Blue Sky Icon TikTok Icon

Author Archive | Matt Box

Special Veterans Day Screening: HE’S ONLY MISSING + LETTING GO with Robin Smith

Viewing: November 11,2026

Join us Wednesday, November 11th at 7:00 p.m. to celebrate Veterans Day with a special event screening of two documentaries by Ohio University alumna Robin Smith!

Admission is FREE – Tickets are required

Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robin Smith will introduce two powerful films chronicling her family’s search for answers about the fate of Colonel Robert N. Smith (USMC) whose plane was shot down over North Vietnam in 1969. After the screening, Robin will be on-hand for a post-show audience Q&A session.

A reception with Robin will take place at The Athena from 7:00-7:30 p.m., and the films will start at 7:30 p.m.

About the films

He’s Only Missing (1978, 30 min)

This film explores the “state of limbo” Robin and her family were experiencing not knowing if their loved one was dead or alive.

Letting Go (1995, 12 min)

Two decades later the first shred of information about what had happened emerged. Robin traveled with a CBS News crew to her father’s crash site in Vietnam and uncovered answers that had eluded the family for years.

About the Speaker

Robin Smith is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker with 48 years of professional experience. A graduate of Ohio University (BFA ’72) and the School of Public Communication at Boston University (MS ’78), her first documentary was a personal story about her father, a fighter pilot declared Missing in Action in 1969 during the Vietnam war. CBS bought rights to the film, and in 1978 and she began a career in broadcast journalism on CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt.

In 1990, she established a nonprofit production company to collaborate with educators, artists, and innovative program leaders in the creation of documentary shorts and public awareness videos. Examples of video|action’s award-winning work can be found at www.videoaction.org.

Robin Smith is currently a member of the Chaddock + Morrow College of Fine Arts Leadership Council and a Trustee on the Ohio University Foundation Board.

This event has been made possible through support from the Ohio University Veterans and Military Student Services (Veterans and Military Student Services Center | Ohio University) and a generous grant from the National Veterans Leadership Foundation (National Veterans Leadership Foundation)

 

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 45 MIN45 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Wednesday 11/117:00
Read full story • Comments { 0 }

From the Hills and Hollers: THIS IS PIKE COUNTY with Laura Paglin

Viewing: November 12,2026

Watch Trailer

Join us Thursday, November 12th at 7:00 p.m. as our Appalachian Stories Series continues with a haunting and unforgettable documentary about coming of age in a landscape that has been left behind!

Admission is FREE – Tickets are required

About the film

This powerful, intimate, and multi-faceted documentary from filmmaker Laura Paglin delves into the day-to-day lives of the local residents of Piketon and Pike County, Ohio. As the story moves from person to person, an image emerges of a close-knit community struggling to keep its identity while factors like poverty, drug addiction, lack of opportunity, a constantly-shifting cultural landscape, the construction of a nuclear waste storage facility, and an unsolved murder all threaten to erase the values and quality of life that took generations to build. Though the future often looks bleak for Pike County, this film beautifully relates the struggle between the temptation to give up and the urge to hold on.

About the speaker

Laura Paglinis a documentary filmmaker whose more recent films have dealts pecifically with struggles of marginalized communities. No Umbrella–Election Day in the City, which brings us a street level view of election day chaos as it played out in one inner city poling location, premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO. Facing Forward: A Student’s Story, which follows a charismatic but troubled teenager at a strict new inner city charter school, aired nationally on PBS. Paglin’s Unseen tells the complex and horrific story of the Anthony Sowell serial murders that were discovered in Cleveland, Ohio in 2009. Distributed by Filmrise, Unseen has become one of the more popular documentaries on Amazon Prime, having made it to many “best of” lists.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT: As a long-time Ohio resident, I hadn’t known about Pike County until a 2016 mass murder brought it into the national spotlight. Curious, I visited in 2017, expecting to explore the tragedy’s aftermath but found myself more drawn to the people, the landscape and stories unrelated to the crime. To gain deeper access into the lives of the these individuals, I lived at the budget motel featured in the film. Over time, a larger story of generational struggles emerged—from drug abuse to environmental degradation, to the murders themselves rooted in a child custody dispute. I realized a traditional narrative wouldn’t capture Pike County’s complexity, so I adopted a thematic approach, allowing each story to stand alone while contributing to the community’s portrait. This method let me juxtapose the community’s pain with its caring, joy, and resilience.

 

Check out the rest of our Hills & Hollers Series Line-Up

This series is sponsored by University Libraries, College of Health Sciences and Professions, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Honors Tutorial College, OU School of Film, and The Office of Signature Academic Experiences.

