Documentary earns prestigious award

A documentary film produced by three Penn State faculty members has won a prestigious CINE Golden Eagle Award.

“No. 4 Street of Our Lady,” which tells the remarkable, yet little-known, story of a Polish-Catholic woman who rescued 15 Jews during the Holocaust, received the award in the documentary feature category.

The film was produced by three faculty members in the College of Communications -- Barbara Bird, an associate professor in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies; Judy Maltz, a senior lecturer in the Department of Journalism; and Richie Sherman, an assistant professor in the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies.

The CINE Golden Eagle awards, which honor excellence in professional and independent works, are recognized internationally as symbols of the highest production standards in film and television production. Since its founding in 1957, CINE has been dedicated to discovering, rewarding, educating and supporting established and emerging talent in film and video.

Among great talents whose first major awards included the CINE Golden Eagle are Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, and such great documentarians as Ken Burns, Charles Guggenheim, Albert Maysles, Stanley Nelson and Frederick Wiseman.

More than 300 judges viewed and evaluated hundreds of entries for the recently completed competition. They judged the entries using standards of overall excellence, evaluating such criteria as storytelling, production value, artistry, the extent to which the film meets its stated goals and communicates with its intended audience, and overall excellence.

“No. 4 Street of Our Lady” opened to a sold-out audience in March at the State Theatre in State College. The film has since been playing in festivals around the United States, and special screenings of the film are being held at universities and community centers.

In April, the film won second prize for best feature-length documentary at the Athens International Film Festival in Ohio. Plans are under way to broadcast “No. 4 Street of Our Lady” on WPSU this fall.