Tuesday, May 17, 2005

UNC Wilmington’s fifth documentary, Troubled Waters: The Illusion of Abundance, has won a Gold Special Jury Award, the highest in the ecology/environment/conservation documentary category, at the 38th annual WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival held April 22-May 1.

Troubled Waters premiered on UNC-TV Oct. 8, 2003. The documentary was distributed to all North Carolina schools for use in environmental education in middle school along with a Troubled Waters Educator’s Resource Web site.

This award is the latest international recognition for an initiative of Dr. James R. Leutze, chancellor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington from 1990-2003. During his tenure, Leutze developed the concept for and spearheaded production of five award-winning documentaries that heightened UNCW’s visibility as a leader in natural environment concerns. Elaine Penn served as executive producer of all five documentaries. Each included either a printed or electronic educators resource guide for public schools. The documentaries are:

• River Run: Down the Cape Fear to the Sea (1994)

• Treasure Coast: The Natural Heritage of the N.C. Shore (1997)

• Currents of Hope: Reclaiming the Neuse River (1999)

• Paving the American Dream: Southern Cities, Shores & Sprawl (2001)

• Troubled Waters: The Illusion of Abundance (2003)

WorldFest-Houson is one of the oldest and largest film and video competitions in the world and seeks to recognize and honor outstanding creative excellence in film and video. The festival received more than 4,500 category entries from 33 countries. More than 100 entries were in the Ecology/Conservation category, one of the more competitive areas. WorldFest is the oldest Independent film and video festival in North America and the third oldest on any kind in the USA.

The festival gave first honors to Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, Robert Townsend, and Spike Lee among others. It is the only such festival in North America staffed and managed totally by filmmakers.

Under Leutze’s leadership, Lou Buttino, incoming interim chair of the UNCW Department of Film Studies, was writer, director and producer of Troubled Waters. Leutze also narrated the documentary and interviewed sources. Also involved were Dustin Miller, cinematography and editor; Heidi Messina, additional cinematography, Suzie Bean, research; Barbie Cowan, associate producer, and Penn, executive producer. Miller and Messina are both with UNCW-TV. Students also worked on the production. “This is a great honor for us all,” commented Buttino.

On Friday, May 13, Buttino was recognized as the UNC Board of Governors Teaching Excellence Award recipient for UNCW at a luncheon in Chapel Hill.

For more information about Troubled Waters, visit the Web site (www.uncw.edu/troubledwaters) which expands on water scarcity and conservation issues presented in the documentary.

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Buttino can be reached at 910/350-3589 or LouButtino@aol.com.

WorldFest-Houston Film Festival press contact: Kathleen Haney, program and artistic director, kathleen@worldfest.org,

713/965-9955