Caroline Knight, a UT cinema studies and video production major, is in New York City this week to receive an award for her video documentary Visionary. The College Media Association selected Visionary as winner of the long documentary category.
Visionary documents the life of Sue Buckley, co-founder of Club VIBES, and how she’s given back since losing her eyesight and learning to live independently. Buckley created Club VIBES as a way to advocate and teach others who are blind and visually impaired about resources available to them and how to use them to live a more independent life. The documentary shows how Buckley has even given those who are visually impaired or blind the chance to ride a bike.
Knight, a junior from Nashville, was inspired to create Visionary for her final project after taking a nonfiction video art class with Paul Harrill, a Knoxville-based director and UT associate professor. Her internship last summer in New York also influenced the project.
“I interned for a health and lifestyle website called HealthiNation,” Knight said. “They actually have an award-winning documentary series about people who live with and are advocates for chronic health conditions, so I made Visionary keeping them in mind.”
Visionary has also been accepted into the Nashville Film Festival, which will take place April 14-23.
Knight found her passion for film and photography at a young age. Her backyard and bedroom are where she found her first subjects and opened her studio.
“As a kid I used to come home from school every day and climb around my backyard taking pictures of ladybugs and dead leaves,” said Knight. “I used to arrange my room to be like a little studio and would make up stories with my stuffed animals and stage pictures of me with them.”
Knight said that after college she hopes to move to New York to continue making creative nonfiction work that advocates for different causes.
—
CONTACT:
Lola Alapo (865-974-3993, lalapo@utk.edu)