National Archives Screening of “Rebel” Documentary and Discussion with Filmmaker on November 4
Press Release · Monday, October 27, 2014

Washington, DC

On Tuesday, November 4, at noon, The National Archives, presents a screening of the documentary Rebel (2013; 75 minutes), winner of the 2014 Erik Barnouw Honorable Mention Award as best historical film in America. Following the screening, National Archives senior military archivist DeAnne Blanton will discuss the film with writer-director Maria Agui Carter.

The free screening will take place in the William G. McGowan Theater at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. Use the Special Events Entrance, located at Constitution Ave. and 7th Street, NW. Metro accessible on Yellow or Green lines, Archives/Navy Memorial station.

Rebel

Shrouded in mystery and long the subject of debate, the amazing story of Loreta Velazquez, Confederate soldier turned Union Spy, is one of the Civil War’s most gripping forgotten narratives. While the U.S. military may have recently lifted the ban on women in combat, Loreta Janeta Velazquez, a Cuban immigrant from New Orleans, was fighting in battle 150 years ago – one of an estimated 1000 women who secretly served as soldiers during the American Civil War. Who was she? Why did she fight? And what made her so dangerous she has been virtually erased from history? Directed by María Agui Carter, Rebel is the story of a woman, a myth, and the politics of national memory.

Maria Agui Carter is an award-winning filmmaker. Her most recent documentary Rebel aired as a National PBS special, won a 2014 Erik Barnouw Honorable Mention Award as best historical film in America, and is touring the U.S. Her new play 14 Freight Trains, about the first American soldier to die in Iraq, an undocumented Latino, premieres at Arena Stage in fall 2014. She grew up an undocumented "Dreamer," graduated from Harvard, is a Trustee of NALIP (the National Assoc. of Latino Independent Producers), and a WGAE (Writer’s Guild of America, East) member. She has won Warren, Rockefeller, George Peabody Gardner, & CPB fellowships. She has served as a visiting artist/scholar at Harvard, Tulane and Brandeis universities.

Reservation Instructions: Reservations for McGowan Theater programs are not required but are recommended. Use the new online event registration system from the National Archives Foundation to reserve your seats:
1. Register at www.archivesfoundation.org/events/
2. Print your email confirmation and bring it with you.
3. To reserve by phone, call 202-357-6814. Walk-ins without reservations will be admitted, depending on available seats.

Enter through the Special Events Entrance on Constitution Avenue. The doors to the building will open 45 minutes prior to the start of the program.

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For press information contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.

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