An immersive learning film following the history of Duesenberg cars in Auburn, Ind., honors one of the founders of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, who died Sunday.
Jack Randinelli, one of the founders of the festival, died after having a heart attack Sunday, two days after receiving a lifetime achievement award for 50 years of involvement at the opening banquet.
Fifteen students and Hans Kellogg, a Ball State assistant professor of technology, created the film in Fall 2012 through the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry.
“[It was an] opportunity to be able to experience part of the history of Indiana that has not been done,” Kellogg said.
Last fall, students had only one week of school before they began filming at the annual festival, which starts the weekend before Labor Day and wraps up during the national holiday.
“I was really impressed with the students’ abilities to rise to the situation,” Kellogg said.
This year, the film was shown twice and available on sale at the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum’s gift shop.
Kellogg said Randinelli helped them make the documentary, even housing five students during the 2012 festival.
“He was the first person I called,” Kellogg said. “He was passionate about these cars.”
In a quote in the documentary, Kellogg said Randinelli talks about how history is easily forgotten or lost as people die. By doing the documentary, Kellogg said Randinelli made sure some of the history of Duesenberg cars was saved.
Kellogg said Randinelli’s daughter attended Ball State, so he “opened his arms” to the students and university.
Julia Ricci, a junior history major, was one of two students who attended the festival this year.
“It was really nice to see [the film play],” she said. “I was a little nervous just because they are our toughest crowd because they know the most [about Duesenbergs].”
She said it was interesting to see when the audience would turn their heads or physically react, so she could see what parts resonated with them.
Ricci said she was in shock when she got the news about Randinelli, since she had seen him at the opening ceremony Friday.
“I’m just glad we have him in our documentary so we preserve his memory,” she said.
Ricci said she was involved with researching and gathering documents and photos, along with writing and conducting interviews.
“[Randinelli] was a really nice guy and was always willing to help us out,” she said.
Editor’s note: Ball State Daily News Editor-in-chief Adam Baumgartner contributed graphic-based work for this documentary.
