Marilyn Mulford

Marilyn Mulford is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who has made numerous films about race, ethnic diversity, and art as a way to highlight political issues and preserve culture. Her most recent documentary, Archeology Of Memory: Villa Grimaldi was broadcast on Public Television on the ITVS ‘Global Voices’ series in October 2009. The film portrays the experiences of Chilean exile Quique Cruz, as he creates a musical suite and performance piece to portray his history of torture, incarceration and forced exile. It was funded in part by ITVS, LPB, NEA, and a scripting grant from CCH.

From 1990-1994 Mulford co-produced and co-directed the acclaimed feature documentary Freedom on my Mind, which portrays the dramatic story of the Mississippi Voter Registration Project from 1961 to 1964. This film was funded in part by NEA, NEH and CCH. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary in 1995, awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Best documentary at the Sundance Film Festival, won Best of Northern California at the National Educational Film Festival, the John O’Connor Award from the American Historical Association, the Eric Barnow Award from the Organization of American Historians, and the Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award from the International Documentary Association (IDA). It aired on the National PBS series The American Experience in January 1996.

From 1985-1989 she co-produced and directed the award-winning Chicano Park, a feature documentary on a Mexican-American community in San Diego, California, that used murals to describe its history and help residents mobilize to save the community. The film was funded in part by a production grant from CCH. It won a Gold Award at the Houston International Film Festival, a Gold Award at Chicago International Film Festival, a CINE Golden Eagle, “Best of California” at the National Educational Film Festival, and Honorable Mention at the San Francisco Film Festival. It aired on national PBS, and on national cable.