Through their fiscal sponsor, Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House (FOHBSH), Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films have received a grant for $19,099 from the Ohio Humanities (OH), a State affiliate of The National Endowment for the Humanities, in support of their new historical documentary Harriet Beecher Stowe: Her Transformative Ohio Years.
“We are very grateful to the Ohio Humanities for the grant award and support on our new documentary on Harriet Beecher Stowe," said Producer Tammy Rundle. “We are eager to begin production in Ohio and on the East Coast, interviewing authors, historians and scholars about Harriet and her young, influential years in Cincinnati.”
Harriet Beecher Stowe: Her Transformative Ohio Years tells the story of the writer’s life in Cincinnati, Ohio and how these life-changing experiences contributed to her best-selling novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Beecher-Stowe lived in Cincinnati between 1832 and 1850, and just after her move to Maine, she adapted her Ohio experiences and anti-slavery sentiment into America’s most influential novel. Kelly Rundle will direct the documentary film.
Harriet Beecher Stowe: Her Transformative Ohio Years is slated for release in late 2019. For more information about the new documentary, visit HarrietBeecherStoweMovie.com and the film's Facebook Fan Page.
This new documentary complements Fourth Wall Films' soon-to-be released docudrama Sons & Daughters of Thunder, which tells the true story of the Lane Seminary Rebels and the first public debates of the abolition of slavery to take place in the United States. Young Harriet Beecher-Stowe's father was the president of the seminary. The debates awakened her to the horrific realities of slavery, turned her into an abolitionist, and set her on the road to writing Uncle Tom's Cabin. A Cincinnati world premiere is planned for the 185th Anniversary of the Lane Debates in February 2019.
The Rundles previously received an Ohio Humanities grant for their award-winning historical documentary film The Barn Raisers through their fiscal sponsor Friends of Ohio Barns. Other Fourth Wall Films productions include Country School: One Room - One Nation, Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Letters Home to Hero Street (with WQPT-PBS), Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg (with McMarr, LTD.), Villisca: Living with a Mystery, and the Lost Nation: The Ioway film series.
The Ohio Humanities (OH) is a state-affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The mission of Ohio Humanities is to help individuals and communities explore, share, and to be inspired by the human experience. OH is committed to creating vibrant communities throughout the state of Ohio. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed by the film do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the Ohio Humanities.
Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House (FOHBSH) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2006, and is committed to assuring that the place and importance of the Lane Theological Seminary and the Beecher and Stowe families is perpetuated and shared. It encompasses ideas of abolition, as well as civil rights and women’s rights. The organization accomplishes this through tours of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, lectures and discussions, and educational outreach programs for the community, teachers and students of all ages.
Fourth Wall Films is an Emmy® nominated and award-winning independent film and video production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois. Fourth Wall Films focuses on telling Midwestern stories through historical documentary films that reach viewers via PBS broadcasts, theaters, film festivals, national DVD release and online streaming.