POLIO DOCUMENTARY BY GW FILMMAKER NOMINATED FOR 3 EMMYS
Nina Gilden Seavey's "A Paralyzing Fear: The Story of Polio in America" Nominated for Best Research, Best Music and Best Editing

WASHINGTON - Three Emmy award nominations were announced today in Los Angeles for "A Paralyzing Fear: The Story of Polio in America." The documentary, broadcast earlier this year on PBS, was directed, written and produced by Nina Gilden Seavey, director of GW's Center for History in the Media. Emmy winners will be announced during a ceremony in Los Angeles on Sept. 12.

The three nominations were in the categories of Best Research, Best Editing and Best Music. "To put it simply, I am overjoyed," said Seavey. "These categories represent some of the most difficult tasks in putting together a documentary. We looked at 3,000 films and 5,000 photos. We spent seven months editing the film. All the music compositions are original and recorded live for our production."

"A Paralyzing Fear" chronicled the nation's battle against polio and the challenges faced by those afflicted. Many victims were isolated from the rest of the population, and family members were sometimes shunned. The film also charts the scientific effort to find a vaccine. "Ultimately, it is a film about what happens when we begin to fear each other, and our transcendence from that fear," Seavey said.

The production team included numerous historians, anthropologists, physicians and humanities scholars who worked on the film's content. The film crew traveled across America interviewing polio survivors, parents, doctors, physical therapists, journalists and everyday citizens who have been affected by the disease. The crew went to India to witness the inoculation of 125 million children during a single day.

For more information on this film or on Nina Gilden Seavey, contact The Center for History in the Media at 202-994-6787. The Center is part of GW's Columbian School of Arts and Sciences, the largest of the University's schools. The Columbian School provides education and training leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. Instruction is provided by internationally recognized faculty, drawing upon the resources and diversity of Washington, D.C. Programs range from the traditional disciplines through a wide variety of interdisciplinary and applied fields.

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