KINGSTON, R.I. — October 7, 2005 — Film producer, director, and University of Rhode Island 1987 alumna Cherry Arnold will screen her award-winning documentary, Buddy, on Wednesday, Oct. 19 in Edwards Auditorium on the Kingston campus at 6 p.m. It is free and open to the public. A question and answer with the director will follow the screening. The event is sponsored by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, URI’s Film Media Program, Political Science Department and College of Arts and Sciences.

Winner of “Best Documentary” at the 2005 Boston Film Festival and “Best Documentary Audience Award” at the 2005 Rhode Island International Film Festival, the 86-minute documentary focuses on Buddy Cianci, the former Providence mayor, the longest-serving mayor in modern day history, who remains one of the country’s most controversial political figures.

Cianci’s unflagging popularity and extraordinary career comebacks have baffled political analysts and frustrated federal investigators. Brilliant and aggressive, charming and ruthless, Cianci is described by supporters and critics alike as a political survivor.

From his early promise as an attorney prosecuting organized crime to his success overseeing Providence’s “renaissance,” the film tracks Cianci’s entanglements with city council opposition, union skirmishes, personal scandals, and criminal indictments. The result is a fascinating study of American local politics and a surprising tale of a man who, in the words of one commentator, “has a city as his mistress.”

Arnold, a Providence native, graduated from URI in 1987 as an English major and art history and political science double minor. She has produced and directed four short films and has served as a producer on a number of feature length documentary and narrative films. Most recently, she was the associate producer for the Oxygen Network documentary. Sex: Female.

More information about Buddy can be found at http://www.buddycianci.com