Journalism Faculty, Students Win Regional Emmy Awards

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University of Arkansas professors Larry Foley, Dale Carpenter and instructor Hayot Tuychiev, all members of the Walter J. Lemke department of journalism, earned Emmy Awards for their documentary film work from the Mid-America chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The awards were announced during the academy’s annual ceremony in St. Louis on Saturday, Oct. 22.

Carpenter and Foley received an Emmy for their film Bridge to War Eagle, which won in the Cultural Documentary category. The 30-minute film tells the tale of an iconic steel bridge and grist mill on War Eagle Creek in the Ozark hills, a wild stream protected only by the folks who use it, its story told by those who love it.

Bridge to War Eagle also received Emmy nominations for writing (Foley), music (Jim Greeson/Dale Carpenter) and editing (Carpenter).

Tuychiev won an Emmy in the category of Religion: News Story/Program Feature for his film, Temple of Peace. The film was his master’s thesis project for the journalism department.

Temple of Peace explores the life of a Palestinian-American Muslim, Fadil Bayyari, owner of a construction company in Springdale, and his unprecedented project: building a Jewish synagogue in Fayetteville. The idea of a synagogue being built by a Palestinian-American sparked debate in both Muslim and Jewish communities. While the synagogue was being built Tuychiev followed Bayyari and Jeremy Hess, a member of the local Jewish community, as they tried to bridge the gap between two very different communities in Northwest Arkansas.

Jesse Abdenour, who received his master’s degree in journalism at the University of Arkansas, won a student Emmy for his graduate thesis film, Therapeutic Justice: Life inside Drug Court. Abdenour is now on the faculty at Arkansas State University.