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Holiday Film Series: THE GRINCH

Watch Trailer Director: Scott Mosier
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rashida Jones, Kenan Thompson, Pharrell Williams

Saturday, December 21st, turn that frown upside-down and join us for this classic Seuss-ian story of holiday transformation!

Admission is a canned or non-perishable food product, or a monetary donation to a local food charity.

About the Film

The town of Whoville is eagerly preparing to celebrate yet another wonderful Christmas. However, just beyond the city limits lives The Grinch – a green-furred, nasty-tempered fella with a heart two-sizes-too-small. The Grinch, you see, was raised in an orphanage and missed out on the traditional joys of a holiday season filled with cheer and being surrounded by friends and family. So, filled with bitterness towards the exuberant Whos down in Whoville, The green meanie decides to dress up like Santa, invade the town on Christmas Eve, and steal all the presents for himself. However, he encounters a young Who girl whose Christmas wish may just have the power to change The Grinch’s tune towards the holidays.

Directed by Scott Mosier, this delightful animated film is a faithful adaptation of the classic Christmas story by the one-and-only Dr. Seuss and features a whole host of excellent voice talent!

Click here to see the line-up of films for our Holiday Film Series

 

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Running Time: 85 MIN85 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

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Let’s Do Lynch: THE ELEPHANT MAN

Viewing: January 21,2025

Watch Trailer Cast: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud

Join us Tuesday, January 21st at 7:00 p.m. as we kick off Let’s Do Lynch: A David Lynch Retrospective with his award-winning 1980 film The Elephant Man.

Admission $8

About the Film

Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick, The Elephant Man relates the story of a man with incredible physical deformities who lived in Victorian England during the 19th Century.

While visiting a freak show in London’s West End one night, surgeon Frederick Treves (played by Anthony Hopkins) happens upon an exhibit featuring the grossly deformed Merrick and is immediately struck with curiosity about the man. This begins a relationship between the two men that will have lasting consequences on both of their lives. Treves can tell that beneath Merrick’s crude exterior lies a pure soul with a boundless intellect, and he helps to cultivate Merrick’s senses of humanity and dignity, in addition to making inroads for Merrick in high society. However, Treves soon realizes that, regardless of his good intentions, Merrick continues to be an object of ridicule and exploitation and eventually finds himself back on the freak show circuit. With his physical condition worsening, Merrick may lose his chance to die as a man.

Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, The Elephant Man is regarded highly by critics and fans. Although it is a bit more conventional than most of his other films, the beautiful black-and-white cinematography, strange subject matter, and exceptional cast make this film arguably one of the best movies of David Lynch’s career.

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Check out the rest of our exciting line-up of Let’s Do Lynch films

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Running Time: 124 MIN124 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Tuesday 01/217:00
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The Met: Live in HD: Verdi’s AIDA

Viewing: January 25,2025

American soprano Angel Blue headlines as the Ethiopian princess torn between love and country in a new production of Verdi’s Aida by Michael Mayer that brings audiences inside the towering pyramids and gilded tombs of ancient Egypt with intricate projections and dazzling animations. Romanian-Hungarian mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi also stars as Aida’s rival, Amneris, alongside Polish tenor Piotr Beczała as the soldier Radamès—completing opera’s greatest love triangle. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium to conduct the unforgettable new performance.

The screening will begin at 12:25 p.m. and will conclude at approximately 4:05 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:

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Running Time: 220 MIN220 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Saturday 01/2512:25
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OU School of Film: WINTER SHOWCASE SCREENING

Come celebrate the excellent work of budding filmmakers from the OHIO School of Film as we present the Winter Showcase of student films!

Saturday, January 25th at 7:00 p.m.

The event is FREE and open to the public. The screening will consist of a series of short films by students in the OU Film School program. We’ve done these screenings numerous times, and the quality of work is always top-notch…you don’t want to miss this special event!

The Films and Filmmakers

Flashlight Club by Wes Donnelly. Runtime: 7 min

Synopsis: Two college-aged outcasts who start a club for flashlight enthusiasts have the most important day of their lives during a power outage.

