Broadcasting documentary accepted into South Dakota Film Festival, claims award

A documentary produced by South Dakota State University associate professor Rocky Dailey, featuring a notable figure in South Dakota broadcasting history, has been accepted into the South Dakota Film Festival in Aberdeen.

“The Dean of South Dakota Broadcasting” has also claimed the festival’s Best Documentary Short Award.

The film is part of Dailey’s “Voices of the Prairie: A History of Broadcasting in South Dakota” series and features radio broadcaster Dean Sorenson. The 24-minute documentary will be shown during the film festival’s third session, which is set for 3-5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15, at the Capitol Theatre in Aberdeen.

The festival, which highlights more than 60 films from the Great Plains region, their filmmakers and guests, runs from Thursday through Sunday, Sept. 14-17.

“Dr. Dailey’s docuseries, ‘Voices of the Prairie,’ continues to provide insight into the compelling history of broadcasting in South Dakota. I am delighted that the episode featuring Dean Sorenson has received the South Dakota Film Festival’s Best Documentary Short Award. Dr. Dailey is preserving an important component of South Dakota history through thoughtful and compelling storytelling,” said Joshua Westwick, director of SDSU’s School of Communication and Journalism.

Sorenson owned Sorenson Broadcasting, which operated multiple radio stations in the region. Originally from Mitchell, he started working at KORN when he finished high school. After broadcast school and working at stations across the state, he eventually owned radio stations in towns including Grand Rapids, Minnesota; Jamestown, North Dakota; Pierre, Yankton, Brookings, Watertown and Mitchell, with a focus on building communities.

In the 1980s, Sorenson’s Watertown station started the “Give a Buck” program that raised money to send all South Dakota legislators to Washington, D.C., to represent farmers at a time when the federal government was revising its farm policy.

“He was very influential with a lot of current broadcasters, and is to this day,” Dailey said.

Dailey served as videographer, producer and editor for the documentary, and it has been previously screened at various venues and events.

This is Dailey’s first film accepted into the South Dakota Film Festival, but his work has also been selected for the Iowa Independent Film Festival, the 2018 Documentary Short Film Festival and the 2018 Impact DOCS Awards.

“This award and the festival are especially meaningful because they’re local. It’s a festival that I can go to, and it’s great to be recognized,” he said.

For the past three years, Dailey has been working on the broadcasting documentaries with a grant awarded through SDSU along with a contribution from the South Dakota Broadcasters Association. He plans to continue producing them as a long-term project as part of his ongoing research, scholarship and creative activity.

Two other episodes of the docuseries are complete, with a focus on individuals who have been important to the development of broadcasting in the state, starting with radio. Those are “Voices in the Air: Verl Thomson,” featuring the pioneering Sioux Falls-area radioman, and “Live and Local,” featuring Watertown-area broadcaster and former state lawmaker Bob Faehn.

For the series’ fourth episode, currently in production, Dailey is focusing on Wynn Speece, the WNAX Neighbor Lady.

For more information about the South Dakota Film Festival and to purchase tickets, log onto the film festival website.