KINGSTON, R.I.- July 9, 2007 — Cherry Arnold, a University of Rhode Island alumna and critically acclaimed filmmaker and director, will answer questions about her new film, Buddy, during a URI online chat on Tuesday, July 24 at 1 p.m.
Buddy, released nationwide in theaters in April 2007, is about former Providence Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, who has dominated Rhode Island headlines for more than 25 years. He was the longest-serving mayor in modern history and remains one of the country’s most controversial political figures. The film tracks Cianci’s entanglements with city council opposition, union skirmishes, personal scandals and criminal indictments. Arnold convinced Cianci to grant her exclusive access to film his day-to-day activities for the documentary, which covers his 30-year career.
A native of Providence, Arnold graduated from URI in 1987 as an English major with minors in art history and political science. She has produced a number of feature-length documentary and narrative films, including the Oxygen Network documentary favorite, “Sex: Female.” Her production company, Big Orange Films LLC, produces documentary, educational and commercial films.
A service of the URI Division of University Advancement’s electronic communications program, online chats are free and open to the public and are accessible through the URI website.
To enter the chat, go to http://advance.uri.edu/chats for instructions. Participants may submit questions in advance, but the chat will not begin until the scheduled date and time. Thirty minutes is the total time allotted for the chat. A full transcript will be posted to the University’s website once the chat has been completed. Questions about web chats should be directed to the URI Publications Office at 401-874-2075.
URI’s online chats, which began in September 2004, have featured question-and-answer sessions with such alumni as Tom Mulligan, Los Angeles Times senior correspondent discussing the Iraq war, and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ross Kaufman talking about the making of Born into Brothels, as well as with URI administrators, faculty and coaches.
The chats are made possible through the cooperation of the URI Athletics Department and College Sports Online, hosts of the GoRhody.com website.