Gordon takes trip to honor actress with Nashville film award

By My-Ly Nguyen
Diversity Institute Fellow

07.23.02

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Tam Gordon

Tam Gordon, program coordinator for the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, helped present this year’s Freedom in Film Award to actress Susan Sarandon earlier this summer in New York City.

Since 1999, the First Amendment Center and the Nashville Independent Film Festival have given the annual award to a filmmaker, actor or actress whose life work exemplifies the principles of the First Amendment, which protects freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.

The award had added significance this year because various constitutional freedoms have been topics of debate since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Sarandon is involved in a nonprofit group presenting forums examining the impact that event has had on the First Amendment, as well as a group promoting racial, economic and social justice.

"We’ve got to protect our First Amendment rights and realize what it would mean if we didn’t have them," Gordon said.

Sarandon, cited for commitment to free expression and civic activism, received the Freedom in Film Award in New York in June after appearing on “Speaking Freely,” a weekly television show that explores freedom of expression issues in the arts. Ken Paulson, executive director of the First Amendment Center and senior vice president of the Freedom Forum, hosts the show.

The award was presented in New York because scheduling conflicts made it impossible for Sarandon to come to Nashville.

"Because she couldn’t come here didn’t mean that we were going to select someone else," Gordon said. "So we went to her."

Sarandon has starred in many films throughout her career, including “Stepmom,” “Dead Man Walking,” “The Client” and “Thelma and Louise.”

Previous Freedom in Film Award recipients are Robert Redford, Harry Belafonte and Charles Burnett. First Amendment protection was not accorded to movies until a unanimous 1952 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that time, the film industry was fully subjected to government regulation.

The First Amendment Center works to preserve and protect First Amendment freedoms through information and education. The center, an affiliate of The Freedom Forum, has offices in Nashville, Tenn., and Arlington, Va.

The Nashville Independent Film Festival is a weeklong celebration held each June that features independent film premieres, panel discussions and special presentations.

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Articles, photos by 2002 Diversity Institute Fellows
Collection page for articles written by 2002 Diversity Institute Fellows.  07.23.02