The film “Filthy Dreamers” earned top film in its category at the 37th College Television Awards, a first for the University of Central Florida after being nominated and then surpassing institutions such as Chapman University and Northwestern University, who submitted films in the same category.
The Burnett Honors College advanced documentary workshop class led to the creation of the film with eight creators from the 2013 class and fourteen creators from the 2015 class.
“Filthy Dreamers” centers around the academic freedoms and obstacles faced and given to women in the 1920s at the Florida State College for Women. The primary focus narrows down to 1928 Florida lawmakers and religious activists who protested with the goal of banning academia on evolution at the now Florida State University.
According UCFToday, the student filmmakers researched, wrote and filmed the documentary with the motive of informing “viewers about the history of censorship on campuses because nearly one hundred years later, public figures and activists are still trying to control academic curriculums.”
The administration at the Florida State College for Women faced accusations of “corrupting young women’s minds,” with the students themselves under the spotlight as “filthy dreamers,” a name given by critics of the movement.
The credit to UCF’s third documentary created by honors students goes to: Will Chorvat, Jason Clarke, Carter Howard, Beverly Nwokoye, Amber Pietrowski, Orlando Porro, and Rachel White (2013); Ernesto Calderon, Tiffany Campbell, Emma Duncan, Louis-Christophe Fortier, Kristin Keefer, Ramsey Khawaja, Kristina League, Derek Loucks, Carmen Malca, Alex McKeel, Michael Reed, Nichole Santana, Shannon Specie, and Antony Zeng (2015).
The trailer for “Filthy Dreamers” can be found on Vimeo.
