Dayton native returns to preview film

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By Dale Huffman, Contributing Columnist Updated 5:10 AM Thursday, November 12, 2009

Tony Heriza says he learned a very important thing when he was a member of a powerful young group of caring Daytonians working for change in the 1970s and ’80s.

“I found out there is tremendous power in using visuals, film and videos, to tell a story,” he said. “The video illuminates an issue, and hopefully moves people to care, and to act.”

Now, years later, he is returning home and on Saturday, Nov. 14, will preview his latest film, a compelling movie about prisoners behind bars, and victims of crime, working together and creating a healing artistic mural.

During those “learning and building” days in Dayton, as he was working on his undergraduate degree at Antioch, Heriza was involved with what he calls “an amazing community of progressive individuals and groups who worked together to make things better.”

He was one of the founders of Media House, a collective headed by Julia Reichert and Jim Klein, activists and filmmakers who were nominated for Oscar nominations along the way for films “Union Maids” and “Seeing Red.”

Heriza also worked with Phyllis Brzozowska in co-founding City Folk of Dayton while teaching at the Dayton Art Institute and the University of Dayton.

When he left Dayton, Heriza subsequently taught film-making at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He currently is director of educational outreach for the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia, and teaches documentary video production in the Fine Arts Department of the University of Pennsylvania.

Heriza became interested in the possibility of creating a film about the men serving time in Graterford Prison, the oldest maximum security facility in Pennsylvania, in 2002.

“My wife, Jane Golden, is director of the Mural Arts Program, which was working with incarcerated inmates at Graterford,” Heriza said. “I was very intrigued. I saw the potential for the documentary.”

Heriza said a group of prisoner artists agreed to collaborate with victims of crime and together, under supervision, they began working on a mural about “healing.”

He said access to the inmates was limited, but that eventually he was able to talk to them freely and privately.

“The more difficult issue was bringing cameras inside the prison since Pennsylvania had just imposed a ban on any cameras,” Heriza said. “We appealed to authorities and to the governor and finally got our cameras inside, providing we didn’t show recognizable faces of prisoners.”

He added, “Logistics were complicated, and bureaucratic, and it took some inventive shooting, but we got the job done. The prison administration wound up being generally cooperative.”

The film tells the story of inmates at the state prison working alongside crime victims on large murals, as they tried, sometimes with difficulty, to find common ground.

The entire film was created inside the walls of Graterford and “against the backdrop of Philadelphia, a large city faced with problems of high crime and incarceration,” Heriza said. “We are proud of the completed product.”

The 54-minute film, “Concrete, Steel and Paint,” will premiere at noon Saturday at the Neon Movies, 130 E. Fifth St. Suggested donation is $5.

According to Madeline Breslin of Dayton, who is helping with the arrangements, a live panel discussion led by Tony Heriza will follow the showing of the film.

Those on the panel include attorney Carl Goraleski, of the Montgomery County Public Defender’s office, and Vernellia Randall, a University of Dayton law professor.

For additional information, call Breslin at (937) 433-2760.

To see a trailer of the film, go to www.concretefilm.org.

Dale Huffman wants your suggestions and story ideas. He’d like to share a story about you, your family, or a friend. This column is for you. Send e-mail to dhuffman@DaytonDailyNews.com or write to Dale at 1611 S. Main St. Dayton, OH 45409. Fax: (937) 225-2489. Phone: (937) 225-2272.

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