April 4, 2007

Donut Day Premieres at the Little Theatre at Western Michigan University

KALAMAZOO, MI—A short documentary about a local business, Donut Day, produced and directed by local filmmakers Amy Levine and Dhera Strauss will premiere with two showings at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday, April 27, 2007, at the Little Theatre at Western Michigan University. The screenings are open to the public with a suggested donation of $3.00 per ticket. Question and answer sessions with the filmmakers follow each showing, as do receptions with coffee and donuts—of course!

Bakers rise early to mix the dough and start the fryers, but who else is hanging around a local 24-hour donut shop? And what is the obsession with this sugary delight? To answer these questions, filmmakers Levine and Strauss began a 24-hour documentary at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 27, 2006 at a local Kalamazoo, Michigan, mainstay: Sweetwater’s Donut Mill. Exactly to the date one year later, “Donut Day” will premiere, introducing viewers to the characters both behind and in front of the counters, leaving more than a few crumbs along the way!

Dhera Strauss, co-producer of the documentary, is Media Producer and teaches introductory and advanced documentary production at Kalamazoo College. She has produced several of her own documentaries, including Los Bandits: More Than A Tex-Mex Band, which has shown over Michigan Public Broadcasting Stations and has been accepted into four film festivals, winning best local film at the Tulipanes Film Festival in Holland, Mich.

Amy Levine is an instructor with Education for the Arts and Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Her previous documentary “Dishes” showcases the popular Fiesta dishware and the people who collect them. It was named best documentary at the 2004 East Lansing Film Festival and has been shown on Michigan Public Broadcasting Stations at several film festivals throughout the country.

"This documentary project has been a great collaboration between the two of us,” Dhera Strauss said, “as we divided up the various tasks throughout the project. Each of us has brought our own artistic vision to the piece. And we’ve managed not to eat too many donuts!”

The project was funded in-part and in-kind by the Arts Fund of Kalamazoo County grant through the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo; Kalamazoo RESA Education for the Arts; Kalamazoo College; and the Kalamazoo Film Society.

A Fellowship in Learning: At Home in the World, Kalamazoo College is a national liberal arts college and the creator and home of the Kalamazoo Plan. By emphasizing scholarship, civic engagement, and foreign study, Kalamazoo College cultivates a fellowship in learning among students, faculty, and a community of scholars throughout the world. Its students shape elements of the Kalamazoo Plan—rigorous academics, career internships, study abroad, service-learning, and a senior individualized project—into an educational experience that provides insight into the meaning of the kind of citizenship that is at home in the world.