College of Arts and Humanities, College of Sciences, Nicholson School of Communication and Media,

Susan L. Gallagher and Morgan Wilson. 

Closed Captioning funded by the UCF Office of Diversity and Inclusion. 

Screenings

SCREENINGS

WE'RE ON PUBLIC TELEVISION!

CHECK YOUR LOCAL LISTINGS

The program will air on local public television stations across the U.S. from 2021-2026. For program listings, contact your nearest public television station.  You can ask them to air the program! Eventually, the program will stream for free on the WUCF-TV web site. When that happens we will post the link here, so check back!

WUCF-TV Orlando listings, 2021:

Tues., Feb. 2nd at 9pm 

Thurs. Feb. 4th at 5pm 

Sun. Feb.7th at 3pm

WSRE Pensacola 

Th Feb 4, 3pm 

Sat Feb 27, 6pm WORLD 

 

WFSU Tallahassee 

Sun Feb 14, 1pm 

Tues Feb 9, 9pm 

 

WJCT Jacksonville 

Tues Feb 16, 11pm 

Thurs Feb 18, 5pm 

Sun Feb 21, 1pm 

Sat Feb 27, 7pm 

 

WUFT Gainesville 

Sun Feb 7, 4pm 

 

WEDQ Tampa 

Sat Feb 6, 7pm 

Sun Feb 7, 2am 

 

WGCU Fort Myers 

Mon Feb 8, 10pm 

Tues Feb 9, 5pm 

CREATE Sun Feb 21, 10pm 

CREATE Mon Feb 22, 3am 

WORLD Sat Feb 27, 7pm 

 

WXEL West Palm Beach 

Sun Feb 7, 11pm 

 

WPBT Miami 

Sun Feb 7, 4pm

HOST A SCREENING

One of our hopes is to start a larger conversation and provide opportunities for people to get involved. Film screenings are a great way to educate and entertain your community. Choose your date, time, and location, then we’ll help with promoting the event, preparing the venue, and screening the movie.

 

THANKS TO ALL WHO ATTENDED THESE FILM FESTIVALS:

Southern States Indie Fan Film Fest:

01/01/2019

Ogeechee International History Film Festival

02/21/2019

Universe Multicultural Film Festival

04/05/2019

Broadcast Education Association Awards

04/08/2019

9th Annual Charlotte Black Film and Music Festival

04/11/2019

Tiburon International Film Festival

04/12/2019

Equality International Film Festival

04/13/2019

Florida Film Festival:

 04/14/2019

Las Vegas Black Film Festival

04/25/2019

Orlando Urban Film Festival

05/24/2019

Global Peace Film Festival

09/21/2019

Baltimore International Black Film Festival

Beginning 10/09/2019

Twin Cities Black Film Festival

Beginning 10/16/2019

Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival

November 9, 2019 at Noon at the Savor Cinema

St. Augustine Film Festival

Thurs, Jan. 16 at pm, Sat. Jan. 18 at 4:30pm

*Special Invited Screenings*

Orange County Regional History Center

February 16, 2pm 2020

Jones High School, Orlando

September 26-27, 2019

Edgewater High School, Orlando

September 30, 2019

American Consulate in Kolkata, India

May 2019

Florida Historical Society 

May 2019

AWARDS AND ARTICLES

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Kyle Aulow presents research conducted for the film by students to the UCF Board of Trustees.

Kyle Aulow, Oswmer Louis, and Nikki Mariutto win FIRST PLACE for their research poster at the UCF Showcase of Undergraduate Research.

Awards
About

ABOUT THE FILM

The film explores a story of unity in 1964 segregated Orlando, when one white high school marching band (Edgewater High School) and one black high school marching band (Jones High School) were invited to perform at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City.

Overcoming the racial segregation present in school and public places, both bands were able to reach the World’s Fair, crossing established racial lines and coming together through music and a sense of community. The film provides an opportunity to explore the moderately calm race relations of Orlando during the 1960’s, by contrasting the uplifting narrative about two high school bands with the backdrop of the violent and disturbing period of desegregation.

This film was born out of an honors public history and documentary class at the University of Central Florida. Students conducted research and interviews.  The two instructors continued the work of shooting and editing after the class ended with Oswmer Louis and Brittany Todd. This is the fourth film co-directed by Dr. Lisa Mills and Dr. Robert Cassanello with students in the Burnett Honors College.  Filthy Dreamers won a Student Emmy Award and

The Committee won a Suncoast Emmy Award.

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This historical documentary centers around fascinating characters with humorous and poignant stories that address the same issues of race, education, and equality with which the U.S. still struggles today.  At its center are two high school band directors- one black, one white- who were ahead of their time because instead of seeing skin color, they saw talent.  James W. “Chief” Wilson and Del Kieffner had the courage to cross color lines to do what they thought was best for their students.

