October 21, 2003
Contact: George Yatchisin
(805) 893-3494
e-mail: yatchisin-g@ sa.ucsb.edu
The National Geographic Live! series presents Michael Davie delivering the illustrated lecture Filming on the Edge: Adventures in Guerrilla Documentary Filmmaking
Summary Facts:
- Michael Davie
- Emmy-award winning documentary filmmaker
- Davie has covered world hotspots like Kosovo, Afghanistan and Liberia
- Davie is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow in the UCSB College of Creative Studies
- First of four events in the 2003-2004 National Geographic Live! series
- Tuesday, November 25
- 8 pm / UCSB Campbell Hall
- General public $15 / UCSB students & youth under 18 $10
- Discount series tickets also available
- Tickets/Information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535
Daring Emmy Award-winner Mick Davie will present the illustrated lecture Filming on the Edge: Adventures in Guerrilla Filmmaking on Tuesday, November 25 at 8 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall. Davie is the creator and producer of World Diaries, a series chronicling the lives of people on the front lines of political, cultural and environmental change. His first episodes as correspondent for World Diary investigated post-apartheid poverty and crime in South Africa, and the culture of violence against women in Pakistan. Often working from dawn until dusk, using available light, a small camera and minimal crew, Davie captures moments of intimate interaction with his subjects. He also obtains stories where most other crews fear to tread, from the refugee camps in Albania and Kosovo to war-torn Liberia. His lecture will interweave excerpts from his films with powerful tales from conflict zones.
Originally from Zimbabwe, Davie’s family moved to Australia to escape civil war when he was four and continued moving, so that he grew up in locales such as Java and Borneo. He attended the University of Queensland in Australia, where he studied English, drama, and journalism. Upon graduation he landed his first job as a nightly reporter for a regional TV station in Australia. The frenetic pace, two to three stories a day, which he had to write and produce with a small team, proved to be a valuable foundation for documentary filmmaking.
After less than a year of covering rural issues, Davie grew restless and decided to attempt to produce a full-scale documentary. He purchased a video camera and pitched ABC-Australia on the idea of a hitchhiking trip up the entire length of the African continent from Cape Town, South Africa, to Cairo, Egypt. ABC wasn’t willing to fund the expedition, but offered to look at his footage, insisting they weren’t sure he would make it. Such tentative approval was still enough for Davie to launch his first filmmaking experience. Along his trek he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, uncovered government complicity within the Tanzanian heroin trade, worked with land-mine victims, and investigated sexual abuse among street children in his native Zimbabwe. The end result, Afrika! Cape Town to Cairo, caught the attention of National Geographic and aired on its television series Explorer.
Davie is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow in the UCSB College of Creative Studies.
The acclaimed lecture series National Geographic Live! features some of the world’s most celebrated photographers, explorers, authors and scientists who explore the world while on assignment for National Geographic. Back for its second year in Santa Barbara, the four-event series will include award-winning veteran NPR reporter, producer and program host Alex Chadwick presenting The Radio Expeditions Sound Spectacular on Wednesday, February 4; National Geographic Explorer in Residence Paul Sereno, who has discovered dinosaur fossils on several continents, presenting Africa’s Lost Dinosaur World on Thursday, March 4; and esteemed wildlife photographer Michael Nichols presenting Megatransect: A Photographic Journey Through the Heart of Africa on Monday, April 12.
This program is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures in association with National Geographic Live!, a mission program of speakers and events that brings the National Geographic experience to communities nationwide.
Tickets for an evening with Michael Davie are $15 for the general public and $10 for UCSB students & youth 18 and under. A special discounted National Geographic Live! series ticket for all four events of the 2003-2004 season is on sale for $50 for the general public and $32 for UCSB students & youth under 18.
For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.
Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.