Chipola To Host Screening Of Alumni-Produced Film

Chipola College will host a screening of the film, You Gave Me a Song, produced by Ashley Melzer, an alumnus of Chipola.

The film will be presented Thursday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m., in the Prough Center for the Arts on the Chipola campus.

You Gave Me A Song offers an intimate portrait of old-time music pioneer Alice Gerrard and her remarkable, unpredictable journey creating and preserving traditional music. The film follows 84 year-old Gerrard over several years, weaving together verité footage of living room rehearsals, recording sessions, songwriting, archival work, and performances with photos and rare field recordings. Much of the film is told in Alice’s voice and via interviews with musical collaborators and family members who share the story of Alice and others chasing that high lonesome sound. 

Producer Ashley Melzer, originally from Sneads, is a producer, writer and media-maker living in Durham, NC. Born in North Florida, she received her Bachelors in Cinematic Arts from the University of Southern California and then a Masters in Folklore from UNC-Chapel Hill. Her work has been featured in Indy Week, Wondering Sound, Paste Magazine, eMusic, The Carrboro Citizen, and the Southern Foodways Alliance. She's worked with Hopscotch, Moogfest, the NC Comedy Arts Festival, Thornapple Films, The Southern Oral History Program and more. She currently works on Multimedia Production and Special Projects for the Southern Cultures Journal and is working on a new short documentary using archival footage from renowned folklorist Dr. William R Ferris. She is the founder of Mettlesome, a creative, project based collective, for which she performs, directs, writes and teaches comedy. 

Melzer is the daughter of Dr. James and Connie Melzer of Chattahoochee. She is married to John “Jack” David Reitz. She is a graduate of Sneads High School and Chipola College.

This film was made possible in part through vital support from Presenting Sponsor The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources as part of “SHE CHANGED THE WORLD: NC WOMEN BREAKING BARRIERS” and is a sponsored project of the Southern Documentary Fund a 501(C)3 non-profit.

Learn more about the film at http://www.alicegerrardfilm.com.