Faculty member wins Peabody

The film Missing in Brooks County, co-directed and co-produced by Visiting Assistant Professor of Film Studies Jeff Bemiss, has won a 2022 Peabody Award in the documentary category. The Peabody Awards honor excellence in storytelling that reflects the social issues and emerging voices of the day.

Missing in Brooks County, co-directed and co-produced by Lisa Molomot, shines a light on the missing-migrant crisis in South Texas. The film premiered on PBS’s Independent Lens in 2022.

“We made Missing in Brooks County so people could meet the families of the missing and hear their stories,” said Bemiss, an Oscar-shortlisted writer and director who has created short films, features, and documentaries. “It’s our hope that the award brings more attention to the film and to the crisis of mass deaths in the American borderland.

“The Peabody jury has a reputation for recognizing ‘excellence on its own terms,’ which is an idea I love. Film is an expensive medium, so the chance to be evaluated apart from the marketplace is rare. In a way, it reminds me of how we approach introductory filmmaking at Trinity. Students are encouraged to explore the medium as an end in itself, and they’re supported when they take creative risks.”

As part of Trinity’s Film Studies Program since 2013, Bemiss teaches an introduction to film production and courses on screenwriting, advanced filmmaking, and editing.

Bemiss graduated from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and the L.A. Sanford Meisner Center and is a Connecticut Artist Fellow and a Film Independent Fast Track Fellow. His film The Book and the Rose (2001) was a semifinalist for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

For more on Bemiss and how he uses his filmmaking experiences to teach Trinity students, visit Q&A: Documentary by Visiting Assistant Professor of Film Studies Jeff Bemiss Airing on PBS. You can also watch the trailer below.