MFAH Film New Releases: Get in the Way: The Journey of John Lewis

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents another in its New Releases series. Enjoy these critically acclaimed, award-winning international films as they make their Houston debut!

Get in the Way: The Journey of John Lewis

Director Kathleen Dowdey
Released 2015
Country USA
Running Time 60 minutes
Website http://www.getinthewaymovie.com/

Introduced by filmmaker Kathleen Dowdey.

A panel discussion follows the screening.

In 1965, the historic Selma March known as Bloody Sunday was a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. John Lewis—now a U.S. Congressman, then a young student—co-led hundreds of peaceful marchers seeking voting rights for African Americans in the South. When they came face to face with a wall of Alabama state troopers, Lewis took a steadfast, nonviolent stand and encouraged his followers to do the same. S

eventy-six-year-old Lewis is a respected legislator and elder statesman who continues to practice nonviolence in his determined fight for justice. The film is a riveting portrayal of Lewis’s personal journey of courage, searing disappointments, and hard-won triumphs.

Over the decades—including on the House floor this past June—he inspires others to “get in the way.”

About the Speaker
Kathleen Dowdey’s unique portrayal of documentary subjects is a refreshing fusion of personalized voice, layered observations and revelatory moments. She is a storyteller and award-winning filmmakter attracted to people deeply immersed in their cultures, driven by their history, thrust into change and struggling to adapt.

Her exceptional artistry in Get in the Way has its roots in her early work, including A Celtic Trilogy, a documentary exploration of the renaissance of identity in the Celtic nations, Blue Heaven a narrative feature that exposes the hidden traumas of domestic violence and Dawn’s Early Light, a portrait of newspaper editor Ralph McGill, a segregationist-turned-advocate of tolerance in a deeply polarized South.

As a television writer, director and producer, Dowdey’s work is broadcast on networks including CBS/Paramount, NBC, PBS, the History Channel, Discovery, Turner Broadcasting and others. She is a member of the Directors Guild of America, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the International Documentary Association.

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