 

 

Tub by Andrew Bowman. Runtime: 12 min

Synopsis: A cast-iron tub serves as the conduit for three dreams, each in conflict with the other. As the fantasies are realized, they begin to crumble around the dreamers and their hypocrisies are revealed.

 

 

One Time by Zoe Purcell. Runtime: 2 min

Synopsis: An overlapping exploration on storytelling.

 

 

 

LOOKER by Max Kaplan. Runtime: 12 min

Synopsis: LOOKER is an existential body horror short film. It follows Anna who learns that she is inexplicably cursed to melt away whenever she is not perceived by others. In her desperation to survive, she must go to greater and greater lengths to be seen, with terrifying consequences.

 

 

Debris by Nathaniel Bellasea. Runtime: 4 min

Synopsis: Two young lovers, lost in their own world, frolic through an old building when an unexpected tragedy befalls them.

 

 

Blake Lost Their Face by Griffin Alexander. Runtime: 3 min

Synopsis: Blake must embark on a surreal journey of self-acceptance in order to find their face.

 

 

 

My Heart Has Changed by Julian Fahl Matlack. Runtime: 4 min

Synopsis: Invasive species, such as the spotted lanternfly, have been in Pittsburgh for a few years now. Our environments are subject to these species, and made vulnerable to change, as are our bodies. This is an exploration of what is home and what is safe.

 

 

PINS by MJ Golzari. Runtime: 5 min

Synopsis: In a peaceful home shadowed by distant chaos, a woman tends to her quiet rituals. As the winds rise, the boundaries between serenity and turmoil begin to blur.

 

 

Sophie Is Dead by Talisa Lemke. Runtime: 16 min

Synopsis: Sydney, a young teenager holds on to the most common tool to escape reality – lying. First, by not correcting a misunderstanding, people around her start to believe that her sister died, which leads to sympathy and attention. This snowballs into Sydney spinning more lies, until she acts out her final lie by fabricating being kidnapped, which at last gives her what she wanted – being missed.

 

Spirits on Your Shoulders by Joshua Henwood. Runtime: 2 min

Synopsis: Avery is a college student with an assignment due at midnight, but something inside him believes that he should take some time to relax.

 

 

The Music Box Is Slowing Down by Kat Frazier. Runtime: 

Synopsis:

 

 

 

 

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Let’s Do Lynch: DUNE

Viewing: January 28,2025

Watch Trailer Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Sean Young, Everett McGill, Patrick Stewart

Join us Tuesday, January 28th at 7:00 p.m. as we continue our Let’s Do Lynch: A David Lynch Retrospective with his epic 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic!

Admission $8

About the Film

Arrakis. Dune. Desert planet… The year is 10,191 and the known Universe is ruled over by an emperor whose power is built upon the spice melange – a coveted commodity that makes long-distance space travel possible and which can only be harvested from the arid wastes of Arrakis’ vast interior. Rival Houses — The Atreides and The Harkonnens — are pitted against one another by the intrigues of the emperor, and Arrakis becomes the battleground. Rumors abound of the Fremen, an indigenous tribe on the planet, and it remains to be seen what role they will play in the power struggle. There’s also young Paul Atreides, the son of the duke, who may hold the key to the entire conflict.

David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic literary sci-fi epic Dune has become a cult classic in the years since its original release. A difficult story to translate on film, Lynch’s production is huge in scope and encapsulates his visionary style with its strange imagery, existential themes, and a cast of top-notch actors.

Check out the rest of our exciting line-up of Let’s Do Lynch films

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Running Time: 137 MIN137 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Tuesday 01/287:00
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From the Hills and Hollers: POTTERO + RECLAIMING: ORAL HISTORIES OF SEXUAL & REPRODUCTIVE WELLNESS TRADITIONS IN APPALACHIAN OHIO

Viewing: January 30,2025

Director: Lindsey Martin (Pottero) / Talcon Quinn, Clara Haizlett (Reclaiming)

Pottero – with Lindsey Martin

Written and animated by OU Film School Associate Director Lindsey Martin with illustrations by Thomas Parnes, this short 10-minute film is a contemporary Appalachian folktale that recounts a woman’s attempt to escape her childhood monster, the “Pottero”. The journey forces her to reconcile with the place she came from and the monsters waiting for her there.

