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Writer, Producer dream hampton Shares New Film

by Gail Hairston, Rob Theakston 

(March 25, 3014) -- The University of Kentucky Late Night Film Series hosts award-winning filmmaker, author and community activist dream hampton, who will be presenting an exclusive director's cut of her current documentary "Transparent" at 7 p.m. Friday, March 28, at the University of Kentucky Worsham Theater. Admission is free.

"Transparent" is the story of Shelly Hilliard, a 19-year-old transgender woman living in Detroit who was brutally murdered. "Transparent" follows Hilliard's family and friends as they struggle to search for closure and tell the story of her life. The project is in its final phases and the Late Night Film Series will present a rough cut followed by a question and answer session with hampton, who prefers her name appear in lower case letters. A reception at the Martin Luther King Jr. Cultural Center will follow the event.

She was an associate producer of VH1's Emmy Award-winning "Behind the Music: Notorious B.I.G." and co-producer of "Bigger Than Life," the first feature-length documentary on the legendary rapper. She has also collaborated with Jay-Z on the New York Times best-selling book, "Decoded." Her short film "I am Ali" was an entry at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival and won Best Short Film at Vanity Fair's Newport Film Festival. She was a co-executive producer of "An Oversimplification of Her Beauty" (2012), associate producer of "The Russian Winter" (2012), director of the music video "QueenS" (2012) for SubPop artists TheeSatisfaction!, which NPR named one of the most stylish of 2012.

For 20 years hampton has written about music, culture and politics. A noted "pioneering" black female journalist, she was a contributor to Vibe for 15 years, beginning with its launch in 1993, The Village Voice, and Spin. Other publications her writings have appeared in include The Detroit News, Harper's Bazaar, NPR, Essence, and Ebony. Her Essays have also been included in over dozens of anthologies, including "Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic" (2009, edited by Michael Eric Dyson) and "Black Cool: One Thousand Streams of Blackness" (2012, edited by Rebecca Walker).

Established in 2005, The Late Night Film Series is a student run collective dedicated to presenting a diverse array of films and documentaries free of charge to the University of Kentucky audience. Recently named one of the top university cinema programs in the nation, the series aims to present challenging and entertaining material while balancing educational and historical context within the realm of cinema.