'After the Tsunami' to Premiere on AETN

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Larry Foley at an orphanage directed by alumna and Fulbright scholar Dedek Arahman

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After the Tsunami, the latest film by Emmy-winning documentarian and professor of journalism Larry Foley, will have its broadcast premiere on the Arkansas Educational Television Network in February.

The 30-minute film tells the stories of graduate students who came to the University of Arkansas, the Clinton School of Public Service, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Texas A&M University. The students were beneficiaries of Bush-Clinton Fulbright Tsunami Relief Program Scholarships following the 2004 tsunami that killed 173,000 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

“It's a powerful and meaningful story—perhaps the most emotional of my career,” Foley said.

The influential story features graduates who are back home working in the fields of education, agriculture, government and business. One of the University of Arkansas graduates runs an orphanage for children who lost their families in the tsunami.

Scheduled broadcasts on AETN include:

• Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 6:30 p.m.
• Sunday, Feb. 9, at 11:30 p.m.
• Monday, Feb. 10, at midnight (Sunday night into Monday morning)
• Thursday, Feb. 13, at 6:30 p.m.

While roads and houses were being rebuilt in Aceh Provence, these scholarships allowed 75 students to go away for a brief time so they could come home to rebuild what could not be replaced with asphalt or brick and mortar.

The film was a success at multiple screenings in the fall including the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, the Clinton Presidential Center, the Fayetteville Public Library and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

In January, it won two awards at the Indie Film Fest in Eureka Springs. The film was honored as Best Documentary, and James Greeson, professor of music composition, won for Best Original Musical Score. In March, After the Tsunami will be featured at the Peace on Earth Film Festival in Chicago.

AETN is Arkansas’ statewide public television station. It is a simulcast network of educational public television stations, affiliated with PBS, covering the state of Arkansas. Approximately 300,000 households watch AETN weekly. Check your local listings for exact programming dates and times.