Films
Hamer turned to documentary filmmaking to address complex scientific and social issues often overlooked by the mainstream media. In 2005, he and his partner in life and filmmaking Joe Wilson, formed Qwaves with the mission of producing insightful and provocative films that "emanate from the voices of those on the outside, that incite us to abandon our comfortable role as spectators, and that compel us to question and to act." Their films have won numerous awards including winner of the PBS Independent Lens Shorts Festival, winner of the Videomaker National Documentary Film Challenge, and jury and audience awards and official selection at more than 100 film festivals worldwide. Qwaves films were part of the pioneering days of citizen-generated content on the Internet and cable television, and have been used as outreach and educational tools by a wide range of community and educational organizations.
OUT IN THE SILENCE, the first feature film from Qwaves, was supported by the Sundance Documentary Film Program and premiered at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Lincoln Center to critical acclaim. It was broadcast on PBS where it won an Emmy Award for achievement in documentary. Through more than 500 grassroots screenings across the country, this film has become part of a national movement to open dialogue, counter school bullying, and support fairness and equality for all in small towns and rural communities.
In 2011, the OUT IN THE SILENCE YOUTH ACTIVISM AWARD was initiated to highlight the contributions of young people to achieving respect, inclusion and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
He was also featured in comedian Bill Maher's 2008 documentary "Religilous".
Read more about this topic: Dean Hamer
Famous quotes containing the word films:
“Television does not dominate or insist, as movies do. It is not sensational, but taken for granted. Insistence would destroy it, for its message is so dire that it relies on being the background drone that counters silence. For most of us, it is something turned on and off as we would the light. It is a service, not a luxury or a thing of choice.”
—David Thomson, U.S. film historian. America in the Dark: The Impact of Hollywood Films on American Culture, ch. 8, William Morrow (1977)
“Science fiction films are not about science. They are about disaster, which is one of the oldest subjects of art.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“Does art reflect life? In movies, yes. Because more than any other art form, films have been a mirror held up to society’s porous face.”
—Marjorie Rosen (b. 1942)