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Oakland Museum of California Presents World Premiere of New American Masters Documentary on Dorothea Lange

(OAKLAND, CA)—The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) will host the world premiere of new American Masters documentary Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning on Saturday, August 23, 2 pm. The highly anticipated film event, to take place in OMCA’s James Moore Theater, is the first opportunity for the public to view the full-length documentary before its nationwide television premiere Friday, August 29 at 9 pm on PBS (check local listings). Members of Lange’s family will be in attendance, including Dyanna Taylor, who is the film’s director and narrator and Lange’s granddaughter, as well as Lange’s goddaughter and biographer Elizabeth Partridge, who is interviewed in the film and is also Imogen Cunningham’s granddaughter. The program includes the screening and a Q&A with Taylor and Partridge led by OMCA Curator of Photography and Visual Culture Drew Johnson. The Q&A is followed by a book signing in the OMCA Store of the film’s companion book Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning by Partridge. Tickets for the event are required, and include admission to the OMCA Galleries. Tickets will be available Friday, August 1 at museumca.org/lange.

The screening of the film coincides with OMCA’s current exhibition Dorothea Lange: California Photographs, on view at the Oakland International Airport through January 4, 2015, featuring photographs of destitute San Franciscans standing in breadlines, migrant laborers bent over crops, and displaced mid-western farmers escaping the Dust Bowl, among others. The photographs in the exhibition are drawn from OMCA’s collection, which houses Lange’s personal archive, a gift from the artist that includes approximately 25,000 negatives, 6,000 vintage prints, field notes, and personal memorabilia. A selection of these works are on view in a permanent gallery in the Museum’s Gallery of California Art, and rotate regularly, allowing Museum visitors access to view a range of Lange’s works over time. OMCA is also planning an as-yet-untitled special exhibition of Lange’s works in 2015.

CALENDAR EDITORS PLEASE LIST:

WHAT: World Premiere | American Masters–Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning
WHEN: Saturday, August 23, 2014, 2 pm
WHERE: Oakland Museum of California at 1000 Oak Street in Oakland, CA
TICKETS: $20 General, $10 OMCA Members, available starting Friday, August 1
DETAILS: Attend the world premiere of new American Masters documentary Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning at the Oakland Museum of California on Saturday, August 23, 2 pm. Join members of the Lange family for this private screening before the film’s nationwide television premiere Friday, August 29 at 9 pm on PBS (check local listings). The screening will be followed by a special Q&A with Dyanna Taylor, who is the film’s director and narrator and Lange’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Partridge, Lange’s goddaughter and biographer, and OMCA Curator of Photography and Visual Culture Drew Johnson. Partridge will also sign copies of the film’s companion book in the OMCA Store. Ticket includes admission to the OMCA Galleries, including a permanent exhibition of Lange’s works, the post-screening Q&A with the filmmaker and author of the companion publication, as well as 10% off the Lange biography, Grab A Hunk of Lightning in the OMCA Store. Tickets will be available online and at the Museum starting Friday, August 1.
URL: museumca.org/lange

ABOUT THE FILM
Most famous for her celebrated photograph “Migrant Mother,” Dorothea Lange’s (May 26, 1895–October 11, 1965) enduring images document five turbulent decades of American history, including the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl and World War II Japanese American internment camps, yet few know the story, struggles and profound body of work of the woman behind the camera. Lange’s granddaughter, award-winning cinematographer Dyanna Taylor, directs and narrates this intimate documentary that explores the life, passions and uncompromising vision of this influential photographer. Taylor, who learned to see the visual world through her grandmother’s eyes, combines family memories and journals with never-before-seen photos and film footage, including interviews and vérité scenes with Lange from her Bay Area home studio (circa 1962–1965) and at work on her one-woman career retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. American Masters weaves Lange telling her own story with new interviews of family, friends and colleagues. The result is a personal documentary of the artist whose empathy for people on the margins of society challenged America to know itself.

ABOUT THE BOOK
The beautiful volume Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning celebrates one of the twentieth century’s most important photographers. Including an authoritative biographical essay by Lange’s goddaughter Elizabeth Partridge, the book showcases Lange’s work in over a hundred glorious plates. Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning is the only career-spanning monograph of this major photographer’s oeuvre in print, and features images ranging from iconic photograph “Migrant Mother” to lesser-known images from Lange’s global travels later in life. Presented as the companion book to the American Masters documentary of the same title broadcasting August 29, 2014 on PBS, this deluxe hardcover offers an intimate and unparalleled view into the life and work of one of America’s most cherished documentary photographers.

ABOUT THE OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA
The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) brings together collections of art, history and natural science under one roof to tell the extraordinary stories of California and its people. OMCA’s groundbreaking exhibits tell the many stories that comprise California with many voices, often drawing on first-person accounts by people who have shaped California’s cultural heritage. Visitors are invited to actively participate in the Museum as they learn about the natural, artistic and social forces that affect the state and investigate their own role in both its history and its future. With more than 1.9 million objects, OMCA is a leading cultural institution of the Bay Area and a resource for the research and understanding of California’s dynamic cultural and environmental heritage.

VISITOR INFORMATION
The Oakland Museum of California is located at 1000 Oak Street in Oakland, California. Museum admission is $15 general; $10 seniors and students with valid ID, $6 youth ages 9 to 17, and free for Members and children 8 and under. Admission during Friday Nights @ OMCA is half-off for adults, and free for ages 18 and under, after 5 pm. OMCA offers onsite underground parking and is conveniently located one block from the Lake Merritt BART station, on the corner of 10th Street and Oak Street. The accessibility ramp is located at the new 1000 Oak Street main entrance. For more information, visit museumca.org.

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