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Sustainability Series: IN THE STARLIGHT

Watch Trailer Director: Paul Zizka

During the darkest hours of the night, while the rest of the world is sleeping, outdoor photographer Paul Zizka ventures out into the wilderness in search of the world’s starriest skies. His journey to photograph the celestial wonders takes him from his home amongst the peaks of the Canadian Rockies to the wild, desert dunes of Namibia and remote ice caps of Greenland. Ever the adventurer, he must balance his work and passion for photography with his equal devotion as a family man. In the Starlight is an intimate portrayal of Paul’s quest to capture the night skies, and what his time spent under the stars has taught him about life, love, adventure, and our place in the universe.

Sponsored by Little Fish and Solar United Neighbors

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Running Time: 52 min52 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

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Sustainability Series: APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION

Watch Trailer Director: Michael Dorgan

The palm oil industry has papered over vast swathes of the planet, much of it valuable and ecologically diverse. Forty million tons are produced annually, and it can be found in 50% of all packaged foods. Traveling from Cameroon, to Guatemala, to Colombia the film investigates what has catalyzed this new industry and the social and environmental impact of its exponential growth. Palm oil has dominated the environmental press in recent years, amid claims of deforestation and the detrimental effects of monoculture. Michael Dorgan set out to investigate these claims.

Sponsored by Athens Impact Socially Responsible Investments and Arts and Sciences Sustainability Theme

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Running Time: 60 min60 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

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MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS: Last Day Thursday, January 17th

Watch Trailer Director: Josie Rourke
Writer(s): Beau Willimon
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Jack Lowden

“Mary Queen of Scots” explores the turbulent life of the charismatic Mary Stuart. Queen of France at 16 and widowed at 18, Mary defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful throne. But Scotland and England fall under the rule of the compelling Elizabeth I. Each young Queen beholds her “sister” in fear and fascination. Rivals in power and in love, and female regents in a masculine world, the two must decide how to play the game of marriage versus independence. Determined to rule as much more than a figurehead, Mary asserts her claim to the English throne, threatening Elizabeth’s sovereignty. Betrayal, rebellion, and conspiracies within each court imperil both thrones–and change the course of history.

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Running Time: 124 min124 MIN
R Rated
Closed Captioning is available for this film. Open Captioning is available for this film. Listening Aids are available for this film. Descriptive Aids are available for this film. This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

Ronan is absolutely flawless.

Perri Nemiroff
Collider
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BURNING: Last Day Thursday, January 3rd

Watch Trailer Director: Chang-dong Lee
Cast: Yoo Ah-in, Steven Yeun, Jong-seo Jun

BURNING tells the story of three individuals and a mysterious incident they experience. Jongsu bumps into an old friend, Haemi, on a part-time delivery job. Haemi asks Jongsu to take care of her cat while she leaves on a trip to Africa. When she returns, Haemi introduces Jongsu to Ben, a man she met in Africa. One day, Ben and Haemi pay Jongsu a visit, and Ben reveals his secret interests to Jongsu.

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Running Time: 148 minutes148 MIN
Not Rated
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

A movie of shadows and light that gets at populist rage by way of incendiary metaphor.

Peter Howell
Toronto Star
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Sustainability Series: AN EVENING WITH SEAN PEOPLES

Director: Sean Peoples

An evening with Sean Peoples and his work. Discussion on creating environmental documentaries covering:

Hurricane Maria -A compilation of three films

Broken Landscape, Confronting India’s Water-Energy Choke Point

In India’s resource-rich Meghalaya State, demand for coal is transforming the environment and the people who depend on it. Coal mine owners are prospering from booming production, but few laws regulate the dangerous and polluting practice known as “rat-hole” mining. Until now.

A new government tribunal recently banned all coal mining in the region, effectively shutting down the economy. Mine owners and workers staged protests, while people living downstream are struggling to cope with dead rivers that once provided their livelihoods, food, and drinking water. Nepalese migrants who crossed the border to work in the mines are stuck in the middle.

Broken Landscape examines the lives of those on the front lines of India’s water-energy choke point.

Scaling the Mountain: Protecting Forests for Families in Nepal

In the foothills of Nepal, extreme deforestation has pushed many rural communities onto marginal lands. In “Scaling the Mountain,” the second film in the Wilson Center’s “Healthy People, Healthy Environment” series, villagers in Jogimara and Naubise districts find that combining conservation efforts with reproductive health services has helped them to support their families and their communities more sustainably.

Sponsored by Ohio University Global Arts Festival

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Ohio Premiere: FARMER OF THE YEAR

Watch Trailer Director: Vince O'Connell, Kathy Swanson
Cast: Barry Corbin, Terry Kiser, Mackinlee Waddell

When Hap Anderson, a widowed 82 year old Minnesota farmer who thinks he’s still quite the ladies’ man sells his family farm he finds himself adrift and staring a short future in the face. Motivated by the possibility of showing up with an old flame and impressing his old army buddies, he sets out to attend his 65th WWII reunion in California with his unemployed and unreasonably self-confident and entitled granddaughter. Together, each with their own issues and conflicting agendas, they head west in a dilapidated Winnebago.

