#97-4-15
For Release: 4-18-97
Contact: Peter Bailley

Filmmaker Arthur Dong will discuss his documentary films at 4 p.m., Thursday, May 1 in the Common Room of Old Main at Knox College.

In conjunction with Dong's visit, Knox will present the Illinois premiere of his film Licensed to Kill at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 1 in Kresge Recital Hall, Ford Center for Fine Arts. The lecture will be followed by a discussion with Dong and Anjie Rosga, assistant professor of sociology at Knox College and the researcher and editorial advisor for the film.

In addition, Rosga will lead a lecture and discussion on anti-gay violence at 4 p.m., Wednesday, April 30 in the Common Room, Old Main.

Licensed to Kill profiles seven male prison inmates who freely admit that their contempt for homosexuals led them to murder gay men. The film examines the social, political and cultural environments of the men and questions whether widespread anti-gay prejudice had given the murderers a "license to kill" homosexuals. The New York Times said that Licensed to Kill "goes beyond the knee-jerk ugliness of out-right anti-gay prejudice to examine more indirect forms of anger." The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "Dong's skillful interweaving of on-camera interviews, police videos of murderers confessing their crimes, news reports and even footage of gay-bashing incidents makes [Licensed to Kill] darkly fascinating."

Licensed to Kill won the Sundance Film Festival's Best Documentary Director Award and the Filmmakers Trophy Award. It also gained recognition at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Dong's previous documentaries, including The Question of Equality: Out Rage '69 (1995), Coming Out Under Fire (1994), also have garnered praise from film critics.

Founded in 1837, Knox is an independent, four-year, liberal arts college, located in Galesburg, Illinois, with 1,100 students from 42 states and 33 nations. Knox's "Old Main," a National Historic Landmark, is the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.