Reclaiming: Oral Histories of Sexual & Reproductive Wellness Traditions in Appalachian Ohio – with Talcon Quinn

Winner of the 2024 Jack Spadaro Documentary Award for Best Short and an Official Selection at the 2024 Appalachian Film Festival, Reclaiming: Oral Histories of Sexual & Reproductive Wellness Traditions in Appalachian Ohio is comprised of insightful interviews with six Appalachian women of various ages who discuss the traditions of sexual and reproductive wellness related to the culture of the region.

Produced and directed by Clara Haizlett (King Coal) and Talcon Quinn – both of whom are native Appalachians – Reclaiming was made possible through funding from Mid Atlantic Arts and the Ohio Humanities Spark Grant.

About the Speakers

Lindsey Martin

Lindsey’s films are humorous, dark stories about the inner workings of families going through crisis. Her interests are in locations and how humans connect to the places they are from and the bizarre tactics people, especially young girls and women, design to cope with poverty in rural America.

Lindsey will discuss creating new narratives around transformation in our region using the medium of animation.

 

Talcon Quinn

Talcon Quinn is an Appalachian folk artist generationally native to Athens County. Her artistic work highlights traditions by relating them to modern times. Talcon will share with us why the stories in Reclaiming are relevant to today, and welcome questions from the audience.

 

 

Check out the rest of our films for the Appalachian Stories series

This series is sponsored by the Ohio Honors Program, University Libraries, College of Health Sciences and Professions, The Department of Social and Public Health, GO Local, University College, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The Multicultural Center and The Black Student Cultural Programming Board, Center for Campus and Community Engagement, and The Women’s Center.

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Running Time: 39 MIN39 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Thursday 01/307:00
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1-800-ON-HER-OWN: Ani DiFranco Documentary – One Night Only!

Viewing: January 31,2025

Watch Trailer Director: Dana Flor
Cast: Ani DiFranco

Join us Friday, January 31st for a special, one-night-only event screening of 1-800-ON-HER-OWN, a documentary film celebrating the music of one of the most prolific singer-songwriters in folk-rock – Ani DiFranco!

At the event and all month long, we will be raising money for Emily’s List, an organization that works to elect Democratic pro-choice women up and down the ballot and across the country. So, anyone who’d like to donate can do so at The Athena during our normal lobby hours.

Click here to learn more about Emily’s List

Admission $8

About the film

Ani DiFranco crashed onto the music scene in the early ‘90s, a thundering new voice in the cultural wilderness, unapologetically bisexual, political and feminist. She toured relentlessly, thrashing out hundreds of frenzied shows that were part mosh pit, part hootenanny and part full-on tent revival, then selling cassette tapes from the trunk of her car to make it to the next gig.

Ani became a worldwide phenomenon when she beat the male-dominated music industry at its own game by founding Righteous Babe Records, the first “woman-run non-corporate queer-happy” label, still going strong after nearly 35 years. The press called her “an entrepreneurial wonder” and “the industry’s worst nightmare.” Prince called her “my hero.” Ani simply called herself a folk singer, dedicated to art, activism and staying true to herself, no matter the cost.

1-800-ON-HER-OWN takes us on a wild cinematic road trip, from DiFranco’s punk-folk past to her life today as she reinvents herself as a passionate activist and revered rock star. Throughout the ride, she’s brutally honest, famously foul-mouthed and totally hilarious. Her daily challenges resonate as we reveal both an enduring, inspiring musical icon and a very relatable contemporary “everywoman” with her own epic fails and hard-won victories.

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Running Time: 77 MIN77 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Friday 01/317:00
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Join In: Athens

Viewing: February 01,2025

Watch Trailer Director: Rebecca Davis, Pete Davis

What can we do to come together as a nation?

Leadership Ohio invites you to explore this question on Saturday, February 1st from 1:00 – 3:30 p.m. with a special event screening of the documentary “Join Or Die”.

