Hazing

The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers connects US-based documentary filmmakers with communities throughout the South for screenings and conversations around important stories and the art of filmmaking. This special screening of HAZING will be followed by a post-film discussion with director Bryon Hurt, producer Natalie Bullock Brown and O Cinema's Head of Programming, Matt Walter.

THE FILM

Weaving his own personal experience with hazing into larger narratives, director Byron Hurt posits the function, politics, and consequences of pledging rituals in the documentary HAZING. Hurt begins his focus on BGLOs (Black Greek Letter Organizations), but expands his scope as he navigates what necessitates these membership practices. Through a series of intimate interviews with victims' families, survivors, and his fellow fraternity brothers, Hurt and his subjects go past the provocative headlines into the dangerous and careless realities of hazing.At times heartbreaking, Hurt is uniquely empathetic to those who fall victim to group-think, and extends this grace to the viewer. This project examines the intricacies of those who chose to engage in pledging culture, by engaging in a discussion of both the joys and perils of affiliations with exclusive groups. Taking a stark look at the psychological, societal, and historical components of hazing, Hurt sparks a captivating conversation around the anxieties and expectations of belonging—and what will be sacrificed to achieve it.

SPECIAL GUEST

BRYON HURT (Director)

Byron Hurt is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, writer, activist, and an adjunct professor at Columbia University. Hurt is the former host of the Emmy-nominated series, "REEL WORKS with BYRON HURT.”

Byron Hurt’s highly acclaimed documentary Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006, and broadcast nationally on PBS’ Emmy-award winning series Independent Lens in 2007.

Byron’s film Soul Food Junkies also aired on Independent Lens in 2013, and in 2017 the cable news station TVOne aired the film in more than 20 million homes.

Byron’s latest film, HAZING, premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, and aired nationally on Independent Lens in September, 2022. His next documentary, Lee and Liza’s Family Tree, will air on GBH’s award-winning series, PBS NOVA in 2023.

His website is bhurt.com. Follow him on social media @byronhurt.

NATALIE BULLOCK BROWN (Producer)Natalie Bullock Brown is an award-winning producer, an Assistant Teaching Professor in Interdisciplinary Studies at North Carolina State University, and a 2021 Rockwood Institute JustFilms Fellow. She is director/producer of a documentary work-in-progress that explores the impact of the beauty standard on Black women and girls, and is a producer on award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt’s PBS documentary, Hazing as well as his upcoming NOVA film, Looking for Lee and Liza. Natalie is also a proud member of the Documentary Accountability Working Group, which has released a values-based framework for documentary filmmakers that emphasizes care, consent, and collaboration. Natalie was also the StoryShift Strategist for Working Films, where she guided the organization’s work in promoting accountable documentary storytelling.