 

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 78 MIN78 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Thursday 11/127:00
Read full story • Comments { 0 }

The Met: Live in HD: TWENTY YEARS OF THE MET IN CINEMAS: AN ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Viewing: November 14,2026

Twenty Years of the Met in Cinemas is a celebration of the Met’s two decades of onstage glory as experienced in movie theaters, featuring highlights from the company’s collection of more than 185 extraordinary onscreen performances.

Hosted by star soprano Renée Fleming, this special presentation will showcase unforgettable moments from some of opera’s greatest stars, culled from the series’ vast archive of transmissions, featuring such remarkable artists as Lise Davidsen, Natalie Dessay, Joyce DiDonato, Elīna Garanča, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Jonas Kaufmann, Peter Mattei, Matthew Polenzani, Sondra Radvanovsky, Nadine Sierra, and, of course, Fleming herself, among others.

The screening will begin at 12:55 p.m. and will conclude at approximately 3:40 p.m.

Admission $20 (Senior $18, Children $8)

OHIO Students Free with valid ID*

*Thanks to support from Arts for OHIO, we are able to offer a limited number of FREE student tickets available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Must have valid student I.D.

Click here to view the rest of the Met: Live in HD schedule

Special thanks to George Weckman and the following supporters:

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 158 MIN158 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Saturday 11/1412:55
Read full story • Comments { 0 }

HomeReach Hospice Film Series: TWO WEEKS

Viewing: November 17,2026

Watch Trailer

Join us Tuesday, November 17th at 7:00 p.m. as our new Hospice Film Series concludes with a lighthearted drama starring Oscar-winning actress Sally Field!

FREE Admission – Tickets are required

About the film

Anita Bergman (Sally Field), matriarch of a big North Carolina family has entered the final stages of her tough battle with cancer. As she wrestles with the existential issues at the end-of-life, her four adult children, Keith (Ben Chaplin), Barry (Tom Cavanagh), Emily (Julianne Nicholson) and Matthew (Glenn Howerton), come together to gather at her bedside. While Anita comes to terms with her imminent demise, she and her children revisit their lives via a series of home movies that shine a light on the complex family relationships that have brought them all to this point in time.

Check out the rest of the films in our Hospice Film Series


Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 102 MIN102 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Tuesday 11/177:00
Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Sustainability Series: ACKROYD & HARVEY: THE ART OF ACTIVISM with Brooke Ripley

Viewing: November 18,2026

Watch Trailer

Join us Wednesday, November 18th at 7:00 p.m. as our 14th annual Sustainability Film Series concludes with an award-winning documentary about two artists whose work bridges the gap between expression and environmental activism!

Admission is FREE – Tickets are required

This event will include a presentation by Brooke Ripley

About the film

Ackroyd & Harvey: The Art of Activism is the latest film from award-winning documentary maker Fiona Cunningham-Reid. An intimate portrait of internationally acclaimed artists, Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey, who work at the intersection of art, activism, biology and ecology, and their quest to shake humanity into action on climate catastrophe – whatever the personal cost.

Intrinsically bound up in protest, the film follows the pair collaborating with Extinction Rebellion, and co-founding the movement, Culture Declares Emergency. Their work is uncompromisingly preoccupied with the climate and ecological crisis, and has become a rallying point for the environmental movement. It’s won them international acclaim, but the film leaves us in no doubt – they’d be creating it whether the world was watching or not.

About the speaker

Brooke Ripley is a fine artist and scientist whose work focuses on the role of native plants in restoring ecosystems. She specializes in creating biodegradable art and currently serves as a VISTA Service Member on the True Pigments project at Rural Action.

 

 

 

 

Check out the rest of our line-up of Sustainability Films

The series is made possible thanks to the support of: University Libraries, Honors Tutorial College, Office of Sustainability, and The Voinovich School’s Environmental Studies Program.

 

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 80 MIN80 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Wednesday 11/187:00
Read full story • Comments { 0 }

OU CARS and ACPL Present: THE ODYSSEY with

Viewing: November 21,2026

Watch Trailer

Join us Saturday, November 21st at 1:00 p.m. as the Ohio University Department of Classics and World Religions and the Athens County Public Libraries present a special screening of Christopher Nolan’s epic cinematic adaptation of the tale of Odysseus!

Admission is FREE and open to the Public – Tickets are required

This event will feature a pre-show presentation by

About the film

The latest film from two-time Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan adapts one of the greatest stories ever told – Homer’s epic story of the return of Odysseus!

The Odyssey follows the legendary Greek king of Ithaca on his protracted and perilous journey back to his kingdom in the wake of the Trojan War. It’s a journey replete with encounters with mythical beings like the Cyclops Polyphemus, enchanting sirens, and the nymph Calypso, who tries to ensnare the wandering king in a web of romance. Not to be thwarted, however, Odysseus has a singular goal – return to his kingdom, reunite with his beloved wife Penelope, and reclaim the throne that has been lost to him for far too long.

