A Chronological Listing of Films and Other Projects by Paul Wagner
Harmonize: Folklore in the Lives of Five Families
Producer/director/editor, with Steve Zeitlin - 1976, 30 minutes
A potpourri of idiosyncratic family traditions, rituals, holiday celebrations, and expressions; produced for the Smithsonian Institution Office of Folklife Programs for showing during the Bicentennial Festival of American Folklife.
Mermaids Froglegs and Fillets
Producer/director/editor, with Steve Zeitlin and Jack Santino -1979, 30 minutes
A portrait of two young “fishcriers,” one black from urban Washington and the other white from the rural Eastern Shore of Maryland, who create rhymes and chants to attract customers to their fish- selling boat; produced for the Smithsonian Office of Folklife Programs.
Miles of Smiles, Years of Struggle
Producer/director/editor, with Jack Santino - 1983, 60 minutes
An oral history of the Pullman porters examining their history and lore, and their organization of America’s first African American labor union; produced independently in cooperation with the Smithsonian Office of Folklife Programs, with a grant from the D.C. Community Humanities Council; national broadcast on PBS, four regional Emmy Awards, Cine Golden Eagle, American Film Festival Blue Ribbon, Mill Valley Film Festival, INPUT International Public Television Conference, Cinema du Real (France), Flaherty Film Seminar, Telluride Film Festival.
Free Show Tonite
Producer/director/editor, with Steve Zeitlin - 1984, 60 minutes
An oral history of the old-time travelling medicine show performers, with a recreated medicine show staged in a small North Carolina town; produced independently in cooperation with the Smithsonian Office of Folklife Programs with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts; broadcast on PBS, Cine Golden Eagle, National Educational Film Festival Grand Prize winner, Flaherty Film Seminar.
The Stone Carvers
Producer/director/editor, with Marjorie Hunt - 1984, 30 minutes
A portrait of the Italian American artisans who carved the gargoyles and statues of the Washington Cathedral emphasizing their occupational lore and traditions; produced independently in cooperation with the S.I. Office of Folklife Programs, with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the D.C. Community Humanities Council, and the Cafritz Foundation; Academy Award for Best Short Documentary, National Emmy Award for Best Documentary Director, national broadcast on PBS, Cine Golden Eagle, American Film Festival Blue Ribbon, Irish Silver Harp Award, Birmingham Educational Film Festival Best Independent Film, Flaherty Film Seminar, Mayor’s Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist (Washington, D.C.)
Jugtown
Producer/director/editor - 1985, 30 minutes
Traces the process of creating traditional Southern pottery at this celebrated North Carolina pottery; produced for the S.I. Office of Folklife Programs.
Celebrations -- the World of Victor and Edith Turner
Producer/director/editor - 1986, 30 minutes
A tribute to the life and work of the Turners, noted anthropologists and experts on the nature of myth and religious ritual; produced for the S.I. Office of Folklife Programs.
The Festival of American Folklife
Producer/director/editor - 1986, 10 minutes
An overview of the Smithsonian’s Folk Festival and its focus on cultural diversity in America; produced for the S.I. Office of Folklife Programs.
various industrial films and videos
Director - 1987-1992
Documentaries and dramas produced for commercial clients including Molson’s Brewery, BellCore Laboratories, Wyeth-Ayerst Pharmaceuticals, and Xerox Corporation.
Asylum
Executive producer, with producer Sarah Mondale - 1987, 60 minutes
The history of institutions for the insane, and the complex moral and philosophical issues surrounding them; produced independently with a grant from the D.C. Community Humanities Foundation; broadcast nationally on PBS.
Museum and Community
Director - 1988, 40 minutes
A survey of exemplary museum projects at the Bronx Botanical Gardens, the Cherokee Indian Museum in Oklahoma, the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis, and the San Francisco Museum of Art; produced for the S.I. with a grant from the Kellogg Foundation.
Falling Stars
(play)
Adapter and director – 1989
A stylized character study of a young woman; I wrote the stage adaptation of a short story by Alexa Gelmi and directed; grand prize winner 1989 Source Theater Festival Ten-Minute Play Competition.
Daddy’s Guitar (play)
Writer – 1989
A one-act play about family reconciliation set in a small town in Kentucky in the 1950s; produced as a staged reading by Mill Mountain Theater (Roanoke, Virginia).
Various Theater Workshop Productions
(plays)
Actor - 1987-89
Roles as John Proctor in “The Crucible,” George in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff,” and Petruchio in “The Taming of the Shrew” at Studio Theater Conservatory.
Advice to the Players
(play)Director – 1990
A play about the moral dilemma faced by two black South African actors who are asked not to perform as an act of protest against apartheid; produced by the Contemporary Arts Theater.
The Pearl
(play)
Producer, with writer Judlyne Lilly – 1991
A play based on the 1848 attempted escape of 77 slaves from Washington; I researched, wrote the treatment, and produced the play for the bicentennial of the District of Columbia with grants from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Marcel Proust
Executive producer, with producer Sarah Mondale - 1992, 60 minutes
A biography of the author of Remembrance of Things Past; produced independently with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities; national broadcast on PBS.
Seeds of Change
Director/editor - 1992, 12 minutes
The story of biological and cultural exchange in the wake of Columbus’ arrival in America, created in a 3-screen pan video format; for the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History as a theatrical installation in the Columbian Quincentenary exhibit; awards in museum exhibit and public information competitions.
Four Museum Exhibit Videos
Director - 1993, various lengths
Four separate video programs, two dramas and two documentaries, for installations in the S.I. American Postal Museum.
