Running in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat held by Mitch McConnell, Charles Booker attempts one of the biggest upsets in political history by challenging establishment- backed candidate Amy McGrath. Booker’s campaign across Kentucky, from the most urban to the most rural settings, with Booker and his team rewrites the campaign playbook. Instead of exploiting divisions, they lean into the idea that average Kentuckians have common bonds, united by their shared day-to-day fight to survive. Booker works to represent Kentuckians, both Black and White, who feel entirely left out of the political process. His message is simple: Whether you are from the city “hood” — like Booker — or the Appalachian “holler,” you are not invisible.
Saturday, July 27 through
Saturday, August 3, 2024
Saturday, August 3, 2024
Free Renty: Lanier v. Harvard
Tamara Lanier, is an African-American woman determined to force Harvard University to cede ownership of daguerreotypes of her great-great-great grandfather, an enslaved man named Renty. The images are emblematic of the inhumanity of slavery, the racist science that supported it, and the white supremacy that continues to infect our society today. The film focuses on Lanier, following her lawsuit and the growing activism around it, and features Attorney Benjamin Crump and author Ta-Nehisi Coates. Following the screening Tamara Lanier, Attorney Preston Tisdale, Dr. David Harris (former Managing Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School) and Jill Abramson (Senior Lecturer, Department of English, Harvard University) will discuss the the film and the implications of the decision issued recently by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Fire of Love
Katia and Maurice Krafft loved two things — each other and volcanoes. For two decades, the daring French volcanologist couple roamed the planet, chasing eruptions, documenting their discoveries. Ultimately, they lost their lives in a 1991 volcanic explosion, leaving a legacy that forever enriched our knowledge of the natural world. Director Sara Dosa and the filmmaking team fashion a lyrical celebration of the intrepid scientists’ spirit of adventure, drawing from the Kraffts’ spectacular archive. Fire of Love tells a story of primordial creation & destruction, following two bold explorers as they venture into the unknown, all for the sake of love.
Fashion Reimagined
Fashion designer Amy Powney of cult label Mother of Pearl is a rising star in the London fashion scene. Raised off-the-grid in rural England by activist parents, Amy has always felt uneasy about the devastating environmental impact of her industry. When she wins the coveted Vogue award for the Best Young Designer of the Year, which comes with a big cash prize, Amy decides to use the money to create a sustainable collection from field to finished garment, and transform her entire business. Over the following three years, her own personal revolution becomes the precursor of a much bigger, societal change.
Fair Play
The unequal gendered division of labor in the home has long existed, with modern living only exacerbating the stress-filled dynamic between parenthood and work. With the global pandemic forcing millions of women out of the workforce, Fair Play follows four different families on their journey to better balance care work at home, illustrating how we aren’t really fighting about dishes in the sink, but much bigger societal problems. Ultimately, Fair Play makes visible the invisible care work historically held by women and inspires a more balanced and equitable future for all.
Following the screening Olivia Morgan will moderate a discussion with Jen Newsom and Lucia Small (Girl Talk). Sponsored by Women and Film and Video New England.
Exposure
Against all odds and polar advice, a Muslim chaplain, a French biologist, a Qatari princess and eight other women from the Arab World and the West attempt to ski across the melting Arctic sea ice to the North Pole. These boundary-breaking adventurers, led by veteran polar explorer Felicity Aston, navigate everything from frostbite and polar bear threats, to sexism and self-doubt in an intimate story of resilience, survival and global citizenry. These audacious women are also, to date, the last ever to ski over the ice to the North Pole.
Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues
Born in 1935 on Bonnie Blue plantation in Tunica, MS, apprenticing with Sonny Boy Williamson II and Howlin’ Wolf, and schooled by Muddy Waters, James ‘Super Harp’ Cotton became a mentor to harp players around the globe as he brought the delta blues into mainstream rock ‘n roll. Orphaned at nine, Cotton’s journey tracks America’s history and his story is one of empowerment during a time when the weight of racial inequity made the journey seem impossible. Bonnie Blue – James Cotton’s Life in the Blues is a unique portrait of an era and its impact today. Cotton’s music made history; his musical voice was unique, and the blues were never the same.
After Antarctica
A journey across both poles, After Antarctica follows legendary polar explorer Will Steger’s lifelong journey as an eyewitness to the greatest changes to the polar regions of our planet. Now, thirty years after his historic coast-to-coast expedition across the coldest continent on Earth, Steger heads out on the ice once again, at a time when he is not only known for being the first in history to complete these historic feats – he is also the last.
A Woman on the Outside
Kristal Bush grew up in Philadelphia watching nearly every man in her life disappear to prison. She channeled that struggle into keeping families connected as a social worker and through her van service that transports riders – mostly women – to visit partners, fathers and sons in faraway prisons. But when Kristal’s father and brother come home after decades behind bars, she confronts what it means to piece her own family back together, and create a different future for her young nephew, Nyvae. Weaving intimate vérité scenes with Kristal’s own videos, A WOMAN ON THE OUTSIDE is a tender portrait of one family striving to love in the face of a system built to break them.
A Decent Home
When housing on the lowest rung of the American dream is being devoured by the wealthiest of the wealthy, whose dream are we serving? Issues of class and economic (im)mobility mean many mobile home park residents can’t afford housing anywhere else. They are fighting for their homes – and their communities – as private equity firms and wealthy investors buy up parks, making sky-high returns on their investments while squeezing every last penny out of the mobile home owners who must pay rent for the land they live on. Through the lives of the park residents we meet, we experience the hijacking of the American Dream by the wealthiest of the wealthy in a growing age of inequity – and witness the inspiring efforts of the growing group of mobile home owners who are rising up to take it back.
Virtual this film is Geo-Locked to Massachusetts Only
