A documentary made by UT students chronicling the Medal of Honor Convention held in Knoxville in September 2014 will premiere on March 26.
Conspicuous Gallantry: The 2014 Medal of Honor Convention will be shown at 7:00 p.m. at the East Tennessee Historical Society, 601 South Gay Street, Knoxville. The event is free and open to the public.
“The documentary represents the hard work and commitment of the twenty-eight students who were involved in the project. They did everything on this documentary and in the end produced a professional work that will serve as a lasting reminder of this important event,” said Assistant Professor Nick Geidner, who directs the Medal of Honor Project, an award-winning service-learning collaboration between UT’s School of Journalism and Electronic Media and the 2014 Medal of Honor Convention.
Conspicuous Gallantry features interviews with ten Medal of Honor recipients, both co-chairs of the convention, and numerous other individuals involved in the convention. It highlights events that took place during the convention and the amazing stories of the recipients the city honored.
“The Medal of Honor Project is by far the most realistic journalism experience I’ve had at UT,” said the documentary’s lead producer, Annie Carr, a journalism and electronic media junior from Blountville. “Working on this documentary was really eye-opening, both in getting experience and gaining a new appreciation for these men who have done such extraordinary things for our country.”
Although the convention is over, the project will continue sharing stories of the Medal of Honor and its recipients. UT students are currently working on educational videos for the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation and plan on attending the 2015 Medal of Honor convention in Boston to work on a second documentary.
“The Medal of Honor Project gives our students the chance to apply their journalistic skills in the real-world setting. Further, it allows them to tell the stories of true American heroes,” Geidner said. “We are also expanding our mission to tell the stories of the less celebrated heroes in our community.”
In that vein, the premiere also will feature a bonus screening of a twelve-minute short documentary focused on Project Healing Water, a not-for-profit organization that teaches and takes wounded veterans fly fishing. Geidner and three journalism students— Clinton Elmore, a graduate student from Knoxville; Hannah Marley, a sophomore from Memphis; and Maxwell Baker, a junior from Oak Ridge—produced the short film.
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CONTACT:
Nick Geidner (865-974-5155, ngeidner@utk.edu)
Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)