Across the country, people are wondering: What happened to America? Have we lost touch with our neighbors and shared destiny? If so, what is the cause? And most urgently: What can we do to come together?

Leadership Ohio, in partnership with Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, presents the new documentary “Join or Die,” highlighting the importance of clubs in creating community and strengthening democracy.

Come out to watch the film, hear from guest speakers, discuss the film’s themes, and learn about joining local clubs. Join In: Uniting Communities in Ohio is funded in part by the America 250-Ohio Commission

Register for a ticket at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/gts5zaa

You will present your registration confirmation at the event and we will provide you with a free admission ticket in our lobby.

 

About the film

In this feature documentary, follow the half-century story of America’s civic unraveling through the journey of legendary social scientist Robert Putnam, whose groundbreaking “Bowling Alone” research into America’s decades-long decline in community connections could hold the answers to our democracy’s present crisis.

Flanked by influential fans and scholars — from Hillary Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to Eddie Glaude Jr., Raj Chetty, and Priya Parker — as well as inspiring groups building community in neighborhoods across the country, join Bob as he explores three urgent civic questions: What makes democracy work? Why is American democracy in crisis? And, most importantly… What can we do about it?

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Running Time: 93 MIN93 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Saturday 02/011:00
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Let’s Do Lynch: BLUE VELVET

Viewing: February 04,2025

Watch Trailer Cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern
Awards: Best Director (nom) - Academy Awards

Join us Tuesday, February 4th at 7:00 p.m. as Let’s Do Lynch: A David Lynch Retrospective continues with what many fans consider his masterpiece!

Admission $8

About the film

Blending psychological horror, neo-noir, and mystery, Blue Velvet tells the story of college Jeffrey Beaumont who happens upon a severed human ear in a vacant lot and suddenly finds himself embroiled in a bizarre, four-sided love triangle between himself, the sheriff’s daughter, a mysterious sadomasochistic lounge singer, and a drug-huffing psychopath named Frank. Jeffrey’s decision to investigate the strange ear and indulge his curiosity about forbidden passions take him into a dark underworld world where finding the light again may cost him everything.

Starring Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, and Dennis Hopper, Blue Velvet puts Lynch’s unique twist on conventional movie motifs like the femme fatale, the insurmountable villain, and the hero whose moral compass is questionable. The film earned Lynch an Oscar nomination for Best Director.

Check out the rest of our exciting line-up of Let’s Do Lynch films

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Running Time: 120 MIN120 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Tuesday 02/047:00
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Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes

Viewing: February 06,2025

Watch Trailer Director: Tom Jennings
Writer(s): Will Lyman, Erika Kinetz, Michael Biesecker

The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and WOUB Public Media will sponsor a screening of the award-winning “FRONTLINE” documentary “Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes

The film has received these awards: three Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards (International Television, International Print and Grand Prize), Investigative Reporters and Editors Tom Renner Medal, Overseas Press Club Roy Rowan Award, and the Scripps Howard Excellence in National/International Investigative Reporting Ursula and Gilbert Farfel Prize

A Q&A session with the producers will follow.

Admission is FREE – Tickets are required

About the film

“FRONTLINE” and The Associated Press go inside Russia’s war on Ukraine, tracing a pattern of atrocities committed by Russian troops with a focus on the Kyiv suburbs, such as Bucha, where some of the most shocking carnage was found.

From award-winning director Tom Jennings, producer Annie Wong, AP global investigative reporter Erika Kinetz and her AP colleagues, the joint documentary draws on exclusive original footage, as well as interviews with Ukrainian citizens and prosecutors, top government officials and international war crimes experts.

FRONTLINE and the AP uncover exclusive and harrowing evidence that links possible war crimes in Bucha through the chain of command to one of Russia’s top generals — evidence that prosecutors hope might help build a case against Russian President Vladimir Putin in court. But the joint investigation also explores the challenges of trying to hold Putin and other Russian leaders to account.

