Braemer’s newest documentary to air on WNED this month

Dorothea Braemer, associate professor in Buffalo State’s Communication Department, recently directed and produced a 30-minute documentary entitled Connie: The powers and possibilities of community engagement, which chronicles the life and work of the late Constance “Connie” Bowles Eve, a Buffalo-based activist, community leader, and advocate. The documentary will air on WNED-TV (channel 17) throughout the month of February and was included in October's Buffalo International Film Festival.

Until her passing in March 2024, Eve was an active and beloved organizer with unwavering belief in the power of community engagement. In 2023, at age 90, she was crowned Queen of Juneteenth. Eve was perhaps best known for founding Women for Human Rights and Dignity, Inc. (WHRD), an initiative that offered alternatives to incarceration, including mentoring, job training, housing, and more. WHRD provided the largest and most comprehensive alternative to incarceration and support network for women in New York State’s history and served as a model for alternative prison programs nationwide.

Connie chronicles Eve’s extraordinary life and legacy through verité footage, archival material, interviews, and animation. 

“Working with Connie Eve to create this documentary was the honor of a lifetime,” Braemer said. “Her deeply lived belief that everyone has a place in this society and has something to contribute infused everything she did. She embraced making this film with the same passion she had for planning a Thanksgiving celebration or creating Women For Human Rights and Dignity. There is so much we can learn from her.”

Collin O’Brien, a 2024 graduate of Buffalo State’s media production program, received an Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship to work as the documentary’s assistant editor. Braemer said he was “instrumental and in helping organize the footage and focus the story.”

“Our students are so fortunate to have Professor Braemer, an outstanding, award-winning documentary filmmaker, as their instructor,” said Deborah Silverman, chair of the Communication Department. “Her passion for storytelling is evident in her works, including this superb documentary.”

Connie: The powers and possibilities of community engagement airs on WNED-TV on February 14 at 8:00 p.m., February 15 at 6:00 p.m., February 21 at 10:30 p.m., February 22 at 3:00 p.m., and February 24 at 9:00 p.m. You can also watch the documentary on YouTube. 

Pictured above: Dorothea Braemer (left) and Constance Eve.