Faculty >Eugene Martin
EUGENE MARTIN |
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Eugene Martin is a filmmaker whose work has looked intimately at a range of issues that have focused on youth, the inner city, poverty, and social justice. Right after completing his M.F.A. in Radio-TV-Film from Temple University in 1990, his thesis film, a feature length work titled “Invisible Cities,” premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 1991. Martin has written and directed six feature length films, including “Two Plus One” (1995, starring Bill Sage), “Edge City” (1998, with the starring screen debut of Mark Webber), “Diary of a City Priest” (2001), “The Other America" (2004), and “The Bloodlines Video Diary Project” (2008).
His films have been screened in more than25 countries and been invited to more than 100 film festivals. His debut narrative feature film, “Two Plus One,” was part of the inaugural Slamdance Film Festival in 1995. “Edge City” won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1998 Hamptons International Film Festival. “Diary of a City Priest,” starring David Morse, was an official selection at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. In 2003, Lions Gate and Sony released “Edge City” in partnership with Palm Pictures which are based New York City and London. In 2008, “The Other America” was selected as a national winner in the on-line “From Here to Awesome” film festival. Martin's films have screened nationally on PBS, the BBC, at the DGA, the National Gallery of Art; and are available on-line via Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix. His films are held in 300 libraries in the United States. Major funders include ITVS, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
Current projects include a feature length documentary about the Anderson Monarchs Soccer Club, the only all girls African-American competitive soccer club in the United States. This film is being executive produced by The Green Film Company in New York City, the producing team behind “By the People,” the signature film about the election of Barack Obama. Martin is also in the process of creating a three-part transmedia project on the history of North Philadelphia. The project is divided into three areas: 1) a one-hour documentary film about the history of North Philadelphia as told from the point of view of four generations of African American women; 2) a stage play that will premiere in November 2009 in Philadelphia called “Shot!” that is based on the interviews and images created for the film; and 3) a photo book and history of North Philadelphia for which Martin has taken 3,000 photos.