[Description taken from PBS.org]

About the speakers

Tom Jennings

Tom Jennings is a native of Athens, Ohio, and holds a Master of Science degree from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. He has been making documentary films for 25 years for a variety of outlets but since 2009 has produced for PBS “FRONTLINE.” Jennings’ first “FRONTLINE” documentary, “Law and Disorder,” about police shootings in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, won the George Polk Award. He then directed “A Perfect Terrorist” and its sequel, “American Terrorist” (2011, 2015) and was a team producer on the landmark documentary series, “Money, Power & Wall Street” (2012). Jennings and wrote and directed “Being Mortal” (2015), with The New Yorker writer, and fellow Athenian, Atul Gawande. 

He directed “Right to Fail” (2019), about people with severe mental illness living independently, “Opioids, Inc.” (2020) and, with Jelani Cobb at Columbia University, produced “Whose Vote Counts,” which won the 2021 Peabody Award and National Association of Black Journalists Award. Jennings’ next film, “Boeing’s Fatal Flaw” (2021), an investigation with The New York Times into the 737-MAX airliner crashes, received an Emmy Award. In 2022, with producing partner Annie Wong and in collaboration with Erika Kinetz of the Associated Press, he made “Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes,” a 90-minute investigation detailing Russian military atrocities. It received the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Grand Prize, The Overseas Press Club Award, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and was nominated for an Emmy for the best documentary of the year. 

With producing partner Annie Wong, Jennings is now making a film about global online violent extremism. 

In all, his work has received the Peabody Award, three Emmy Awards, the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, two George Polk Awards, the duPont-Columbia Award, the National Association of Black Journalists Award, two Overseas Press Club Awards, the Deadline Club Award, the Gerald Loeb Award, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, a Scripps Howard Farfel Prize and six Writers Guild of America Awards.

Eika Kinetz

Erika Kinetz is an investigative reporter for the Associated Press based in Rome. She worked with the PBS series “Frontline” and New York-based SITU Research as correspondent and a producer for “Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes,” a 90-minute film, as well as “Crime Scene: Bucha,” a visual investigation of a Russian cleansing operation. Kinetz also helped establish War Crimes Watch Ukraine, a collaboration with PBS “Frontline” to gather, verify and document evidence of potential war crimes in Ukraine. This work won Overseas Press Club, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Scripps Howard Farfel Prize awards, among others, and was a finalist for an Emmy for Best Documentary. 

She lived in Asia for 15 years, winning awards for her work in China, India, Myanmar and Cambodia. Kinetz showed how China’s rise on Twitter has been powered by an army of fake accounts, uncovered labor abuses in Ivanka Trump’s China supply chain and broke news about transnational criminal networks, Myanmar’s crony businessmen, Cambodian slave labor and abuse in India’s microfinance industry. Before joining the AP, she wrote for The New York Times and contributed to The Washington Post, Newsweek, NPR, the International Herald Tribune and Harper’s magazine, among others. 

Kinetz has trained journalists from China, Turkey, Bosnia, Montenegro, Poland and the Czech Republic. She graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College.

Annie Wong

Annie Wong is an Emmy- award winning documentary producer and director.  

She started her career working at National Geographic Television and over the years produced a wide range of documentaries shown on PBS, Netflix, Discovery Channel and the Sundance Channel. Among the highlights, Wong has worked with Bill Moyers on his documentary series “Close to Home” about addiction and recovery. She directed, wrote and produced for the PBS series “Exposé: America’s Investigative Reports” and was a producer for the Academy Award-winning French filmmaking team Denis Poncet and Jean Xavier DeLestrade on “Sin City Law,” an 8-part verité series examining the criminal justice system in Las Vegas.  

In 2019, Wong joined Tom Jennings as a producing partner on a number of films for the PBS “Frontline” series: “Opioids, Inc.,” “Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes,” “The Discord Leaks” and a current film on online violent extremists to be released in spring 2025.  

She has received an Emmy Award, an Overseas Press Club Award, the Scripps Howard Farfel Prize, the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, the Sigma Award, an International Documentary Association Award and the Gerald Loeb Award.

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Running Time: 84 MIN84 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible
Thursday 02/063:30
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