 

 

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 172 MIN172 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Saturday 11/211:00
Read full story • Comments { 0 }

OU Sports Analytics Presents: MONEYBALL

Viewing: December 03,2026

Watch Trailer

Join us Thursday, December 3rd at 9:30 p.m. for a special screening of a fantastic film that brings the science of number-crunching to the arena of sports!

Admission is FREE and open to the Public – Tickets are required

About the film

Based on the best-selling book book by Michael Lewis, Moneyball stars Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A’s who, one day, has an epiphany: that the conventional wisdom surrounding the management of a major league baseball team is all wrong. Faced with a tight budget, Beane must reinvent his team by outsmarting the richer ball clubs. Joining forces with Ivy League graduate Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), Beane prepares to challenge old-school traditions. He recruits bargain-bin players whom the scouts have labeled as flawed, but have game-winning potential.

 

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 133 MIN133 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Thursday 12/039:30
Read full story • Comments { 0 }

The Met: Live in HD: Camille Saint-Saën’s SAMSON ET DALILA

Viewing: December 05,2026

Sacred, scandalous, and irresistibly alluring, Saint-Saëns’s spectacular take on the biblical hero of legendary strength and the seductive Philistine whose beauty overpowers him returns in the Met’s larger-than-life production. Featuring a massive orchestra and chorus and some of opera’s most spellbinding tunes, this masterpiece of French grand opera is a feast for the eyes and ears. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts an electrifying cast led by the formidable star pairing of mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina and tenor Clay Hilley.

The screening will begin at 11:55 p.m.** and will conclude at approximately 4:00 p.m.

**NOTE: This screening starts earlier than normal

Admission $20 (Senior $18, Children $8)

OHIO Students Free with valid ID*

*Thanks to support from Arts for OHIO, we are able to offer a limited number of FREE student tickets available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Must have valid student I.D.

Click here to view the rest of the Met: Live in HD schedule

Special thanks to George Weckman and the following supporters:

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 234 MIN234 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Saturday 12/0511:55
Read full story • Comments { 0 }

From the Hills and Hollers: STRANGERS AND KIN: A HISTORY OF THE HILLBILLY IMAGE with Dr. Rachel Terman

Viewing: January 21,2027

Join us Thursday, January 21st as our Appalachian Stories Film Series continues with a poignant Appalshop documentary that examines the various “hillbilly” stereotypes associated with people from Appalachia!

Admission is FREE – Tickets are required

About the film

Sometimes funny, sometimes moving, this short 1983 Appalshop-produced documentary from filmmaker Herb E. Smith explores how the image of the “hillbilly” — and the negative stereotypes that come along with it — have unfairly taken root in the American psyche due to their proliferation in literature, film, news coverage, and other media of popular culture…in many cases as an underhanded way to ease the guilt of exploiting the rich resources and people of the Appalachian region of the United States.

About the speaker

Dr. Rachel Terman is Associate Professor of Sociology at Ohio University and an affiliate faculty member of the Appalachian Studies Program and the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program. She specializes in the sociology of Appalachia and the rural U.S.

Dr. Terman will introduce this classic Appalshop film from 1983 by talking about its contribution to the conversation about the hillbilly Appalachian identity and the value of Appalachian traditions and culture. Then, she will briefly discuss the film in the context of the subsequent four decades of social and cultural dynamics in Appalachia and remark on the ongoing relevance of Strangers and Kin to our lives in Appalachia today.

 

Check out the rest of our Hills & Hollers Series Line-Up

This series is sponsored by University Libraries, College of Health Sciences and Professions, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Honors Tutorial College, OU School of Film, and The Office of Signature Academic Experiences.

 

 

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 48 MIN48 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Thursday 01/217:00
Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Women In Film Presents: COUP 53

Viewing: January 22,2027

Watch Trailer

Join us Friday, January 22nd at 7:00 p.m. as the Women In Film Club presents a powerful documentary that unfolds like a John le Carré spy thriller!

Admission $6.50 – Tickets are required

This event will include a post-show Q&A

About the film

From Iranian filmmaker Taghi Amirani, and co-written by Academy Award winning writer/film editor Walter Murch (THX-1138, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather Trilogy, The Conversation), comes this compelling documentary that exposes the true story behind the coup that toppled a democracy and altered not just the history of the Middle East, but also the history of the world.

In 1953, a military coup led by British MI6 backed by the CIA overthrew Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh. His crime: nationalizing the country’s oil industry. The truth behind that original regime change for oil was buried for decades. Iranian director Taghi Amirani spent ten years uncovering what really happened. Working with legendary editor Walter Murch, and featuring a gripping performance by Oscar-nominated actor Ralph Fiennes, the film unfolds like a John le Carré spy thriller — except every word is true — exposing the roots of today’s tensions in the Middle East region with rare clarity and urgency.

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 120 MIN120 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Friday 01/227:00
Read full story • Comments { 0 }