Lights, Camera, Award-winning Action

NEA Today, Mar 2006 by Miller, Desiree

Illinois teachers Joe Fatheree and Craig Lindvhal nab regional Emmys for poignant documentary.

KEN BURNS. MICHAEL MOORE. Add Fatheree and Lindvhal to the list of award-winning documentarians and take special note because they're both classroom teachers. Fatheree of Effingham High School in Effingham, Illinois, and Lindvahl of neighboring Teutopolis High School, co-teach technology programs. But it's their work behind the camera that's earned them five Mid-America Emmy Awards.

The two men (and Lindvhal's answering machine) make up film production company Callan Films. The team-who met when seated together at a conference-wrote and directed a documentary titled An Uphill Climb. It tells the story of KyIe Packer, a man with cerebral palsy who crawled on his knees to the Mt. Everest base camp. Fatheree met Packer when he came to Effingham High to speak about his arduous climb.

The film, which the duo describes as "an unashamedly optimistic portrait, celebrating the human spirit," hits televisions nationwide this spring on PBS. Their Emmys came for writing, editing, cinematography, promotion, and music.

"This film opened an entirely new world to me and has definitely made me a better educator," says Fatheree. "It has made me more empathetic, and helped strengthen my belief that everyone has something to offer."

-D.M.

TO VlEW a clip from An Uphill Climb, visit www.neatoday.org.

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