Media Advisory: ‘Maya Angelou and Still I Rise’ Documentary to Premier at Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival 2016 is held in Park City, Utah, from Jan. 21-31.

A dedicated teacher who described herself as “a teacher who writes,” Angelou first came to Wake Forest in 1973 for a speaking engagement, starting what would become a long relationship with the University. She was named the University’s first Reynolds Professor of American Studies in 1982.

The Wake Forest’s Z. Smith Reynolds Library is home to movie scripts, drafts of plays, and other materials related to Angelou’s work in film, television and theater. Many of the materials are hand-written on legal pads or in notebooks with handwritten margin notes or corrections. Highlights include the movie scripts for, “Georgia, Georgia” (1972) and “Down in the Delta” (1998).

Angelou died on May 28, 2014, at the age of 86. Her memorial service was held in the University’s Wait Chapel. More information on Maya Angelou and her 32 years teaching at Wake Forest is available here.