Media Projects

The Peasant and The Priest
The Peasant and The Priest is a documentary about how globalization manifests in two aspects of Italian life today: the passing of traditional farming in Italy and the increase in enforced prostitution. The film is threaded with a metaphor from a medieval fresco in Siena,The Allegory of Good and Bad Government by Ambriogio Lorenzetti.
https://thepeasantandthepriest.com/
House of The World
A 54 minute documentary shot in Poland. An exploration of the relationship between objective history and personal memory, House of The World examines the Holocaust through the eyes of survivors and their descendants. This film establishes links between photographs and tombstones, parents and children, ephemeral and solid efforts to grasp at continuity in the face of devastation.
https://houseoftheworldfilm.com/
A Dual Screen Projection: 5 DAYS IN JULY
Using film footage from television, government, and private archives, Esther Podemski and Chuck Schultz’s 5 Days in July conveys the essential facts of Newark’s 1967 riots. In ten short minutes, we see black residents living in substandard housing; we meet John Smith, the cab driver whose arrest and beating sparked the disturbance; we hear from activists who express the frustration of Newark’s underemployed black community; we watch as New Jersey Governor Richard Hughes declares the riots criminally – not politically – motivated; we witness the looting, the fires, and the tanks, as well as National Guardsmen shooting long-range rifles into apartment buildings; and, in the end, we see a city in ruins.
https://5daysinjulyinstallation.com/


5 Days in July Radio
Schultz and Podemski also produced a one hour program special for radio. The 30 minute radio drama written by award -winning playwright Tracey Scott Wilson merges drama and documentary to re-examine the historical events surrounding the 1967 Newark Riots. Schultz directs the 14 member ensemble cast which includes Chad L. Coleman and Dion Graham of HBO’s acclaimed series The Wire. The drama is followed by a 30 minute discussion with scholars.
5 Days in July Radio Drama