RTF MFA Thesis Film, Dir. John Fiege, 2007

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Synopsis:
Questions of race, workers’ rights and exploitation form the crux of this intriguing documentary about Latin American immigrants living in rural Mississippi, where poultry plants promise jobs but little else. Shot on Super 8mm film, which gives it a lustrous, saturated color, Mississippi Chicken reveals the textures, moods and struggles of the New South. TRT = 82 min.

production still

2007 screenings:
Fórum Universal de las Culturas Monterrey 2007 (UNESCO)
HBO International Latino Film Festival, New York
Austin Film Festival
Miami International Film Festival
Miami Community Outreach Screening
Universal Forum of Cultures Migration Film Festival
Providence Latin American Film Festival
African Diaspora Film Festival, NYC
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), NYC

2008 screenings:
Oxford Film Festival (Oxford, Mississippi)

production still

Awards:
Gotham Award for “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You,” Nominee, IFP, 2007
George H. Mitchell Award for Excellence in Graduate Research, Grand Prize, University Co-op/University of Texas at Austin, 2005
Carole Fielding Student Grant, University Film and Video Association, 2005
Princess Grace Award, Princess Grace Foundation, 2004
Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund Grant, Austin Film Society, 2004
Motion Picture Film Stock Grant, Kodak, 2004
AND numerous honors of Official Selection at film festivals

John Fiege with camera

Director bio:
John Fiege is a filmmaker and photographer, based in Austin, Texas. As a director, he works in both documentary and narrative, and his films have played at the Cannes Film Festival, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Miami International Film Festival, and Austin Film Festival, among many others. His latest film, Mississippi Chicken, was nominated for a Gotham Award for “The Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You.” His film awards include the Princess Grace Graduate Film Award, Kodak’s Eastman Scholarship, the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund Grant, and the Carole Fielding Documentary Award, among others. As a director of photography, he has shot films that have played at festivals around the world, including Tribeca, Clermont-Ferrand, Edinburgh, San Francisco International, and LA Film Festival. He holds a B.A. from Carleton College, an M.S. in cultural geography from The Pennsylvania State University, and an M.F.A. in film production from the University of Texas at Austin.

More about Mississippi Chicken.
More about John and his work.

All content on this page courtesy of John Fiege, and may not be copied, reproduced or otherwise redistributed without express permission. Info last updated 03/08/08.

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