1 State of Arkansas
2 94th General Assembly
3 Regular Session, 2023 SMR 2
4
5 By: Senator C. Tucker
6
7 SENATE MEMORIAL RESOLUTION
8 TO REMEMBER BRENT RENAUD AND TO RECOGNIZE HIS
9 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STATE OF ARKANSAS AND
10 FILMMAKING.
11
12
13 Subtitle
14 TO REMEMBER BRENT RENAUD AND TO RECOGNIZE
15 HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STATE OF
16 ARKANSAS AND FILMMAKING.
17
18 WHEREAS, Brent Renaud was born on October 2, 1971, in Memphis,
19 Tennessee, and died on March 13, 2022; and
20
21 WHEREAS, Brent Renaud was killed in Ukraine when Russian troops opened
22 fire, according to Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv's regional police force;
23 and
24
25 WHEREAS, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote: "A talented and
26 brave journalist, Brent lost his life while documenting human tragedy,
27 devastation, and suffering of millions of Ukrainians."; and
28
29 WHEREAS, Brent Renaud was a loving son, brother, uncle, friend, and
30 award-winning documentary filmmaker who grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas; and
31
32 WHEREAS, Brent Renaud graduated from Hall High School, received his
33 undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and
34 a master's degree from Columbia University in New York, New York; and
35
36 WHEREAS, Brent with his younger brother Craig, known as the Renaud
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1 Brothers, co-founded 501 Films, a small film company that won many national
2 and international awards for their documentaries about human suffering around
3 the world; and
4
5 WHEREAS, Brent and Craig also co-founded the Little Rock Film Festival
6 and the Arkansas Motion Picture Institute; and
7
8 WHEREAS, Brent and Craig made films for HBO, NBC, Discovery, PBS, The
9 New York Times, VICE News, and others, and their film, "Last Chance High," an
10 eight-part series for VICE Media won a Peabody Award, the most prestigious
11 prize broadcast journalists can receive; and
12
13 WHEREAS, Brent and Craig, in collaboration with Christof Putzel, won a
14 DuPont-Columbia Award for "Vanguard: Arming the Mexican Cartel", and when
15 Christof Putzel learned of his close friend's death, he told WGBH Boston:
16 "Brent had courage like nobody I've ever seen, yet at the same time had this
17 heart to go in where he knew he was needed, and he was so incredibly careful
18 and focused. I don't know many people who can do that."; and
19
20 WHEREAS, Brent Renaud was known as quiet, humble, brilliant, kind, and
21 a hardworking filmmaker; and
22
23 WHEREAS, Brent was a Neiman Fellow in 2019 at Harvard University and
24 Neiman curator Ann Marie Lipinski said: “Brent’s filmmaking was exceptional
25 and what made it so was not just his abundant skill but a kindness and deep
26 humanity he brought to his work. He told us that what he sought in his
27 journalism was thoughtful stories about disenfranchised people, and he lived
28 up to that credo every day. His death is a devastating loss”; and
29
30 WHEREAS, at Harvard University, Brent studied the effects of trauma and
31 mental and emotional illness on rates of poverty and violence in America; and
32
33 WHEREAS, Brent Renaud was a visiting distinguished professor for the
34 Center for Ethics in Journalism at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
35 in 2019; and
36
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1 WHEREAS, "Brent Renaud [was] widely respected as a photojournalist and
2 documentary filmmaker," said Larry Foley, chair of the University of Arkansas
3 School of Journalism and Strategic Media; and
4
5 WHEREAS, Brent Renaud’s 2015 short documentary “Between Borders:
6 American Migrant Crisis", helped bring a new level of awareness to the youth
7 migrant crisis in Central America, and his award-winning 2018 feature film
8 “Shelter” has raised millions of dollars to combat the youth homeless crisis
9 in New Orleans, Louisiana; and
10
11 WHEREAS, Raymond McCaffrey, director of the Center for Ethics in
12 Journalism, said that Brent Renaud possessed unique journalistic skills that
13 are especially valuable in today's changing media environment and he
14 considered Brent "especially qualified to teach students about the power of
15 multimedia journalism as well as the ethical challenges that journalists can
16 face when using new technology to help report the news"; and
17
18 WHEREAS, in recognition of the many contributions Brent Renaud brought
19 to Arkansas and the filmmaking industry, Brent's family and friends started
20 the Brent Renaud Foundation as a means of continuing his vision; and
21
22 WHEREAS, Brent Renaud sacrificed his life to bring awareness of the war
23 in Ukraine, and his loss will never be forgotten,
24
25 NOW THEREFORE,
26 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
27 STATE OF ARKANSAS:
28
29 THAT the Senate remember Brent Renaud for his service and dedication to
30 the State of Arkansas and the filmmaking industry and extend sincere
31 condolences to the family.
32
33 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT upon adoption, a copy of this resolution be
34 provided to Brent Renaud's family by the Secretary of the Senate.
35
36
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