Hillsdale College’s Dow Journalism Program will host a screening of the documentary “Flannery” and a subsequent Q&A session with its filmmakers on Jan. 22.
The film will be shown at 7:30 p.m. in Dow A&B. Winning the first-ever Library of Congress/Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, “Flannery” has brought the intimate, personal details of author and novelist Flannery O’Connor’s legacy into the public sphere.
“Flannery O’Connor is considered by many to be one of, if not the finest American writer of the short story,” said Michael Jordan, professor emeritus of English. “At one time, she attracted more critical interest than any other writer in America.”
Because of the natural attraction that Hillsdale students have to O’Connor’s work, the Dow Journalism program chose to feature this film as a way to carry on their new documentary program.
Assistant director of the Dow Journalism Program Maria Servold said that the College introduced the documentary side of journalism to their curriculum this past year.
“We wanted to begin by showing documentaries, so in the fall we showed ‘Who Killed Michael Brown’,” Servold said. “We found the ‘Flannery’ documentary and knew that we wanted to show it.”
Writing from the 1940s to ‘60s, O’Connor published fictional novels, short stories, and essays that incorporated themes of grace, sin, and comical elements to relate and empathize with the current struggles of the American people.
“She thought that her faith made her aware of a bigger world than those who were without faith,” Jordan explained.
O’Connor’s devotion to her Catholic faith is shown in the structure and redemption found in her works.
“Flannery O’Connor kept her eye on the moment of grace in every one of her stories,” Professor of English John Somerville said. “O’Connor says elsewhere that the devil also accomplishes a great deal of groundwork for God.”
Jordan said that O’Connor’s depictions of faith within the vile, unpredictable world should attract students to watch the film and learn more about O’Connor.
“She once described a collection of her stories as ‘nine stories about original sin,’” Jordan said. “And that should be of some interest to Hillsdale students.”
Servold also described how the Q&A session with the “Flannery” filmmakers would benefit students and the Dow Journalism program.
“It will be a great opportunity for students to learn about filmmaking from the people who were able to create such a successful documentary,” Servold said.
