How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change (documentary, 125 mins.), directed by Josh Fox

 

March 3, 2016 at 7:30 PM, Smith Theatre at Oakland Community College

 

Presentation of this film is made possible by the generous support of State Representative Christine Greig & Bob Greig.

 

How do we come to terms with the reality that our atmosphere is becoming damaged beyond the tipping point? Documentarian Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award–nominated documentary Gasland,  takes on this question with personal passion and global reach.

When Fox realizes, after much soul searching, that the answers for how to respond to the degradation of our environment cannot be found in his own back yard, he travels to 12 countries on 6 continents to connect with communities that are already facing grave effects of climate change. What he finds is a complicated mix of tragedy and inspiration in the various ways climate change is affecting our value systems. How to Let Go of the World delivers a sobering portrait of the state of climate change, and takes stock of what makes humans survivors, and our societies so creative and resilient.

 

While the film acknowledges that it may be too late to stop some of the worst consequences of climate change, we are asked to consider: what is it that climate change can’t destroy? What is so deep within us that no calamity can take it away?

 

 

The Hunting Ground (documentary, 100 mins.), directed by Kirby Dick

 

March 4, 2016 at 7:00 PM, Farmington Civic Theater

 

Presentation of this film is made possible by the generous support of Bill Brown Ford.

 

The statistics are staggering. One in five women in college are sexually assaulted, yet only a fraction of these crimes are reported, and even fewer result in punishment for the perpetrators. From the intrepid team behind The Invisible War comes a piercing, monumental exposé of rape culture on campuses, poised to light a fire under a national debate.

 

In a tour de force of verité footage, expert insights, and first-person testimonies, the film follows undergraduate rape survivors pursuing both their education and justice, despite ongoing harassment and the devastating toll on them and their families.

 

Scrutinizing the gamut of elite Ivies, state universities, and small colleges, filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering reveal an endemic system of institutional cover-ups, rationalizations, victim-blaming, and denial that creates perfect storm conditions for predators to prey with impunity.

Meanwhile, the film captures mavericks Andrea Pino and Annie Clark, survivors who are taking matters into their own hands—ingeniously employing Title IX legal strategy to fight back and sharing their knowledge among a growing, unstoppable network of young women who will no longer be silent.

 

Since the film’s premiere at Sundance, it had been screened at the White House and hundreds of college campuses across the country. The documentary has inspired new laws in New York and California and changes in campus policies.

 

 

 

The Judgment (drama, in Bulgarian with English subtitles, 107 mins.), directed by Stephan Komandarev

 

March 4, 2016 at 9:15 PM, Farmington Civic Theater

 

Presentation of this film is made possible by the generous support of David and Abigail Viane.

 

The Judgment centers on Mityo, a desperate man who, after losing everything that has mattered to him – his wife, his work and the confidence of his son, Vasko, starts smuggling illegal Syrian immigrants into Bulgaria through a steep mountain pass on the border with Turkey and Greece. Left at the mercy of the Judgment Mountain and seeking help from his estranged son, Mityo is trying to atone for a terrible sin committed 25 years before.

 

Winner of the Grand Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the Heartland Film Festival.

 

 

 

Best of the New York Children’s Film Festival (shorts, 60 mins.), various directors

 

March 5, 2016 at 10:30 AM, Farmington Civic Theater-FREE

 

This film presentation is made possible by the generous support of the Farmington Public Library and Friends of the Library.

 

A group of musically inclined ants face off against a lumberjack threatening to take down their tree in Pik Pik Pik. Being different isn’t so bad in Bunny New Girl and Zebra. Sometimes even our family members can feel like strangers in My Big Brother, Eyes, and Oscar-nominated Me and my Moulton. Fantasies create new worlds and endless possibilities in 5.80 Meters, Larisa Can Fly, and Submarine Sandwich. One special object can inspire anyone, big or small, in The Elephant and the Bicycle and Cookie-Tin Banjo, and a fly and a spider go to war in a common bathroom in Minuscule: The Private Life of Insects – Brushing.

 

Recommended for ages 3 and up. (FYI: there is a brief scene of animated nudity.)

 

 

 

Prescription Thugs (documentary, 86 mins.), directed by Chris Bell

 

March 5, 2016 at 3:00 PM, The Riviera Cinema

 

 

Americans consume 75% of the world’s prescription drugs. After losing his own brother to the growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse, documentarian Chris Bell sets out to demystify this insidious addiction. Bell’s examination into the motives of big pharma and doctors in this ever-growing market leads him to meet with experts on the nature of addiction, survivors with first-hand accounts of their struggle, and whistleblowers who testify to the dollar-driven aims of pharmaceutical corporations. Ultimately his investigation will point back to where it all began: his own front door.

Bell follows up his rousing Bigger Stronger Faster, which pulled back the curtain on steroid use in the U.S., with a galvanizing exposé of the legal prescription drug business in this country. While the war rages against illegal drug use, Bell attempts to break the hardened correlation that legal means safe.

 

 

 

Landfill Harmonic (documentary, 84 mins.), directed by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley

 

March 5, 2016 at 7:00 PM, Farmington Civic Theater

 

Presentation of this film is made possible by the generous support of Ken & Laura Paulson, Paulson's Audio and Video.

 

Landfill Harmonic follows the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a Paraguayan musical group that plays instruments made entirely out of garbage. When their story goes viral, the orchestra is catapulted into the global spotlight. Under the guidance of idealistic music director Favio Chavez, the orchestra must navigate a strange new world of arenas and sold-out concerts. However, when a natural disaster strikes their country, Favio must find a way to keep the orchestra intact and provide a source of hope for their town. The film is a testament to the transformative power of music and the resilience of the human spirit.

 

Winner of the Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival.

 

 

 

Under the Same Sun (drama, in Hindi with English subtitles, 93 mins.), directed by Mitra Sen

 

March 5, 2016 at 9:15 PM, Farmington Civic Theater

 

Presentation of this film is made possible by the generous support of Ward Church.

 

In Mitra Sen’s profoundly compassionate drama, only children can soothe the rage of a grieving heart. Karim, an injured fugitive, is welcomed like a beloved brother by three orphaned boys in a remote Rajasthani oasis of Hindu and Muslim harmony. This simple human kindness disrupts the smooth and certain arc of the young man's mission and threatens his very identity. Karim soon discovers how these Hindu and Muslim children share the bond of one family, following each other’s traditions and living together under one roof in peace—a complete contrast to his childhood, which was void of music, color, and love. As the village children prepare to perform the Ramayana, the classic Hindu tale of good vs. evil, Karim wrestles with his true purpose in life and his desire to find his family. Amidst the town’s holy festival, a place so full of life, Karim must act wisely to find his way home.

 

 

 

A Month of Sundays (drama, 109 mins.), directed by Matthew Saville

 

March 6, 2016 at 1:00 PM, Holocaust Memorial Center

 

Presentation of this film is made possible by the generous support of Shekufa and Ardeshir Irani.

 

Divorced and unfulfilled, real estate agent Frank Mollard can’t do anything right, be it selling houses, getting over the death of his mother, or connecting with his teenage son. But when he receives a call from an elderly woman who confuses him for her son, Frank is thrown into the stranger’s life and surprises himself by developing a close bond with her. The unexpected relationship wakes Frank up and inspires him to reconnect with the people he’s been neglecting. A Month of Sundays is a film about ordinary people and improbable salvation.