This user-generated virtual photo archive captures the fascinating stories and remarkable histories of American families
NEW YORK, Jan. 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Movie and Photo lovers around the world can share their family history through precious family photos via The Digital Diaspora Family Reunion. Award-winning director Thomas Allen Harris has hit the road with his innovative traveling roadshow, the Digital Diaspora Family Reunion (DDFR), which captures the stories and histories of American families in a national family photo archive.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140129/PH54601-a )
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140129/PH54601LOGO-b )
People can participate in the Digital Diaspora Family Reunion by uploading family photographs to all social media platforms using the #1World1Family and #DDFRtv hashtags.
Modeled after the Emmy-nominated PBS program "Antiques Roadshow," which examines family heirlooms and uncovers the stories behind them, the DDFR Roadshow is a community photo-sharing session, a veritable show-and-tell of fascinating family stories. Since its founding in 2009, DDFR has held 13 live events in five cities, generated 8.2 million media impressions and conducted more than 600 interviews. In the process, the initiative has gathered more than 6,500 photographs, which are part of the virtual, user-generated One World, One Family photo album.
"Though the photos and stories are diverse, each time we hold the DDFR we are struck by the universality of familial values and human experience expressed by them," said Harris, whose production company Chimpanzee Productions, Inc., manages the events. "At each roadshow stop a renewed sense of community emerges."
Harris recently premiered his new documentary, "Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People," at the Sundance Film Festival. The film explores the role of photography and Black photographers in shaping the identity, aspirations and social emergence of African-Americans from slavery to the present. The film will be broadcasted on PBS in 2014/2015.
"'Through a Lens Darkly' and its companion, the Digital Diaspora Family Reunion, demonstrate how important the captured image is to telling our own stories," said Jacquie Jones, executive director of the National Black Programming Consortium, early funder of the film.
In 2014, Harris hopes to bring the film and DDFR to 15 major markets and is currently seeking sponsors and partners. To learn more about the DDFR, visit www.ddfr.tv.
For interview or media inquiry, contact:
Cheryl L. Duncan
Email
201-552-9239
#1World1Family