February 23, 2019
Grand Saline, Texas, a town east of Dallas, has a history of racism, a history the community doesn’t talk about. This shroud of secrecy ended when one man self-immolated to protest their racism in 2014, shining a spotlight on the town’s dark past. Man on Fire untangles the pieces of this protest and questions the racism in Grand Saline today. Join us for a special talk back with the director of the film, Joel Fendelman.
On Screen/In Person is a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation made possible through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
With roots in Miami, Austin, and New York City, Joel Fendelman has written, produced and directed a number of award-winning narrative and documentary films. Fendelman strives to embrace socially conscious stories that deal with religion, social class, minorities and communicates the underlying connection between us all.
In 2011, Fendelman completed his first dramatic narrative feature, David, a coming of age story about identity and friendship between a Muslim and a Jewish boy in the ethnic neighborhoods of south Brooklyn. The film screened at the Rome and Montreal World Film Festival, which awarded the film its prestigious Ecumenical Prize, and at many other venues around the globe. His second narrative feature film, Remittance, which follows the story of a Filipino mother who travels to Singapore to work as a maid in order to bring a better life to her family back home, won many festival awards including Best Actress and Best Screenplay at the Brooklyn Film Festival and is currently being distributed worldwide. Last year, Fendelman’s short film Game Night, a film about aging and unfulfilled dreams, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won Best Super Short at the Savannah Film Festival. Man on Fire is Fendelman’s third feature film.