Watch Freedom Lost: Restoration for free on Vimeo

In Celebration of Black History Month - you can enjoy a free screening of my documentary, Freedom Lost: Restoration. https://vimeo.com/201361783

Public Radio East Coverage of Freedom Lost: Restoration

Nice piece by the folks at Public Radio East on the film.  Also at this link you can listen to the interview they did with me on the radio:

http://www.publicradioeast.org/post/free-screening-freedom-lost-restoration-february-27th

Free Screening of “Freedom Lost: Restoration" on February 27th

By JARED BRUMBAUGH

The new, documentary film “Freedom Lost: Restoration" explores an often forgotten piece of history about life for African Americans in New Bern and James City in the time surrounding the Civil War.  The free screening takes place at 6pm Wednesday, February 27th at Craven Community College's Orringer Auditorium.

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We wrap up our Black History Month series this week with an often forgotten piece of history about life for African Americans in New Bern and James City in the time surrounding the Civil War. Next Wednesday, Film maker Tom Swift is premiering his documentary “Freedom Lost: Restoration.” Through interviews and Swifts own reading, he tells of a time when African Americans had certain freedoms, like the right to vote. He tells how those freedoms were lost when union troops departed, and with the advent of the Jim Crow laws. Stephen O’Connell spoke with Swift this week.

In doing your research for the film you did several interviews with local historians, but you also drew inspiration from the book James City: A Black Community in North Carolina. How did that book influence your movie?

"The James City book more covers James City than the city of New Bern. My film goes into the history of New Bern a little bit more in detail, talking about what life was like before the Civil War; although its brief, it gives a good overview I believe, you know, it basically fills up a context to, that were a number of freedoms the African Americans did have in New Bern before the Civil War, like having the right to vote for example in North Carolina before the civil war was pretty amazing for an African American who was free."

As you explained in the movie there were African Americans living in New Bern and James City before the Civil War that were free, and had some rights. Do you think the freedoms they had before the Civil War are comparable to the ones they have now?

"I do not believe that the opportunities they had then are comparable to what they have today, however there was a substantial amount of freedom that was coming from you know getting an amendment to the constitution where they have certain rights being added, and yet there’s being a backlash in the South, and the federal government leaving the area that was occupied and so there’s no protection, and you have the Jim Crow laws and such. And then restoration comes as things are transforming today, with the civil rights movement and things of that nature making a bigger impact on the freedoms that they have today."

Did any of the historians you spoke with have personal ties to New Bern or James City history?

"Bernard George, you know his family grew up here. As he says in the film later on, when he talks about the Great Fire of New Bern, he says his father remembered it, you know, and his family comes from this area so he has a real connection to this area as far as having grown up here and his father growing up here. So for him he knows the history but it’s also about his personal life being a part of that history, and getting that out to the community, so that adds to the type of life he lived."

I'm speaking with Tom Swift, he's the director of the documentary "Freedom Lost: Restoration." Thanks for speaking with me.

"Thank you so much."

The free film premiers at Craven Community College Wednesday, February 27th.  For more information, go to publicradioeast.org.

Click here for more information on the event:http://events.publicbroadcasting.net/pre/events.eventsmain?action=showEvent&eventID=1337713

Sun Journal coverage of Freedom Lost: Restoration

Nice article in the New Bern Sun Journal by Charlie Hall showcasing the film and also features the poster to the film:

 http://www.newbernsj.com/news/arts-entertainment/james-city-film-model-train-show-highlight-busy-week-ahead-1.101483

The Craven Community College Black History Month programming continues Wednesday with the historical documentary “Freedom Lost: Restoration, a Black History Documentary,” by filmmaker/writer/director Tom Swift.

The showing is from 6 to 8 p.m.in Orringer Auditorium.

Swift invites the public to the free presentation to discover the roots of New Bern and James City’s rich African-American history. There is also a reception.

The film features local African-American leaders Ben Watford, Bernard George and Sharon Bryant.

