Fred Marx to speak Sept. 7 in C-U
Probably fated to be forever known as “the alum who co-produced HOOP DREAMS” in these parts, Los Angeles-based filmmaker Frederick Marx is currently enjoying a return to the University of Illinois campus. Following a screening of his new documentary 17 PATHS TO ENLIGHTENMENT at Unit One/Allen Hall on Thursday night, Marx will speak and present selections from his recent work tomorrow, Sunday, September 7, 7 p.m., at the Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon, Urbana, IL. Admission will be $8.
Marx has amassed a sizeable filmography under his Warrior Educational Films banner in addition to HOOP DREAMS, the lauded Kartemquin Films documentary about inner city high school basketball players in Chicago. Mostly non-fiction, the Warrior catalogue exhibits a yearning for societal improvement and open-minded exploration, such as with ENLIGHTENMENT, about a journey to the Buddhist mecca Zanskar in Tibet, and NEW AMERICAN HEROES, a companion piece to HOOP DREAMS (1994) and BOYS TO MEN? (2004) that tracks relationships between urban teenagers and adult mentors.
Other Marx productions include SAVING THE SPHINX (1997), A HOOP DREAMS REUNION (1995), HIGHER GOALS (1992), OUT OF THE SILENCE (1991), and the found footage experiments HOUSE OF UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES (1984) and DREAM DOCUMENTARY (1981). Most have played television outlets such as PBS and The Learning Channel as well as numerous film festivals. His sole feature-length narrative, THE UNSPOKEN (1999), is dedicated to the late short film distributor Ron Epple, a contemporary of Marx during the Seventies in Champaign-Urbana. Marx earned degrees in Political Science and Film History, Theory & Criticism, from UIUC in 1977 and Filmmaking from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1983.
More information on Marx’s appearance at the Channing-Murray, a presentation of Kalpa Productions, can be found right here. Marx’s official Web site details his past and current work.
~ Jason Pankoke