The documentary contains many wonderful historic photos and 16mm film footage, providing a feeling of nostalgia for what was surely a simpler time.  However, in many other parts of the film we are reminded that the 1963-64 school year was also tumultuous, filled with civil rights protest marches and brutal racial violence.  At one point a Jones alumnus recounts a time when he and other black band students demanded that a nearby hamburger stand take their money from the front counter instead of the back door. This action resulted in an Orlando Police response that afternoon at band practice.  

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Meet The Team

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Nicole Mariutto

Nicole Mariutto lives in South Florida. After studying film and creative writing, she is now an assistant teacher at a local high school. She’s still pursuing her passion for film and writing in her free time.

Brittany Todd

Brittany Todd is an independent documentary filmmaker, cinematographer,  and freelance producer based on the Treasure Coast. She was the production coordinator & social media manager for Marching Forward. Brittany is currently producing a short film in Orlando called Keep Digging and looking for future projects.

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Juan Ordonez

Juan Ordonez helped on Marching Forward as the director of photography while he was attending the University of Central Florida before graduating in 2016. He was a part of the Burnett Honors Documentary class that wrote and produced the film and is now working full-time as a filmmaker in Boulder, Colorado.

Meet the Composers

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Composer Carl MaultsBy has written works for the concert stage, church, theatre, film, recordings, dance and educational resources. Eleven of his pieces are found in One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism: An African American Ecumenical Hymnal (2018 GIA Music Publications). MaultsBy’s organ composition “Toccata on Good News” is in the 2017 GIA Music Publication King of Kings, Volume 3. In 2013 St. James Music Press published MaultsBy’s SSA choral and organ setting of the U. S. slave spiritual “Music in the Air.” His commissions include “May God Bestow Upon You His Grace” for the St. John Lutheran, Winter Park, FL, 500th Anniversary Commemoration of the Protestant Reformation; “Abuelas, Nanas and Grandmamas Unsung” (2013) for Quintet of the Americas; “O Magnify the Lord” (2012) for the Institution of the Bishop of the Diocese of Central Florida; “Kum-Ba-Ya, Marcus” (2012) for Quintet of the Americas; “Praise: A Sacred Jazz Te Deum” (2011) for the Bucks County Choral Society. In 2001, MaultsBy received a Harvard University Fromm Music Commission for his choral and orchestral work “Eye of the Sparrow.” For the 2008 Celebration of the Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium, the Archdiocese of New York commissioned him to score the spiritual “Let Us Break Bread Together” for orchestra and chorus.

 

 

Composed in 1989, The St. Mary Mass in its entirety or with selected movements is found in the Church Publishing Inc. publications Enriching Our Music 1: Canticles and Settings for the Eucharist; Lift Every Voice and Sing II: An African American Hymnal; the 1996 EYE Songbook; Wonder, Love and Praise.

 

 

Currently, the Director of Music & Organist at St. Richard’s Episcopal Church, MaultsBy, a 2003-2009 member of the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music of The Episcopal Church, received the Bachelor of Arts in Music and Mathematics and the Doctor of Fine Arts (honoris causa) degrees from Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL, as well as the Master of Music degree in Jazz/Commercial Composition from Manhattan School of Music (MSM). He also studied sacred music and organ at Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, CA; organ at Florida State University with Michael Corzine and privately with Steven Emprin and Edna Hargrett-Thrower; composition at Columbia University with Vladamir Ussachevsky and Mario Davidovsky as well at Manhattan School of Music with Richard DeRosa, Edward Green and Roy Eaton.

Award-winning composer Stella Sung (www.stellasung.com) is published by Theodore Presser Music Publishers, Editions Henry Lemoine, Southern Music Company, and Sonic Star Music Productions. Her work can be found on Koch International Recordings, Naxos, Sinfonica (Italy), MSR, and Albany Records. She was the first Composer-in-Residence for the Orlando (FL) Philharmonic Orchestra (2008-2011) and the Dayton (OH) Performing Arts Alliance (2013-16). Premieres, performances, and commissions of Sung’s work have been from national and international orchestras, soloists, and ensembles.  Sung holds a B.M (piano performance) from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), an M.F.A (composition) from the University of Florida, and a D.M.A (piano performance) from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Sung is a Pegasus Professor and an Endowed Trustees Chair Professor of the University of Central FL, and is director of the Center for Research and Education in Arts, Technology, and Entertainment (CREATE) at UCF, College of Arts and Humanities. Additionally, Dr. Sung is a Distinguished Alumna of the University of FL.

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Oswmer Louis

Oswmer Louis was the student director of Marching Forward with Dr. Mills and Dr. Cassanello. He is currently a Project Coordinator for the City of Port St. Lucie and an independent filmmaker specializing in writing and directing.