Public Screening at Craven Community College

This Wednesday for Black History Month, there is a screening of Freedom Lost: Restoration at Craven Community College.  I plan to attend and will be coming from Florida to North Carolina for an evening of sharing this wonderful history. The public screening is Wednesday February 27th at 6pm, Orringer Auditorium.  Look forward to seeing you there.

Below is a link to a recent article the New Bern Sun Journal had on the coming event:

http://www.newbernsj.com/news/arts-entertainment/james-city-film-model-train-show-highlight-busy-week-ahead-1.101483?tc=cr

Now on DVD

The DVD is now available for purchase here: https://www.createspace.com/331749

Actor Sy Richardson (Pushing Daisies, Colors) said of Freedom Lost: Restoration "That was Black History I never heard of and my minor in college was Black History. This story needs to be told. Just like Roots and Red Tails."

Be sure to contact us to let us know what you think of the film. Like us on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Freedom-Lost-Restoration/195217547237828

Visit the official website here: www.forgottenblackhistory.com

Big Changes To Freedom Lost: Restoration

As you can see, the url of the blog has been changed to http://forgottenblackhistory.blogspot.com. That decision comes with getting a whole new site to promote the Freedom Lost: Restoration project: www.forgottenblackhistory.com

Truly these key words "Forgotten" "Black History" will help us in search engines and when people do a search for Black History they will have a better opportunity to find our film and learn more about the project and the history.

And actually,The more folks who have watched the film, have shared with me that they have never heard this history. It is truly forgotten Black History and it's a history that needs to be learned and rediscovered.

I recently edited an updated version of this compelling Black History documentary about New Bern and James City, North Carolina and hoped to release a new DVD by February 2012, Black History month. But it looks like delays have pushed it into April. Filmmaking is an extensive process and things happen beyond our control - but everything happens according to God's timing. So I'm sure it's right on time.

A number of changes have happened with the film. I removed the title: Memorial and just call it Freedom Lost: Restoration now which I think works better. If the project grows to a series of documentaries, then perhaps Memorial can be brought back again.

In the "Memorial" version, the aspect of breaking up the history was mentioned by others I asked to watch it as a disruption to the telling of the story. As I saw this common concern and critique, I determined to cut some of those scenes out and went with a straight telling of the history and ending on the memorial and slave quarters restoration. It was a hard decision to cut out the oral history scene, the walking tour, and the African Brigade Reenactors. As good as these scenes were, they were still disrupting the actual history of New Bern and James City and disrupting the story, which hurts a film rather than helps it most of the times. So I will be releasing those deleted scenes on a special edition DVD that is coming soon because I know these are scenes that need to be preserved and seen and I'm sure you all will want to see them still.

In the end, these changes gave me some room to restore a scene I originally cut out about the engraving on the memorial stone, which brings even better closure to the film. There are a couple of other minor changes of added music, an additional shot of slaves in the garden during the civil war scenes, and some added sound effects. I also spent more time doing another sound mix which is incredibly and painfully tedious as well as a time consuming procedure. I think these changes make the film much better and improve it greatly.

I also cut a new preview for the film which can be seen here. I also believe that is an improvement as well from the original previews:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gKH-cc9WpA

I'm currently working on having some screenings in New Bern. Let me know if you know of any church or organization that would like to have a screening of it during Black History month.

I'm also continuing to press on in developing a feature film called "City of Refuge" about a slave who comes to New Bern during the Civil War. It's a powerful story about healing and forgiveness tied to the rich Black History of Eastern North Carolina.

If you take a look at the earlier posts on this blog alone, you will see how things have changed in moving forward with this project. You can see that other things were shot for the documentary that we hope to show in a future potential documentaries. We have a bunch of other interviews that have yet to see the light of day, for example. There is also potential to develop a sequel documentary that would be titled "The Forgotten History" and you can see how that ties in with the new website for the project. But in going forward, many of these things depend on how things go with this documentary and the feature film we're continuing to develop.

Change can be a positive thing and I believe these changes are important to improving this important project of restoration and healing.

Thank you for all your help and support.

