Shades of Gray

Description

Synopsis

“Shades of Gray” is a documentary that focuses on the lives of five ordinary people leading normal lives in Lawrence, Kansas who happen to be gay and lesbian. When the Lawrence City Council is approached with a proposal to add the words ‘sexual orientation’ to its discrimination policies, a struggle ensues between the citizens of Lawrence, outside anti-gay influences, religious organizations and activists. “Shades of Gray” illustrates how homosexual women and men are very much a part of the moral fiber that comprises American society.

Director

Tim DePaepe is a 1990 grad of the University of Kansas Film Studies Program, and now an independent film and video producer/director in Lawrence, Kansas. He has worked in the film and video industry for seven years. Tim started free-lancing on film productions while still an undergraduate at KU. He paid for part of his education from work on feature films like “Kansas” and TV series including “Unsolved Mysteries” and “Rescue 911.” By the time he’d graduated Tim had produced and directed a number of film and video shorts, and had been the recipient of several first place awards at the Kansas Film Institute’s annual film and video festival. His student film “Loose Change” was a shown in the Chicago International Film Festival.

Tim’s last documentary, “Quiet Passages,” was produced by The Center for East Asian Studies with a grant from the Kansas Council on the Humanities. The program is currently in national distribution through Cross Current Media, a distribution service of the National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA). “Quiet Passages” was shown nationally on 22 PBS stations, including WNET New York and WQED San Francisco, was a finalist for Cine International Film Festival, and a finalist at the American Film and Video Association Film Festival. In addition to directing documentaries, Tim has been a Director of Photography for public relations PSA’s, independent documentaries, and dramatic short films produced independently or as student films. Tim’s cinematography work can be seen in the independent feature film, “Tumbling After,” that was shot in Lawrence in August of 1993.

Tim worked two years for the Kansas Film Commission as the Location Coordinator, conducting liaison work with film and TV producers, and in-state location scouts. “Shades of Gray,” is his first feature length film as an independent filmmaker. He received a Grant from the NEA (National Endowment of the Arts) through the regional sub-granting program SWAMP (Southwest Alternative Media Media Project) for “Shades of Gray.” Tim was also awarded the Kansas Arts Commission 1995 Film & Video Artist Fellowship. He received financial assistance from acclaimed filmmaker Michael Moore through a grant from the center for alternative media.