The West Virginia Filmmakers Film Festival
Landmark Studio for the Arts
Elk Hotel/Essential Salon
Elk Theater
Evens Chevron
Jaguar Educational
Town of Sutton
Braxton Democrat
Citizens News
The Café CiminoWest Virginia State University
The BUZZ 1490 AM
The BOSS 97 FM
SymbolArt
Verbatim, Inc.
Michael Gioulis
Days Inn Conference Center
And special thanks to...
Braxton County Middle School
Steve Fesenmaier
Lydia Mong
Richard Ndunguru
Sutton Volunteer Fire Dept.
Braxton Motor
Kroger
Award Criteria
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2005 Featured Filmmakers
Sally Sowell
JAMES BOUDJEMA MERZOUK: BRAXTON COUNTY LEGEND
53 minutes
www.jimmymerzouk.com (in a new window)
Article: "He was always doing amazing things" (in a new window)
by Sandy Wells, Charleston Gazette Mail
Annette Frey came to our home studio, Beside the Point Productions in Hurricane West Virginia, one Fall afternoon with a shoebox full of pictures and a vision. Annette was determined to create a tribute to her late father, James Boudjema Merzouk, an amazing man with a unique story. My husband, Gerry Collyard and I had some experience in video editing but had never tackled a project so large. It took us several months and we created this DVD on our Macintosh computer using multiple programs.
Annette interviewed co-workers and neighbors who knew her father and supplied us with raw footage. The primary objective of this documentary of his life was to raise funds for the "foreign language scholarship fund" that is set up in his name and managed by his wife, Carol Merzouk. DVD copies will be available for $15.00 after the premier October 2.
Greg Carroll, a historian at the Dept. of Culture and History, agreed to be the narrator and original music was created by Graham Hill and Bob Thompson among others.
James Boudjema Merzouk came from Algeria to live in West Virginia after WWII. He wanted to be a professional boxer in the US but he was driven to get an education and better his life. He went on to get several master's degrees and taught in the Braxton Co School system for 44 years touching the lives of thousands of students.
We hope you enjoy this inspiring story.
Sandy Sowell
www.sandysowell.com (in a separate window)
