COMM Professor wins Best Documentary for “The Packinghouse”

Posted by Kate Blosser on

Brian Graves, recent addition to the College of Communication & Information faculty, has a film that’s being screened and celebrated.

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The Packinghouse Poster

The film, The Packinghouse, is a short documentary about the ghost tales surrounding an abandoned meat packing facility in Statesboro, Georgia. The urban legends date back to the early 1900s, with tales of an owner locking his employees inside, setting the building ablaze and taking his own life. Today, you can sometimes see a woman standing on the third floor.

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Dr. Brian Graves

Graves, the film’s executive producer, writer and editor, worked on the project with his summer 2012 Digital Video Editing course at Georgia Southern University, where he taught for four years.

“I found it to be a great opportunity to employ my production skills in the classroom, engage my students in a ‘real world’ learning experience, and help them build their professional portfolio,” shared Graves.

Most recently, The Packinghouse was selected as Best Documentary at the Atlanta Shortsfest.

The Packinghouse has been been honored at these screenings:

  • Winner, Best Director, Statesboro Film Festival – Statesboro, GA
  • Winner, Best Editing, Statesboro Film Festival – Statesboro, GA
  • Winner, Best Short, Bald Shorts Film Festival, Georgia College – Milledgeville, GA
  • Nominee, Best Non-fiction short, Gwinnett Center International Film Festival – Atlanta, GA
  • Official Selection, Rome International Film Festival – Rome, GA
  • Screened for Bulloch County Historical Society Meeting – Statesboro, GA

“The film has picked up a few awards at regional festivals in its early run. I have really enjoyed the project’s screenings so far, and hope that we have some more opportunities to share it with audiences,” said Graves.

Check out more of Dr. Graves’s work on his website and watch his work on Vimeo.