Gilbert Named Rockefeller Media Fellow

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Charlene Gilbert, assistant professor of media study at the University at Buffalo, has been named a 2000 Film/Video/Multimedia Fellow by the Rockefeller and MacArthur foundations.

The fellowship program, unique in both Mexico and the United States, honors excellence among media artists who use their work to explore intercultural issues.

Gilbert is one of 20 American and Mexican media artists named as fellows, each of whom will receive up to $35,000 to develop innovative film, video and multimedia projects.

Gilbert's project is "The Henrietta Lacks Film Project," a documentary that views an overlooked chapter in American medical history in the context of bioethics.

The film examines the 1951 case of Henrietta Lacks, a 31-year-old African-American mother of five who had some suspicious cells removed from her cervix. Her malignant cells, unlike normal cells, could be kept alive in cell cultures and soon were used in medical laboratories throughout the world without the permission of the Lacks family.

A UB faculty member since 1998, Gilbert has won numerous awards in addition to the Rockefeller fellowship, including a Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship, the "Best Documentary" award at the Prized Pieces International Film and Video Festival, and the "50 Rising Stars" award from Seven Arts Magazine.

Gilbert has produced and directed numerous independent films and videos, including "Homecoming," which was broadcast nationally by PBS in February as part of its Black History Month celebration.

She earned a bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Yale University and a master's in fine arts in film and media arts from Temple University.

Gilbert resides in Buffalo.