The Department of Art at Old Dominion University and AIGA Hampton Roads present a screening of Pressing On: The Letterpress Film on Wednesday, November 29 at 7 p.m. in ODU's University Theatre, free and open to the public. Erin Beckloff, producer and co-director, will introduce the film and answer questions after the screening.

The modern world was born on a printing press. Once essential to communication, the 500-year-old process is now in danger of being lost as its caretakers age. From self-proclaimed basement hoarders to the famed Hatch Show Print, Pressing On: The Letterpress Film explores the question "Why has letterpress survived?" Worlds of each character emerge as unusual narratives—joyful, mournful, reflective and visionary—are punctuated with on-screen visual poetry, every shot meticulously composed. Captivating personalities blend with wood, metal and type as young printers strive to save this historic process in a film created for the designer, type nerd, historian and collector in us all.

Erin Beckloff is a letterpress printer, filmmaker, and graphic design educator. She is an assistant professor of graphic design at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she revitalized the Curmudgeon Press type shop and developed letterpress courses. Beckloff believes the letterpress printing process will survive through educating others in the craft and that the intangible effects—emotional and physical—are consequential. She holds a BFA from Miami University and an MFA in Graphic Design from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She studied letterpress through practical application and the shared knowledge of master printers, including the talented folks at Hatch Show Print.

For more information, contact Ivanete Blanco at iblanco@odu.edu.