Encountering oddball tourist attractions and eccentric characters, they find themselves in seemingly impossible situations with only each other for support. From finding a place that will cash a Travelers Cheque to enjoying a cup of instant coffee, as the journey progresses so does their relationship and they begin to understand and appreciate each other as individuals while discovering that their issues are ageless and that family really matters.

With typical understated Midwestern humor and restraint, ‘Farmer of the Year’ delicately blends the comedy and drama of life.

Plays its Ohio premiere three days only April 16th – 18th! Q&As after each showing with directors and Ohio University School of Film alum, Vince O’Connell and Kathy Swanson. Come see a locally-produced independent film at the Athena for its limited release! Tickets are $6.50 for adults, $5.50 for seniors.

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Running Time: 103 min103 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

Swanson's screenplay avoids sentimentality, achieving instead the kind of gentle, humanistic comedy we rarely see these days in movie theaters.

Margot Harrison
Seven Days Vermont
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Sustainability Series: THE GUARDIANS

Director: Ben Crosbie, Tessa Moran

In celebration of Earth Day!

The Guardians, a breathtaking documentary illuminates the delicate balance between humans and nature in Donaciano Ojeda, Mexico. This mountainous region is home to the ancestral lands of the local Indigenous community and is part of the protected Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.The film explores how these communities are working to protect the monarch butterfly. Filled with the sacred Oyamel tree, these towering firs are home to millions of monarchs who travel 3,000 miles across North America to hibernate.

Sponsored by Ohio University Office of Sustainability

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DREAMING OF A VETTER WORLD

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Journey to the American heartland in Bonnie Hawthorne’s don’t-miss documentary, Dreaming of a Vetter World which features one visionary Nebraska farm family who understood that modern agriculture was ailing, and found a cure. From farmer’s son to soil scientist to missionary and back to farmer again, organic pioneer David Vetter has dedicated his life to a “ministry to the soil.” With camera and camper in tow, Hawthorne leaves her urban California comforts in the rearview mirror to learn from the Vetters about what’s really going on in the corn belt. As interest in regenerating soil explodes worldwide, Hawthorne discovers that David Vetter is way ahead of the game. With both historical context and an eye to the future, Dreaming of a Vetter World shows it’s possible to jump off conventional agriculture’s pesticide treadmill. It’s also a story about love, hope and place; an inspiring example of perseverance and doing what you know is right–against all odds.

Executive Producer, Jo Andres earned her MFA in Film at Ohio University in 1984.

Q&A with the filmmaker after the show.

This screening is sponsored by Shagbark Seed & Mill. Admission is $5.

About the filmmaker:

Bonnie Hawthorne is the director, cinematographer, editor, writer and narrator of Dreaming of a Vetter World. While a film student at NYU in the 1980s, her documentary teacher said there would come a day when one woman could go AWOL from her day job cutting television shows, take off in a tiny camper and make a film with cameras small enough to fit in a purse. That day finally arrived. This film—her first—is the result. Her neighbors back in those NYU days were Jo Andres and Steve Buscemi. They are Executive Producers on this film, along with Bobby Houston, who gave Bonnie her first feature film job.

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Running Time: 77 min77 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

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BORDER: Last Day Thursday, December 13th

Watch Trailer Director: Ali Abbasi
Cast: Evan Melander, Ero Milonoff, Jogen Thorsson

Customs officer Tina is known for her extraordinary sense of smell. It’s almost as if she can sniff out the guilt on anyone hiding something. But when Vore, a suspicious-looking man, walks past her, her abilities are challenged for the first time ever. Tina can sense Vore is hiding something she can’t identify. Even worse, she feels a strange attraction to him. As Tina develops a special bond with Vore and discovers his true identity, she also realizes the truth about herself. Tina, like Vore, does not belong to this world. Her entire existence has been one big lie and now she has to choose: keep living the lie or embrace Vore’s terrifying revelations.

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Running Time: 110 minutes110 MIN
R Rated
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

An exciting, intelligent mix of romance, Nordic noir, social realism, and supernatural horror that defies and subverts genre conventions.

Alissa Simon
Variety
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BOY ERASED: Last Day Thursday, December 20th

Watch Trailer Director: Joel Edgerton
Cast: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe

“Boy Erased” tells the story of Jared (Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed to his parents (Kidman and Crowe) at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a conversion therapy program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith. Boy Erased is the true story of one young man’s struggle to find himself while being forced to question every aspect of his identity.

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes, including:

  • Best Lead Actor

  • Best Original Song

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Running Time: 114 min114 MIN
R Rated
Closed Captioning is available for this film. Open Captioning is available for this film. Listening Aids are available for this film. Descriptive Aids are available for this film. This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

Proving again that he's one of the best actors of his generation, Lucas Hedges shines alongside Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe in this harrowing real-life tale of a gay teen whose parents send him to conversion therapy

Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
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