User:Mjoconnor322/sandbox

= Anne Buford =

Anne Buford is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. In 2005, she founded the production company, Sharp 7 Films, LLC. Buford directed and produced the 2011 award-winning documentary, ELEVATE.

Career
A Native of Wichita, Kansas, Buford developed a love of basketball at a young age, especially while attending the University of Kansas at the same time her older brother, R.C. Buford was assistant coach. After graduating in 1990, Buford moved to New York City to pursue a career at American VOGUE. She worked at VOGUE for 10 years, first as junior assistant to editor in chief, Anna Wintour, and ultimately as Director of Communications and Special Projects for VOGUE. She has said that she loved working for Wintour and that in the making of ELEVATE, she used what she learned from Wintour to pique interest in the film. In 2001, Buford left VOGUE for the role of vice-president of corporate communications at Ralph Lauren. While working for First Deputy, Patti Harris in the office of NYC Mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg in 2005, Buford launched her production company, Sharp 7 Films, LLC., and began work on ELEVATE with the goal of showing the transformational effect that sports and film can have on society.

ELEVATE (2011)
Filmed over four years, from the dilapidated cement courts at SEEDS Academy in Senegal to upscale American prep schools, ELEVATE documents the extraordinary personal journeys of four particularly tall West African Muslim teenagers. Recruited for both their physical and academic skills they accept basketball scholarships to schools in the United States—and face the daunting challenges of alienation, a foreign language, American-style basketball and an unfamiliar American culture rife with African stereotypes. But with courage, humor, and remarkable resilience, they relentlessly pursue their dreams—to obtain an education and a shot at the NBA.

Press / Awards for ELEVATE

 * 2011 Dallas International Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature
 * deadCENTER Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize for Documentary
 * Heartland Film Festival, Crystal Heart Award
 * 2011 SXSW Film Festival World Premier
 * Los Angeles Film Festival
 * Sedona Film Festival
 * BAM Cinema Fest
 * Virginia Film Festival Audience Award
 * Buford was invited to the 2012 American Film Showcase, an international cultural diplomacy initiative that brings people together worldwide through film. The showcase, a partnership between the U.S. Department of State and USC School of Cinematic Arts, brings award-winning American films, including documentaries, feature films and animated shorts, to foreign audiences through events worldwide.
 * “It’s impossible not to be moved watching Anne Buford’s ELEVATE”—The New York Times