Robert Cassanello

Robert Cassanello is an associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida. In addition to producing and directing award winning documentaries he also produced award winning history podcasts in visual and audio documentary format in a serialized narrative form. Along with Lisa Mills he has co-produced and co-directed award-winning history documentaries “The Committee” and “Filthy Dreamers,” which went on to win a Suncoast Emmy and College TV Emmy respectively

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Dr. Mills is a film professor at the University of Central Florida and was one of the Faculty Advisors/Co-Directors on this film. Dr. Mills is an independent documentary filmmaker and has made many award winning feature documentaries, to visit her website click the above icon. For any and all Press related inquiries, please contact

Dr. Mills via email, lisa.mills@ucf.edu

Media
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Trailer

BEHIND THE SCENES

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Credits

CREDITS

Co-Directors and Faculty Advisors

Robert Cassanello and Lisa Mills

Student Director
Oswmer Louis

 

Executive Producers

Martin DuPuis and Alvin Wang

Burnett Honors College

Featuring

Ernest A. “Pete” Boyd

Lyman A. Brodie

Ben Brotemarkle

Caroll Laughlin Burleson

Barbara Page Burns

Joy Dickinson

Richard Foglesong

Anthony Foster

Bruce Green

Neil Jenkins

Sandra Poston Johnson

Nina Wilson Jones

Karen S. Jones

Marilyn G. Kieffner

Kay Kieffner Kimbrough

Lynn Kieffner Lockhart

Joseph Krienes

Dr. Carl MaultsBy

Jamaal Nicholas

Gordon O’Hara

Nelson W. Pinder

Audrey H. Reicherts

Jean Siegfried

Russell P. Warren

Noel Feldman Weller-Woolley

Virginia Wilson

James W. Wilson

Nina Wilson Jones

Jamia Wilson

Catherine P. Wilson

Barbara Young

 

Written and Produced by Documentary Students in the Burnett Honors College at the University of Central Florida

Kyle Aulow

Paul Barber

Christian Dimaculangan

Oswmer Louis

Nicole Mariutto

Shannon McGuffey

Juan Ordonez

Abby Owen

 

Contributing Film Students in the Nicholson School of Media and Communication at UCF

Bobby Forman

Kristina League

Javier Martinez

Mikaela Ronnkvist

Brittany Todd

 

Director of Photography

Juan Ordonez

 

Additional Camera Work

Kyle Aulow

Timothy G. Brown

Bobby Forman

Oswmer Louis

Javier Martinez

Lisa Mills

Mikaela Ronnkvist

Brittany Todd

Editor

Timothy George Brown

 

Assistant Editors

Juan Ordonez

Lisa Mills

 

 

Animations Produced in the School of Visual Arts and Design at UCF

 

Character Design

Alyssa Garoogian

Amber Hilson

 

Character Riggers

James Chambless

 

Production Management

Heather Knott

 

Look Development & Animation

Dana Barnes

James Chambless

Joshua Cooper

Alyssa Garoogian

Ana Guerra

Angela Hernandez-Carlson

Amber Hilson

Heather Knott

Brian Phinn

 

Faculty Animation Supervisor

Cheryl Briggs

Social Media Manager

Brittany Todd

 

Archive Images Provided by

The Kieffner Family

The Wilson Family

Tana Porter

Joy Dickinson

FAMU Archive

Anthony Foster Foundation

Prelinger Archive

Jones High School History Museum

Library Special Collections, University of Central Florida

Orange County Regional History Center

Orlando Sentinel

 

Drone footage provided by

Victor Chu

Sky Tech One, New York City

 

Film and audio tape transfers by

Jim Barden

Martin Schiff

Network Sound and Video, Inc.

 

Original music by

Stella Sung

 

Additional music from

Audioblocks

Special Thanks

Anita Abrams

Geraldine Bateman

Kenneth Bowles

John Brown

Shirley Bryant

Brendan Byrne

Geoffrey Cravero

Vito Fera

Flora Maria Garcia

Amy Gireaux

Steve Goldman

Bruce Green

Walter G. Hawkins

Barbara Jay

Katherine Keuhn

Avido Khahaifa

Allison Kirby

Tina Laferriere

Connie Lester

Katherine P. Marsh

Rudy McDaniel

Jamaal Nicholas

Tana Mosier Porter

Troy Shimkus

Demetrius Summerville

Stella Sung

Raul Valery

Jeff Willis

Virginia W. Wilson

Kirstin Woff

 

First Congregational Church of Winter Park

St. Richard’s Episcopal Church of Winter Park

The Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist or Orlando

 

Edgewater High School, Orlando

Jones High School, Orlando

University High School, Orlando

 

FAMU Archive

Florida Bandmasters Association

WESH-TV

Contact
Contact Us

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