March 16, 1963 – November 15, 2024
Ann Bennett was an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker and multimedia producer.
She produced the NAACP Image Award-winning documentary, Through A Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People (with Thomas Allen Harris), as well as the multi-platform community engagement initiative, Digital Diaspora Family Reunion (DDFR). Bennett's film credits include; Citizen King and Fisk Jubilee Singers for the PBS series American Experience, Hymn for Alvin Ailey for Dance in America, and the award-winning PBS mini-series Africans in America and America's War on Poverty.
In addition to her production skills, Bennett is known for her work as a researcher, writer and educator. Bennett is a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School and Harvard College who was a Laundromat Project Create Change Fellow and an Impact Partners Documentary Producers Fellow.
Ann leaves behind a legacy of impactful storytelling, community service, and a profound influence on the worlds of documentary filmmaking and social advocacy.
To honor her spirit & contributions to her communities, the Alliance for Media Arts + Culture is launching the ANN BENNETT VISIONARY PRODUCERS PRIZE for Excellence in Archival Storytelling and Emerging Technologies.
The Ann Bennett Prize will be awarded each year to a mid-career digital archivist whose work uplifts the values of community, justice, innovation and inclusivity, as Ann did every day.
The prize will provide $5,000 to the award recipient and we will showcase their work in national Alliance programming throughout the year. Our vision is that the Ann Bennett Prize will help illuminate the urgency of archival media work and catalyze the career of a visionary archivist working in community.
Tax-deductible contributions are welcome to help us endow the Ann Bennett Visionary Producer Prize for years to come.
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