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Robin Romano

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Robin Romano
Born
Umberto Roberto Romano, Jr.

New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 1, 2013(2013-11-01) (aged 56–57)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Cause of deathComplications from Lyme disease[1]
NationalityAmerican
EducationAmherst College (1980)[2]
Occupation(s)Documentary filmmaker, producer, photographer, educator, human rights activist
Known forFaces of Freedom (2009), The Harvest/La Cosecha (2010)

Robin Romano (1958-2013), also known as U. Roberto Romano, was an American documentary filmmaker, producer, photojournalist, and human rights activist. He is known for directing Stolen Childhoods (2005), The Dark Side of Chocolate (2010), and The Harvest/La Cosecha (2010) and for campaigning against exploitative child labor practices. In addition to filmmaking, Romano's photography documented child and migrant labor worldwide. The Romano archives are housed at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut.

Life

Romano was born in New York City in 1956. His father was portrait painter and Works Progress Administration (WPA) muralist Umberto Romano (died September 27, 1982); his mother was Clorinda Corcia. Romano Sr. born in Bracigliano, near Salerno, Italy, and immigrated to the United States at the age of 9 with his parents.[4] Romano Jr. attended the Lycée Français de New York, Allen-Stevenson School, and Horace Mann High School. He graduated from Amherst College as an Interdisciplinary Scholar in 1980. Romano began his filmmaking career as a producer and cameraman for Les Productions de Sagittaire in Montreal.[5] He died at his home of complications related to Lyme disease.[6]

Career

Filmmaking

Romano's filmmaking documented child labor in rug manufacturing in Pakistan and India, migrant farm labor in the United States and Mexico, and the cocoa industry in the Ivory Coast. He contributed to PBS, NPR, BBC, and European broadcasts on slavery and child labor. Stolen Childhoods was the first theatrically released feature documentary on global child labor. The Harvest was executive produced by actor Eva Longoria and premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA) in Amsterdam in November 2010.[7]

Romano's documentaries won several awards. The Harvest received the Audience Award at the Festival Internazationale di Cinema in Trento, Italy (2012), the Special Achievement Award at the ALMA Awards (2011), the Outstanding Filmmaker Award at the San Antonio Film Festival (2011), and the Conflict and Resolution Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival (2009). The Dark Side of Chocolate won the Grand Prize at the Festival Internazationale di Cinema (2011) and was a Cinema for Peace finalist at the Berlin Film Festival (2012).[8]

Photography

Romano's still photography exhibit "Stolen Childhoods: The Global Plague of Child Labor" was on view at the William Benton Museum of Art in 2006, and his "Faces of Freedom" collection was featured on the CNN Freedom Project in 2011. His work has been used by the Council on Foreign Relations, the Global March Against Child Labor, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the International Labor Organization, The Hunger Project, International Labor Rights Forum, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, and Antislavery International.[9]

In 2015, Romano's total body of work, including his research files, video master tapes and digital files, hundreds of interviews, thousands of digital photos and prints, and research files, was donated to the University of Connecticut Archives and Special Collections. The gift was made by Len Morris, Romano's friend and collaborator for over 30 years.[10]

Activism

Due to his efforts to raise the profile of child labor in global consciousness, Romano was invited to speak at many conventions, conferences, and universities. He gave the Frank Porter Graham Lecture at the Johnson Center for Academic Excellence, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, and the Gene and Georgia Mittelman Distinguished Lecture in the Arts at the University of Connecticut. In 2007 he addressed the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs annual conference in Coeur d'Alene.[11] In 2010 he visited Capitol Hill to screen scenes from his film The Harvest, which documented migrant child labor on American farms. Romano lobbied Congress for the passage of the Children's Act for Responsible Employment (CARE Act, HR 3564), first proposed in 2009 by Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard, aimed at strengthening protections for children working in the agriculture industry.[12]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ "In Memoriam: U. Roberto Romano". Shine Global. November 4, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  2. ^ "U. Roberto Romano '80 (Robin)". Amherst Magazine. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  3. ^ "Umberto Romano, artist dies". New York Times. October 1, 1982. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  4. ^ "Umberto Romano, artist dies". New York Times. October 1, 1982. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  5. ^ "U. Roberto (Robin) Romano Papers 2008.0006 - An Inventory". University of Connecticut. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  6. ^ "In Memoriam: U. Roberto Romano". Shine Global. November 4, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  7. ^ "The Harvest". IDFA 2010. IDFA. Retrieved 2016-03-25.
  8. ^ "U. Roberto (Robin) Romano Papers 2008.0006 - An Inventory". University of Connecticut. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  9. ^ "U. Roberto (Robin) Romano Papers 2008.0006 - An Inventory". University of Connecticut. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  10. ^ "Human Rights Photographer's Collection Donated to UConn". University of Connecticut Libraries. October 19, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  11. ^ "U. Roberto (Robin) Romano Papers 2008.0006 - An Inventory". University of Connecticut. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  12. ^ "Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, Press Release". Offices of Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard. Sep 15, 2010. Retrieved 2011-05-27.
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