The Friends of the Charles Allis
Press Release

Nairobi-Based Filmmaker and Son of Legendary African Documentarian Mohamed Amin Joins Acclaimed Milwaukee Filmmaker and Photographer Chip Duncan for Public Reception, Film Screening

The Friends of the Charles Allis, in Partnership with Ellenbecker Investment Group, to Host Special Event at Charles Allis Art Museum May 18

By - May 7th, 2018 07:48 am

MILWAUKEE, WI –  May 7, 2018 – The Friends of the Charles Allis is inviting the public to a special meet and greet with two internationally acclaimed filmmakers from disparate countries, but with a shared mission: to help soften barriers to thoughtful exchange across the greater Milwaukee community by sharing the heartening journey of emergent African peoples through film and photography.

African filmmaker Salim Amin and Milwaukee-based photographer and filmmaker Chip Duncan will greet guests May 18 at a reception open to all who are interested in attending in exchange for a small donation to the Charles Allis Art Museum. After the meet and greet, the critically-acclaimed, award-winning 90-minute documentary “Mo & Me” will be screened following a discussion with the artists. The Ellenbecker Investment Group (EIG), a museum supporter, has helped to make this event possible.

Amin, who is chairman of Nairobi-based Camerpix, served as executive producer of “Mo & Me,” a 2006 documentary that chronicles his famous father’s life. His father, Mohamed Amin, was a photographer and frontline cameraman most famous for his coverage of the 1984 Ethiopian famine, which inspired a collective global conscience and served as the catalyst for the Live Aid concerts, Band Aid, and USA for Africa. Born in Kenya at the height of Africa’s colonial decline, the senior Amin witnessed and recorded the alienating currents of his beloved continent projecting those images across the world. His life was cut short in 1996 when hijackers took over an Ethiopian airliner forcing it to crash land in the Indian Ocean.

“Mo & Me” has been recognized for best documentary 15 times in the United States, Canada, India and Africa, including the Grand Jury Award at the New York International Film Festival.

Amin is a Fellow of the African Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. In 2010, Amin was one of only 150 people from around the world invited by U.S. President Barack Obama to the Presidential Entrepreneurship Summit in Washington, DC.

Chip Duncan, filmmaker, author, photographer and president of Milwaukee-based The Duncan Group, met Salim Amin through mutual friends, Producer Joslyn Barnes and Actor Danny Glover. Duncan and Amin have been friends and colleagues since that first meeting, collaborating on a variety of projects. Duncan is an admirer of both Amins’ work, having travelled in the footsteps of the senior Amin four times  studying and photographing the community-building and strengthening of societies in once-ravaged African countries.

Duncan is a highly regarded and prolific photographer and documentary filmmaker. His photographic images appear in the book Enough To Go Around – Searching for Hope in Afghanistan, Pakistan & Darfur (Select Books, NYC, 2009). A photographic exhibition of Duncan’s images from Afghanistan premiered in 2011 at the World Peace Festival in Berlin, Germany. A second photographic exhibition featuring images from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Darfur, Sudan premiered at the O Street Museum in Washington D.C. and at the Council on Foreign Relations n New York City.

Duncan’s latest photography book, “ Inspiring Change” is launching May 17 and will be available for sale at the Charles Allis Art Museum event.

Duncan and his company’s repertoire of films includes a three-part public television series The Reagan Presidency (broadcast internationally in 2013), which includes interviews with Condoleezza Rice, Douglas Brinkley, Oscar Arias, Sandra Day O’Connor, Walter Mondale, George Shultz, Paul Volcker, Henry Cisneros, Robert Reich, Reza Aslan, and Andrew Young, among others. Other notable productions include: the 2009 PBS Special Landslide: The Presidency of Herbert Hooverand the two-part public television documentary A History of Prayer In Americaand the PBS Special In a Just World – Contraception, Abortion & World Religion, among others.

Duncan has filmed in more than 45 countries. His documentary television specials and series have won more than 125 national and international awards. Broadcast networks include PBS, HBO, Discovery, TLC, Showtime, Lifetime and Sundance Channel, among others.

What: Social Gathering and Discussion with Filmmakers Chip Duncan and Salim Amin

When: Friday, May 18th

6:30 pm – 7 pm    Meet and greet with photographers

7 pm – 8:30 pm    Screening of Mo & Me

8:30 pm – 8:45 pm  Intermission

9:00 pm – 9:30 pm  Q&A with Mr. Amin and Mr. Duncan

Where: Charles Allis Art Museum

1801 N. Prospect Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53202

The public is welcome to attend. Registrations are encouraged by emailing “Can Attend May 18 Event” to RSVP@cavtmuseums.org. Please note a $10 donation is encouraged to support the museum’s efforts.

About The Friends of the Charles Allis

The Friends of the Charles Allis (FOCA) is a member-based organization dedicated to supporting Milwaukee’s historic Charles Allis Art Museum. It provides funding and volunteer resources to enhance the community’s connection with the museum’s architecture, gardens, collections and exhibitions. Its vision is to enable the Charles Allis Art Museum to realize its full potential as a relevant cultural destination for generations to enjoy – toady and into the future. To learn more, visit https://www.charlesallis.org/get_involved/friends_of_ca/

About the Charles Allis Art Museum

Designed by prominent Milwaukee architect Alexander Eschweiler for Charles Allis, the first president of Allis Chalmers, and his wife Sarah in 1911, this unique Tudor-style mansion and art collection was built with the sole purpose of bequeathing it to the public to delight, educate and inspire. The permanent collection features 19th Century French and American paintings, Chinese and Japanese porcelains, Renaissance bronzes, Japanese netsuke, and original antique furnishings. For more information visit www.charlesallis.org

About Ellenbecker Investment Group (EIG)

Headquartered in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, with offices in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin and Bonita Springs, Florida, Ellenbecker Investment Group (EIG) has been providing fee-based financial planning, estate planning, and investment services since 1996. As a registered investment advisor, the firm manages assets for clients, including individuals, families, and corporations. The company works diligently to address each client’s particular situation and needs, ranging from consultation services to ongoing wealth management services. For over 25 years, listeners have heard Karen Ellenbecker as host of MoneySense Radio which airs on WISN AM 1130 every weekend. EIG has an A+ Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating and is the only financial advisory firm to have received three BBB Torch Awards for Ethics & Integrity (2005, 2010, 2016). For more information, visit >www.ellenbecker.com, call (262) 691-3200, or email >info@ellenbecker.com. Advisory services offered through Ellenbecker Investment Group, Inc. (EIG), a Registered Investment Advisor.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.

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