Blessings,

Tom Swift

Watch the 30 minute film online

P R E S S R E L E A S E

For Immediate Release

NC Black History Film Premieres Online

NEW BERN, N.C. – February 2011 - Awaken Pictures, Inc, an emerging movie, television, and documentary production company recently released the first chapter: Memorial, a documentary from the compelling Black History Series "Freedom Lost: Restoration". The project consists of a series of documentary shorts and a feature film focusing on African Americans living in James City and New Bern, NC (the Colonial Capital of NC now celebrating its 300^th Anniversary). The first chapter: “Memorial” is a 30 minute documentary that can be viewed on Youtube. Tom Swift, co-executive producer and writer/director of “Memorial”, has been working on Freedom Lost: Restoration for 5 years. Swift says he began researching this subject in 2001 while working at the ABC news affiliate there as a videographer. He says this is an area rich with Black History but has been overlooked and deserves more national attention. “I discovered that an incredible piece of history was right in my backyard, and I knew it just had to be told.”

Swift says since New Bern has just celebrated its 300^th Anniversary that the release date is “very timely” especially in a day when people are very interested in African American history since the election of the first African American president in 2008. “Successful filmmaking is all about timing,” says Swift. “And I believe without a shadow of a doubt that this is the right time to release it. I've actually been trying to release it for years, but God didn't permit it until now. Everything is really in His time.”

James City traces its roots to a North Carolina settlement in the 1860s, which became a sanctuary for thousands of slaves, established by the Union army when they took the city of New Bern (known historically as a haven for Free Blacks) captive during the Civil War. After the war was over, the city became a self-sustaining community of former slaves. But growing hostility from a wounded and bitter South, and the loss of protection from the Union victors, allowed for the birth of Jim Crow laws, and other prejudices that forced this promising and thriving community to fight desperately to keep their freedom.

“Freedom Lost: Restoration” as a project explores how far this community has come after freed slaves lost their freedom by the dawn of the 20^th Century. The project is about sharing history to bring healing. Swift believes that many of the difficult racial issues of today are rooted in events of long ago, “long before many of us were born,” he says.

The First Chapter: “Memorial” showcases the lives of 3 African-Americans (Sharon Bryant, Bernard George, Ben Watford) who are making a positive impact in their community by bringing remembrance to the past. Sharon Bryant is the African-American Outreach Coordinator from Tryon Palace who conducts Black History tours in New Bern. Bernard George is an Eastern North Carolina Historian who has been working on preserving an Oral Black History in New Bern. Ben Watford, a historian from the James City Historical Society, oversees the Crocket Miller Slave Quarters and memorial in James City, NC. “Memorial” teaches us an important life lesson that “ in order to know where you're going, you have to know where you've come from”

The Historical and docu-Drama: “City of Refuge: The James City Story” is a narrative feature film that is still in development. The docudrama focuses on a slave (played by Scott Nunnally from the “Mothman Prophecies”) who flees to New Bern during the Civil War. The filmmakers hope that releasing “Memorial” will draw more attention to the feature film so it can finally be made. The docudrama is based on the book, “James City: A Black Community in North Carolina (1863-1900)” by Joe A. Mobley. Swift says he is also excited to have had the opportunity to work with the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, who gave permission to base the project on the book. “They have been very gracious to us and extremely helpful throughout the entire process.”

Scott Nunnally, who runs the film company Executor Arts Media in Pittsburgh, PA is also the Co-Executive Producer of Freedom Lost: Restoration. Bill Hand serves as the historical advisor and producer for the series along with Angela Swift and Dan O'Connell who serve as Co-Producers.

While the First Film: “Memorial” is streaming online, it is also available to schools, universities, churches, and other organizations to obtain an affordable license for public screenings. Swift is currently working on releasing it on DVD in the near future. For more information, visit the official website at www.awakenpictures.com/restoration.html where you can also find the link to watch the documentary. Visit the Freedom Lost blog at www.freedomlostproject.blogspot.com. For more information about Awaken Pictures, Inc. visit the website at www.awakenpictures.com