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Volunteer Spotlight: Linda Warren
When did you start volunteering for Full Frame?
I started around 2000. At the time, I was working in the front office of the Carolina Theater and volunteering there.
You have been volunteering since 2000! What has kept you coming back all these years?
The people. In the beginning, Nancy Buirski was the curator and director of Full Frame, and her enthusiasm about Full Frame was energizing.
As you know, volunteers receive an allotment of tickets to see films at the festival. What Full Frame documentary has made the biggest impression on you?
One that stuck with me, that I will never, ever forget, is FLAG WARS (Linda Goode Bryant, Full Frame 2006).
As a woman of color, it struck me because of what happened with the Black farmers in North Carolina and across the country. In Ohio, a black neighborhood was being gentrified. People were buying up properties for little or nothing then raising the taxes so people who had grown up there, particularly African Americans and senior citizens, were forced out.
I don’t recall what year that screened, but I remember watching it and feeling its impact. I have had the experience of watching some very powerful films that have opened my heart. I have experienced so many things that I would otherwise not get to experience, living where I live.
What volunteer roles have you had, and which do you like most?
I have done just about everything. I don’t have a favorite role, but I do like being in places where I get to talk to the filmmakers so that I can ask, “How did you come up with the idea to do that film? How did you get it done? What was the inspiration behind it?” I also like talking to the other volunteers, because they all have different stories about why they’re there. It’s fascinating!
Why should others consider volunteering?
If you like to be of service, first of all—you shouldn’t do Full Frame if you don’t like to be around people, helping people. And, if you want to learn more about the world we live in—because Full Frame offers the opportunity for you to see films from all around the world. The thing I tell people is, that if you decide to volunteer for Full Frame, you get the opportunity to be a part of something that doesn’t happen anywhere else other than here in Durham, North Carolina. These films are global, regional, and local, and you can experience all of them if you volunteer at Full Frame.