Alumni collaborate on documentary

“The Long March,” a documentary by UT graduates about race relations in the U.S. and Africa, will screen on PBS at 9 p.m. Thursday.

“The film is about human rights and not civil rights because it’s more than that for anyone that is marginalized,” Bob Legg, assistant professor in journalism and electronic media, said.

Legg signed on to oversee the documentary with students Trey Berney, Josh Richard and Jane Barr.

“The face of racism and prejudice has been softened, but there are still deep racial divides,” Richard said.

While doing research for “The Long March,” the team interviewed former mayor of Atlanta Andrew Young. As a result of that interview, Young invited them on a two-week trip to Ethiopa and Tanzania with him to a summit focused on strengthening ties between the United States and countries in Africa.

Richard said at the summit they were able to interview prominent leaders and figures in the United States, such as CNN anchor T.J. Holmes, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and actor Chris Tucker.

“The Africa trip was incredible,” Richard said. “We visited Ethiopia and Tanzania, where we were greeted with opulent state dinners and accommodations — though that experience was sharply contrasted by blatant evidence of severe, crippling poverty.”

Legg said they saw a world of contradictions in Africa. After being given incorrect directions after visiting a mesa village with no water, they ended up in an urban area where children were playing in the dumps. He said, after driving through the urban setting, they entered the neighborhoods of the ultra-rich.

“That is their world,” Legg said. “It was the most bizarre day, and the whole trip was like that.”

The students began the documentary as a psychological study in an independent study class, but it developed into more than that, Legg said.

Richard said Berney approached him about doing an independent study documentary project about the civil rights movement in November 2007. They met a few times at Starbucks with Barr to discuss options and ideas and then formulated an outline to take to Legg, their academic adviser for the project.

“I wanted to be involved at first because it offered an opportunity to contribute to a full-length film,” Richard said.

He said as the group started interviewing prominent figures from the American civil rights movement, it became increasingly clear that the film was bigger than just an independent study project.

“We were making a timely film about significant events and issues within our society,” he said.

Legg said the trip to Africa opened up other opportunities as well. He said he would like to produce another documentary about race relations just in Africa.

Berney and Richard graduated in 2008 with degrees in journalism and electronic media, while Barr graduated in 2006 with a degree in political science and Africana studies.

“Taken as a whole, the documentary project was the highlight of my educational experience at UT,” Richard said.