The DocLands Honors Award is presented to a filmmaker in recognition of exceptional storytelling within the documentary genre, an artist whose films resonate universally, emphasizing our common humanity—no matter the subject.
DAWN PORTER
HONORS PROGRAM + CALIFORNIA PREMIERE SCREENING OF THE LADY BIRD DIARIES
The 2023 DocLands Honors Award is presented to acclaimed filmmaker Dawn Porter (Gideon’s Army, John Lewis: Good Trouble, The Way I See It) for her commitment to exploring both historic and current states of affairs. Known for her timely commentary on subjects with social and political relevance, Porter joins us for a conversation, where she will delve into her craft as a documentarian, focusing on the insightful perspective she brings to her films. Through her lens, she shares uncommon insight into some of the most remarkable American artists, politicians, humanitarians, and social justice activists of our times. Her most recent film The Lady Bird Diaries will also be screened.
Join us following the program for a reception in the Mark Fishkin room, adjacent to theater.
THURSDAY, MAY 11 • 6:30
FILM ONLY: $16.50 General / $14 CAFILM Members
FILM & RECEPTION: $35 General / $30 CAFILM Members
(Limited Film & Reception tickets available)
THE LADY BIRD DIARIES
Director DAWN PORTER (US 2022) 100 min
Acclaimed director Dawn Porter (John Lewis: Good Trouble, DocLands 2020; DocLands Honors recipient 2023) is known for how deftly she humanizes legends, and demonstrates here how well history and the most personal thoughts and actions shaping it can be conveyed through archival records. Porter fashions her film from 123 hours of Lady Bird Johnson’s personal and revealing audio diary, which she began in 1963, when the assassination of President Kennedy obliged her husband Lyndon B. Johnson to take on the “most challenging and demanding job on Earth” as the 36th President of the United States, and continued recording through the Johnsons’ final day in the White House in 1969. Though Lady Bird found it distasteful to be called “First Lady,” she used the title to prove herself a savvy political strategist and propel her conservationist ideas into action, preserving natural resources for the American people.
DOCLANDS HONORS PROGRAM SPONSORED BY
