Press Release

Teacher/Filmmaker Holds Screening

ATLANTA - Oglethorpe University alumnus Patrick Floyd ’98 will return to campus for a 30-minute screening of his newly produced documentary Keep Your Ear on the Ball on Saturday, March 29, at 11:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. in the Dolive Theatre in the Philip Weltner Library.

This ensemble documentary follows four teenagers who have lost their sight. Shot on location in Austin, Texas, this film offers an honest and unprecedented look at the lives of blind young people. Over one dynamic year the film follows blind students as they struggle to live independently, fit-in, play Goalball and prepare for a future. The film investigates the question, how do you see yourself when you can’t see at all?

After college, Patrick Floyd spent three years as a high school teacher working with at-risk youth in the Bronx and Brooklyn. In addition to his role as English teacher, Patrick produced a student-run live radio show on TeenTalk Live (WNYE/91.5 FM) and served as a mediator for conflicts between students. Before becoming a teacher, Patrick worked as a sound mixer and as an assistant director on independent films in New York. Patrick's experiences inside and outside the classroom drew him back to filmmaking, intent on sharing the stories of teens with the complexity that they deserve.

Keep Your Ear on the Ball is a co-production of Illegal Films and the Independent Television Service. It has been screened by audiences in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, Austin and Houston. It was also part of the 2007 annual conference of the Society for Disability Studies. The film is partly funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, All Blind Children of Texas and the Meadows Foundation.