Crazy Man Crazy
Writer/Producer/director/editor - 1993, 8 minutes
A short dramatic film with an original script by Paul Wagner and Kentucky author Ed McClanahan; produced independently.
The Grand Generation
Producer/director/editor, with Marjorie Hunt and Steve Zeitlin - 1993, 30 minutes
A portrait of six older Americans, each with their roots in a unique cultural heritage and each with a powerful perspective on the nature of aging; produced independently in cooperation with the S.I., with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Council on the Arts, a Mid- Atlantic Media Arts Fellowship, and the D.C. Humanities Council.
The Congress of Wonders
Writer/Producer/director/editor, with writer Ed McClanahan - 1994, 24 minutes
A short dramatic film with a script by Wagner and Ed McClanahan, based on McClanahan’s story, about a young boy, his older brother, and a premonition of death during World War II; produced independently with grants from the Kentucky Educational Television Fund for Independent Producers, the Kentucky Arts Council, and a Southeastern Region Media Arts Fellowship; Virginia Film Festival, Indianapolis Film Festival Grand Prize winner.
Signature—Ed McClanahan
Director/editor - 1995, 60 minutes
A portrait of author Ed McClanahan (The Natural Man, A Congress of Wonders), tracing his small-town origins, exploits as a proto-hippie in the 1960s, and emergence as a voice in the Southern Gothic tradition; for Kentucky Educational Television, with a grant from the Annenberg Fund; broadcast on public television.
Out of Ireland
Writer/co-Producer/director/editor, with producer Ellen Casey - 1995, 111 minutes
The story of Irish emigration to America from the famine-swept villages of 19th century Ireland to the industrialized cities of 20th century America, told through the lives and letters of eight specific immigrants; produced independently with a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities; broadcast nationally on PBS, Denver Film Festival, Cork (Ireland) Film Festival, Lincoln Center Film Society Festival of Irish Film, Sundance Film Festival.
Out of Ireland
(book and CD)
Author, with Kerby Miller and producer, with Mick Moloney – 1995
In connection with the film, I co-authored a history of Irish emigration (Elliott & Clark Publishing) and co- produced the soundtrack album (Shanachie Records).
The Battle of the Alamo
Director - 1996, 57 minutes
A documentary with dramatic re-enactments, telling the story of the seige and battle of the Alamo; produced by the George Washington University Center for History in the Media; broadcast nationally on the Discovery Channel.
Signature -- George C. Wolfe
Director/editor - 1997, 58 minutes
A portrait of theater writer/director George C. Wolfe (Colored Museum, Jelly’s Last Jam, Angels in America); national PBS broadcast, winner National Educational Television Association Public Television Program of the Year, regional Emmy Award; produced for Kentucky Educational Television with a grant from the Annenberg Fund.
A Paralyzing Fear: the Story of Polio in America
Producer, with Nina Seavey - 1998, 90 minutes
A documentary about America’s scientific and cultural conquest of polio, including archival and oral history materials; national PBS broadcast, winner Eric Barnouw Award for Best Historical Documentary, winner national Emmy Award for Best Research, theatrical release at New York Film Forum.
Windhorse
A dramatic feature about three young Tibetans and their struggle for freedom and fulfillment in Chinese- occupied Tibet, filmed clandestinely inside Tibet and in Nepal; winner Best U.S. Feature and Best Director of the Santa Barbara Film Festival, Audience Award Florida FF, Audience Award Washington, D.C. FF, Grand Prize Telluride Mountain FF, Grand Prize Premio ALP/Cervinio, second place Audience Award Rotterdam FF, Human Rights Watch FF, Toronto FF, Tokyo FF, Melbourne FF, Sydney FF, and many other U.S. and international festivals; theatrical release in over 100 U.S. cities by Shadow Distribution; video release by New Yorker Films. Windhorse is one of the first features shot on digital technology and distributed on 35mm in theaters.
Horses
Producer/director/editor - 2000, 42 minutes
A documentary about horses and the horse life in Albemarle County, Virginia; produced for the Virginia PBS series East of the Blue Ridge; national public broadcast via American Program Service.
Writers
Producer/director/editor - 2000, 42 minutes
A documentary about writers and the writing life in Albemarle County, Virginia; featuring Rita Dove, John Grisham, Rita Mae Brown, Charles Wright, and John Casey; produced for the Virginia PBS series East of the Blue Ridge; national public broadcast via American Program Service .
John McCutcheon’s Commonwealth
Producer - 2001, 58 minutes
A live-on-tape performance of folk musician John McCutcheon’s millennium concert tribute to the Commonwealth of Virginia; produced for Virginia PBS.
Three Presidents
Producer/director - 2001, 58 minutes
A documentary about Piedmont, Virginia neighbors Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe; produced for the Virginia PBS series East of the Blue Ridge; national public broadcast via American Program Service.
Three Roses
Producer/director - 2001, 90 minutes
A live-on-tape performance of Julie Portman’s play about violence against women; produced for Virginia PBS.
No Higher Honor
Consulting producer, with producer Mark Helfer - 2000- 2002, 58 minutes each
A series of documentaries about governors of Virginia; produced for Virginia PBS .
The James River
Producer/director, with producer Paul Roberts - 2003, 58 minutes
A documentary about The James River, seen through the eyes of the sportsmen, environmentalists, historians, writers, and the many people who know and love the James; produced for the Virginia PBS series East of the Blue Ridge; national public broadcast via American Program Service .
Re-Imagining Ireland
Senior producer, with producer Andrew Wyndham - 2004, 58 minutes
A documentary about the remarkable economic, political and cultural changes transforming contemporary Ireland. |
