Welcome to Shelbyville

CLICK ON THE ABOVE IMAGE TO ENLARGE
From top to bottom: Kim A. Snyder; Victoria
Sloan; Kim A. Snyder and Bart Weiss,
Ambassador Robin Sanders; and
members of the audience

Ms Victoria Sloan, Public Officer of the Embassy of the United States of America, invited film lovers and members of the media to a RECEPTION in honor of American film experts Kim Snyder and Bart Weiss, who were in Nigeria for the American Documentary Showcase, on the 4th of August 2010, at the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture. The reception was followed by a sneak preview of Welcome to Shelbyville, a new documentary by Kim Snyder.

Dr. Robin Renee Sanders, US Ambassador to Nigeria, graced the occassion.

ABOUT THE FILM
Welcome to Shelbyville "tells the story of a small rural American town as residents old and new struggle to come to terms with the region's growing diversity and one another. The film follows Somali and Latino newcomers who are making their homes in Shylbyville, a reporter who is documenting the new arrivals, a handful of citizens who are supporting immigrant integration, and both black and white long-term residents who have deep and complex racial roots in the region. The film captures the intimacy of lives intertwined against the backdrop of a crumbling economy and the hopeful campaign of Barack Obama. It demonstrates that America is an ever-changing place, contstantly evolving as new generations of immigrants arrive." (Culled from AMERICAN DOCUMENTARY SHOWCASE, a publication by the Embassy of the United States of America.)

ABOUT KIM A. SNYDER
Kim A. Snyder is an award-winning documentary film maker. She most recently co-founded the BeCause Foundation to produce a series of documentaries designed to raise awareness about global issues and inspire philanthropy through the power of film.

Snyder directed and produced the award-winning I Remember Me, which won numerous festival awards, including Best Documentary at the Denver International Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Sarasota Film Festival, and an Honorable Mention at the Hamptons International Film Festival. I Remember Me was distributed theatrically in the United States by Zeitgeist Films and has been distributed on DVD in more than 22 countries. She has also directed and produced numerous short documentaries for cable network Plum TV. (Culled from AMERICAN DOCUMENTARY, a publication by the Embassy of the United States.)