'Unspoken' Documentary to Screen at Oxford College of Emory University

OXFORD, GEORGIA - The groundbreaking documentary-feature film, "UNSPOKEN," from Georgia-based Filmmaker Stephanie Calabrese will screen on Wednesday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Oxford College of Emory University Chapel (801 Emory St.). Sponsored by the Oxford College Humanities Division, the screening will feature a post-film director Q&A hosted by Oxford College of Emory University Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Associate Professor of English & American Studies Dr. Molly McGehee.

"We are excited to welcome Stephanie to Oxford College for a screening of her impactful film," McGehee said. "This film, which addresses the still unresolved lynching of four African American residents of Walton County in 1946, points to the importance of truth-telling as way towards healing and racial reconciliation in this region. By unlocking an open secret lasting generations, Calabrese does not shy away from bringing buried truths to light, interrogating her own positionality along the way."

"UNSPOKEN" shatters a code of silence that has distanced neighbor from neighbor for generations. By tracing her journey as a small town Georgia resident, Calabrese uncovers buried truths and explores how the tight-knit community has been impacted by its racial divide deepened in part by the 1946 Moores Ford Lynching, also known as the "the last mass lynching in America." Sourced from 40 interviews with fellow Monroe residents and research over the course of three and a half years, the film offers an insider's intimate look at the impact of the lynching, segregation and integration through today.

Shot entirely on an iPhone, "UNSPOKEN" was created to provide historical context and acknowledgement of racial injustice as a critical step toward community reconciliation with an aim toward healing in Walton County and beyond. After three sold-out screenings in the film's location of Monroe, a unifying movement began at a community dialog session that focused on reexamining race relations, divisions and opportunities for reconciliation.

"UNSPOKEN" won the Audience Choice Award for Documentary at the Macon Film Festival in August. The film was also an Official Selection for the Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival, Chagrin Documentary Film Festival and Portland Film Festival in 2022. The film recently won the Documentary Features Special Jury Award at the Rome International Film Festival in November and Best Documentary Film at the Reedy Reels Film Festival in February.

Filmmaker Stephanie Calabrese is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist. Stephanie's photographic documentary series "Hometown: A Documentary of Monroe, Georgia'' has been featured on The New York Times LENS site and on Atlanta CBS45 News. Her work has been featured in Time, Lightbox, Forbes.com, LIFE.com, Digital Photo, Photo.net, Professional Photographer, and The Bitter Southerner. Stephanie has produced documentary projects for clients including UPS, The Coca-Cola Company, CARE International, and The Georgia Department of Family and Child Services. She resides in Monroe, Georgia. She is the author of the best-selling "The Art of iPhoneography: A Guide to Mobile Creativity" published by Pixiq (a division of Sterling Press) and Ilex Press (now Octopus Press) and "Lens on Life: Documenting Your World Through Photography'' published by Focal Press and Ilex Press (now Octopus) and a past TEDx Talk speaker on "Building a Better World, One Picture at a Time."