Coming Together Presents Feature Film "Imperial Dreams" at the Jones on May 15

The following is an announcement from the racial justice organization Coming Together. If you are unable to attend this event, the highly rated feature film is also available on Netflix.

Everyone interested in advancing racial justice is warmly invited...

Our video/film series continues!   Tuesday, May 15,  2018 at The Jones Library at 7:00PM   "Imperial Dreams" new feature film - received the Sundance Festival Audience Award A young father and reformed gangster returns home from jail eager to care for his son, Daytona, and become a writer.  Crime, poverty and a flawed system threaten his plans, in this fictional, but realistic drama film. Released in 2017, this film was rated 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. Some African American young men in Amherst recommended it to us for the Coming Together series.  Please join us! We will have a brief discussion of the film following the showing. * * *     This is part of our new format - showing feature length films and having our working groups meet at other times.  This will give us all better opportunities to feel deeply and be moved by powerful stories and works of art. www.coming-together.org

Local Showing of Mudbound on March 21

Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst Social Action Committee presents:

Mudbound, a 2017 film about two veterans, one black, one white, and their respective experiences when they return home from WWII. The New York Times review puts it this way: ‘‘Mudbound" is a Racial Epic Tuned to Black Lives and White Guilt.

"Mudbound" is a movie about how things change — slowly, unevenly, painfully. It is also, as the title suggests, about how things don’t change, about the stubborn forces of custom, prejudice and power that lock people in place and impede social progress. Set mainly in the Mississippi Delta in the years just after World War II, when Jim Crow was still enshrined in law and practice, the film, directed by Dee Rees, tests and complicates William Faulkner’s much-quoted claim about the not-even-pastness of the past. It’s a work of historical imagination that lands in the present with disquieting, illuminating force….” (N.Y. Times, November 16, 2017)

Refreshments will be served.

Wednesday, March 21, 7-  9:15PM

Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst

121 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst

Questions: 413-253-2848

KidsBestFest 2018, a Film Festival for Kids and their Adults: February 19 – 23

Winter School Break Free Film Festival: February 19 - 23

When?

Doors Open at 1:00PM

Showtime at 1:30 PM 

Where?

Academy of Music Theatre

274 Main Street Northampton

MA 01060

What?

A film festival for kids and their adults during winter school break, part of the Four Sundays in February winter arts series presented by the Northampton Arts Council and the Academy of Music Theatre.

How Much?

FREE, donations encouraged.

Climate Change Film "Before the Flood" on May 16

The Leonardo DiCaprio documentary "Before the Flood" examines how climate change affects us and what society can do about it. Learn more at https://www.beforetheflood.com/

Tuesday, May 16

ARMS Auditorium

Doors open 6:30 to main lobby-gallery

Movie: 7:00-8:40

Refreshment sales will support the ARMS 7th Grade Environmental Action Group. Rated PG for thematic elements, some nude/suggestive art images, language and brief smoking.

“Climate change is the single greatest threat to a sustainable future but, at the same time, addressing the climate challenge presents a golden opportunity to promote prosperity, security and a brighter future for all.”  - BAN KI-MOON, Secretary General, United Nations

Film Screening & Discussion: "What’s Race Got to Do with It?" on June 9at the Jones Library

Join us on Thursday, June 9, 2016 at 6:30 pm in the Woodbury Room for the next film in this ongoing film and discussion series that may education, touch your heart, and inspire you to action to help dismantle racism.  A facilitated discussion will be held after the screening.

What's Race Got to Do with It? is documentary film that goes beyond identity politics, celebratory history and interpersonal relations to consider social disparities and their impact on student success in today's post-Civil Rights world.  

Free and open to the public.  For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413/259-3223. 

This film series is co-sponsored by the Jones Library and Coming Together.  More information about Coming Together can be found at http://www.coming-together.org/.

The Coming Together Film Series continues on May 12th at the Jones Library

Thursday, May 12th at 7PM at The Jones Library for "JUST A PIECE OF CLOTH"    This is a new video about Muslim women, the hijab, and other issues of Islamaphobia and racism. Regrettably timely. (See more description below.)  Two local Muslim women, Naz Mohamed and Hind Mari, will share their differing perspectives and lead us in discussion following the film.  Come join with others who care about making our community more inclusive and just.

Clink here to see a trailer of the film.

*    *   * Naz is the Clerk of the Hampshire Mosque in Hadley.  Hind is the Director of the Women of Color Leadership Network at UMass Amherst.  Both are engaged in activities in our community and have rich experiences to share. *** At one of our recent film showings many people wanted more time to talk about the issues raised by the film, and suggested that we might more often show shorter films, thereby allowing for more discussion and connecting among those present.  This is a 34 minute engaging documentary, so we will have more time to engage with Naz, Hind and each other. *  *  * Just a Piece of Cloth is a documentary that unravels stereotypes perpetuated by the mainstream media about Muslim women. The video features four Muslim women in the U.S. from diverse backgrounds as they talk about what hijab, the traditional Muslim headscarf, means to them and how it affects their daily lives. With humor, seriousness, and candor they speak from personal experience about this often controversial garment. Despite their unique stories, universal human questions lie just beneath the surface: What boundaries define me? How do I travel across those boundaries to be true to myself, my community, and my faith? How do I transform the stories that limit my potential? *   *   * The next video in our Coming Together series will be "What's Race Got to Do with It?" on Thursday, June 9th at 7PM at The Jones Library (our co-sponsor for the series).

Shakespeare Movie Marathon on May 14th

As a way of supporting an exciting exhibition of Shakespeare's First Folio at Amherst College during the month of May, the Jones Library is one of several other local institutions in Amherst that are hosting complementary programming to encourage the wider community to enjoy and celebrate this special exhibit.  

Join us in the Woodbury Room on Saturday, May 14 for a screening of 3 films based on Shakespeare’s First Folio works. The 10 am screening is an animated film for young viewers that is rated G.  The 12:30 pm and 3 pm screenings are feature films that are rated PG-13.  For the program of specific film titles, pick up a flyer on your next visit to the library or visit our website for complete movie titles and ratings information at www.joneslibrary.org.

This film series is possible thanks to the Friends of the Jones Libraries.  Free and open to the public.  For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413/259-3223.

“Just A Piece of Cloth” Screening at the Jones Library on May 12

“Just a Piece of Cloth” will be screened at Jones Library on Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 7:00 pm in the Woodbury Room for the next film in this ongoing film and discussion series that may education, touch your heart, and inspire you to action to help dismantle racism.  A facilitated discussion will be held after the screening.

"Just a Piece of Cloth" is a documentary that unravels stereotypes perpetuated by the mainstream media about Muslim women.  It is a film about Muslim women, the hijab, and other issues of Islamophobia and racism.  A facilitated discussion will follow the screening.

Free and open to the public.  For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413-259-3223.  This film series is co-sponsored by the Jones Library and Coming Together.  More information about Coming Together can be found at http://www.coming-together.org/.

Oscars Movie Series at the Jones Library

Amherst, MA – Get in the mood for this year’s Academy Awards, which will air on February 28, by joining us for this film series at the Jones Library.  This four week series will feature some of the films that were in the running for one of the Academy Awards last year.

Join us in the Woodbury Room at 6:30 pm for this Tuesday evening film series, which will begin on January 19 and end on February 9, 2016. For the program of specific film titles, pick up a flyer on your next visit to the library or visit our website for complete movie titles and ratings information at www.joneslibrary.org.

This film series is possible thanks to the Friends of the Jones Libraries.  Free and open to the public.  For more information, please contact Janet Ryan at 413/259-3223.