Viewing: November 12,2025
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Director: David Usui
Join us on Wednesday, November 12th at 7:00 p.m. as our Sustainability Film Series concludes with a beautiful film about disappearing landscapes and a vanishing ways of life!
Admission is FREE and open to the public – Tickets are required
About the film
On a remote island, a deeply-rooted Christian fishing community grapples with the quiet erosion of their land and their traditions. Their centuries-old way of life, sustained by faith and the rhythms of the bay, is now at a poignant crossroads—one that may force them from the only home they’ve ever known.
Been Here Stay Here is a quiet, immersive portrait of Tangier Island, a centuries-old Christian fishing community in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. Long used as a symbol in the national climate conversation, Tangier is often portrayed through a lens of skepticism or scorn — framed as “America’s first climate casualty” and written off as a place in denial. This film offers another way in. With no experts, voiceovers, or statistics, Been Here Stay Here invites viewers into the lived experience of the island’s residents — through faith, memory, and the rhythms of daily life. By stepping away from spectacle and alarm, the film allows the community to speak on its own terms, revealing not denial but devotion: to place, to faith, and to a way of life that refuses easy categorization. Inspired by the work of climate scientist and Evangelical Christian Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, the film models a conversation rooted in relationship, not rhetoric. In the end, it’s less about the water at the doorstep than it is about what rises within us when we choose to listen, stay, and understand.
Check out the rest of our line-up of films in the Sustainability Film Series
This series was made possible thanks to the following sponsors:
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Kelly Hatas is the Executive Director of Hocking Athens Perry Community Action (HAPCAP), an antipoverty nonprofit organization headquartered in Athens County. She earned her BA in International Relations from Shawnee State University in 2007 and went on to serve as an AmeriCorps*VISTA for three years there. That experience led to her interest in the nonprofit sector, and she earned her Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service at Ohio University in 2012. She has spent the rest of her professional career with HAPCAP, one of 1,000 Community Action Agencies that were established across the country as part of then President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. Kelly grew up in Southwest Ohio, and will talk about how her perspective shifted after moving to, and choosing to stay in Appalachia. She lives in Athens County with her wife and two dogs.
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Academy Award-winning actress Juliette Binoche stars opposite Benoît Magimel (Binoche’s one-time partner in real life) in this deliciously romantic period-piece set in France in the 1880’s. THE TASTE OF THINGS is a love letter to food and to love — the kind of film that is a feast for the eyes and mouth-wateringly charming.
Dr. Tiffany Arnold is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the College of Health Sciences and Professions where she coordinates the Appalachian Studies Undergraduate and Graduate Certificate Programs. Additionally, she teaches Public Health and Environmental Health Courses Focused on Appalachian studies.
Rose Frech is a licensed social worker with broad expertise in navigating the complexities of the health and social services in Ohio. She has served in key positions in fundraising, policy analysis, program management, and advocacy in multiple areas of the sector, including community mental health, food and public benefits access, Community Action, Medicaid, and early intervention. A longtime social work educator, Rose has had the privilege of teaching new social workers for over 10 years. Born and raised in Athens, she is a passionate advocate for the Appalachian Ohio region. Rose currently serves as the Director of External Affairs at Integrated Services for Behavioral Healthcare, a behavioral health and housing organization serving 21 counties across Southeast Ohio.
