In January 2021 at a Stanford University film festival, themed Where Do We Go From Here, and in April 2021, in partnership with Tompkins County The History Center in celebration of Black Women’s History Month, the Dorothy Cotton Institute gave virtual screenings of THERE’S YOUR READY GIRL! This is a short film by Deborah Hoard of PhotoSynthesis Productions which was produced during the pandemic with footage from the feature-length documentary currently in production, MOVE WHEN THE SPIRIT SAYS MOVE, about Dorothy’s life and legacy. THERE’S YOUR READY GIRL! has won two prestigious awards this year:
First Place in the Social Issues Documentary category in the New York Women In Film and Television (NYWIFT) Online Shorts Festival! THERE’S YOUR READY GIRL! is available to watch on YouTube. The 11 minute documentary tells the story of Dorothy Foreman Cotton – a bold, highly effective and important civil rights leader. Throughout her long life she organized, she spoke out, she challenged the status quo, she sang powerful freedom songs. Most importantly, she ran a Citizenship Education Program that moved thousands of people from a mindset of “victim” to that of a fully-engaged citizen in the Jim Crow south. She was the only woman on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Executive Staff, yet her contributions have largely gone unrecognized.
THERE’S YOUR READY GIRL! has also won a Bronze Telly Award! The Tellys are a very large competition with lots of categories – we won in Non-broadcast Social Responsibility. https://www.tellyawards.com/
“The Telly Awards is the premier award honoring video and television across all screens. Established in 1979, The Telly Awards receives over 12,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents. Entrants are judged by The Telly Awards Judging Council—an industry body of over 200 leading experts including advertising agencies, production companies, and major television networks, reflective of the multiscreen industry and includes executives from Dow Jones, Duplass Brothers Productions, Complex Networks, A&E Networks, Hearst Media, ESPN Films, RYOT, Vice+ and Vimeo. Winners are selected for recognition based on excellence in the following areas: Branded Content, Commercials & Marketing, Immersive & Mixed Reality, Non-Broadcast, Series / Shows / Segments and Social Video.”