Congressman Dan Kildee Helps Enshrine Local Documentary "Saginaw Rising" in Library of Congress Archives

Press Release

Made by Local Filmmakers, "Saginaw Rising" Looks at Causes and Response to Violence in Mid-Michigan

Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) today, alongside mid-Michigan filmmakers Dr. Stephanie Baiyasi-Kozicki and Dr. Ziggy Kozicki, handed over a locally-produced documentary titled "Saginaw Rising," for permanent commemoration in the Library of Congress. The Deputy Librarian of Congress, David S. Mao, officially accepted the handover of the documentary today. Photos from the handover can be viewed here.

As the nation's primary host of American literature, film and media, the Library of Congress will now permanently preserve this documentary, which provides a thorough and focused view about the prolonged violence in Saginaw and the efforts to stop it.

"I'm honored and proud to enter a great local documentary, Saginaw Rising, into the permanent archives of the Library of Congress," Congressman Kildee said. "Entering this local documentary into the Library's collection will preserve it for future generations and forever showcase this film's important portrait of violence in Saginaw, and its call to action that our communities can do better. I am grateful that Dr. Baiyasi-Kozicki and Dr. Kozicki could be here today for this handoff presentation to the Library and see all of their hard work on display in our nation's capital."

Produced by mid-Michigan filmmakers Ziggy Kozicki and Stephanie Baiyasi-Kozicki, "Saginaw Rising" combines emotional historic footage with interviews featuring community leaders and national experts on social justice and violence prevention to provide a look at the sociological, cultural and economic factors influencing violence in Saginaw. In an effort to find a path away from Saginaw's rising number of shootings, the film calls on everyone to step up and do their part to address violence in their community. The documentary has been viewed in over 25 countries since its release in 2012 and is now used as an important tool to help other communities across the world address violence.

For over 200 years, the Library of Congress has protected and celebrated American works of writing and film. The library's preservation program seeks to guarantee long-term access to the collection through conservation, repair and reformatting. Today's handover ceremony formally places "Saginaw Rising" in the Library's 121- million collection so that it can be formally protected and used for research, education, and other library programming.

Source