VCUarts, working with the Department of African American Studies, VCU Athletics and the Afrikana Film Festival propose a free, day-long public screening and symposium of “OJ: Made in America” (2016), an 8-hour documentary on what many have come to know as the trial of the century: The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson. This trial, in essence, birthed the 24-hour news cycle, and in the mid-90s, marked a clear and present divide between White America and Black America.
“O.J.: Made in America,” is both O.J.’s story and ours—a narrative that transcends to directly address issues facing contemporary American society. Director Ezra Edelman dissects the football legend’s image while incorporating a comprehensive history of race relations, situating the OJ we now know in a historical context. In doing so, Edelman crafts an elegant Russian doll—a scenario that repeatedly reveals levels of complexity as it unmasks aspects of American culture: wealth, privilege, policing, self-creation, celebrity, domestic violence, the judicial system, news media and the roll of athletes as symbolic agents of socio-political movements.
Edelman suggests a connective tissue through history that serves to spin a journalistic masterpiece of cinematic art so completely and poignantly on target. Footage of Jackie Robinson running bases, Tommie Smith and John Carlos defiantly raising clenched fists, or Muhammad Ali speaking against the draft are echoes of present-day athlete activism, including quarterback Colin Kaepernick speaking on Black Lives Matter, or linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo advocating for same-sex marriage. Conflation of found footage against recent memories of sports advocacy hints at the cyclical nature of struggle between cultural forces.
Following the screening, a panel featuring Edelman and VCU faculty will discuss subjects and themes covered in the documentary. Confirmed panelists include Nelson Hernadez, VCU men’s basketball Assistant Coach and Producer of ESPN documentary Off the Rez, and Nick Forester, visiting lecturer and scholar in African American Studies & Film Studies at Yale. Tentative panelists include Sonali Gulati, Associate Professor of Photo and Film and Dr. Shawn Utsey, Interim Chair of African American Studies and founder of Peep This, a documentary filmmaking program for young black men in Richmond’s East End (awaiting confirmation). An audience comprised of the general public and VCU students and faculty will have the opportunity to engage in this interdisciplinary discussion about athletics, law, journalism, media, marginalized identities, and social justice.
This event will also represent the culmination of a semester-long series of interdisciplinary lectures for a Spring 2017 PAPR senior seminar built around Edelman’s documentary titled “Media,Performativity and the American City.”
Submitted by Sasha Waters Freyer, chair, Photography + Film; Irvin Morazan, assistant professor, Sculpture + Extended Media; and Teto Elsiddique, Instructor, Painting + Printmaking
Award: $8,875
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