Community Cinema Nashville

Community Cinema in a [Blog]Box: As Goes Janesville

If you’ve never been to Community Cinema, this will be a great introduction. On October 16, we screened director Brad Lichtenstein’s documentary As Goes Janesville at the downtown Nashville Public Library. The screening was followed by an engaging discussion with business representatives, sociologists, human resources professionals and more. The film is available for screening online until October 30, and luckily for you, we taped the entire discussion. So here’s everything you need — the film, followed by the panel discussion — to have your own Community Cinema experience. It doesn’t include the tasty free snacks before the screening, or the great people you get to socialize with before and after the film, or the beautiful confines of the downtown library, but you’ll just have to imagine that on your own.

About the film:
As goes Janesville, so goes America… a polarized nation losing its grasp on the American Dream. America’s debate over the future of its middle class has come to the forefront in a pitched battle over unions in Wisconsin. First, GM shuts down Janesville’s century-old auto plant in 2008, causing mass layoffs and residents exiled in search of work. Then newly elected governor Scott Walker ignites a firestorm by introducing a bill to end collective bargaining unleashing a fury of protest and sparking a recall election. Spend three years in the lives of laid-off workers trying to reinvent themselves; business leaders aligned with the governor to promote a pro-business agenda they believe will woo new companies to town; and a state senator caught in the middle, trying to bring peace to his warring state and protect workers’ rights. Learn the truth behind the headlines.

Watch As Goes Janesville on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.

About the Panel discussion:

The event, co-presented by ITVS and Nashville Public Television, was hosted by ITVS regional coordinator Allison Inman. The panel consisted of, from left, moderator Steve Cavendish, Nashville City Paper editor; Sachin Chheda, national engagement director for AS GOES JANESVILLE; Tom Negri, Loews Vanderbilt Hotel; Caroline Blackwell, executive director of the Metro Nashville Human Relations Commission; Richard Lloyd, Vanderbilt University professor of sociology and author of Neo-Bohemia: Art and Commerce in the Postindustrial City; and Dan Cornfield, Vanderbilt University professor of sociology and editor of “Work and Occupations” sociological journal.

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Joe Pagetta, October 26th 2012 | Tags: As Goes Janesville, Caroline Blackwell, Dan Cornfield, Independent Lens, Nashville, Public Library, Richard Lloyd, Sachin Chheda, Steve Cavendish, Tom Negri, Vanderbilt University
Posted in Documentaries, Panelists

Audience envisions forgiveness at Nashville ‘Pushing the Elephant’ screening

At Saturday’s Community Cinema screening of “Pushing the Elephant,” audience members participated in an activity designed to help them envision forgiveness. “Pushing the Elephant” tells the story of Rose Mapendo’s remarkable emergence from violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo as an advocate for the rights of women and the power of forgiveness and reconciliation. Dr. Bethany Haley and Quincee Gideon from Nashville nonprofit eXile International, along with Marie-Aimee Abizera from African Leadership Refugee Ministry, passed out stones prior to the screening, explaining that the stone represents the burden of unforgiveness. Following the panel discussion with Haley, Gideon and Abizera, audience members were encouraged to release their stones in a basket next to a candle that symbolized hope or renewal.

Prior to the screening, Haley, Gideon and Abizera informally led the forgiveness exercise while audience members mingled over refreshments outside the auditorium. Community Cinema coordinator Allison Inman introduced Nashville Public Television’s Joe Pagetta, who promoted the Nashville Film Festival’s upcoming screening of “Fambul Tok,” a documentary about formal forgiveness and reconciliation ceremonies in Sierra Leone. NPT’s president and CEO, Beth Curley, announced a new public media initiative from ITVS and PBS targeting issues affecting girls and women globally. During the panel discussion, Curley also pointed audience members to NPT’s ongoing “Next Door Neighbors” series, which tells the stories of Nashville’s immigrant communities.

The screening was presented by series partners Nashville Public Television, Nashville Public Library, Nashville Film Festival and Hands On Nashville, with special presenting partners eXile International and YWCA Nashville and Middle Tennessee.

Dr. Bethany Haley of eXile International discusses the insiduousness of rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo by Frank Keesee.

Marie-Aimee Abizera, a survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, encourages the audience to get to know the immigrants and refugees in their community. Photo by Frank Keesee.

eXile International displayed art made by war-affected children in the DR Congo. Photo by Frank Keesee.

Marie-Aimee Abizera passes out stones to the audience in an exercise on forgiveness. Photo by Frank Keesee.

The broadcast premiere of “Pushing the Elephant” is today (March 29) at 9 p.m. on Independent Lens.

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Allison Inman, March 29th 2011 | Tags: African Leadership Refugee Ministry, Bethany Haley, Democratic Republic of the Congo, eXile International, forgiveness, Independent Lens, Marie-Aimee Abizera, NPT, PBS, Quincee Gideon
Posted in Documentaries, Panelists, Screenings

Community Gathers for a`For Once in My Life` Screening

More than 100 people joined us at the downtown Nashville Public Library on January 22 for our screening of Jim Bigham and Mark Moormann’s inspiring documentary For Once in My Life. Thanks to all who came out! And special thanks to event partners Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee.

Guests enjoyed snacks at a reception hosted by the Nashville Public Library Foundation, and music by the VSA/Blair Dulcimer Choir, which features local youth, including students on the autism spectrum. ITVS Community Cinema organizer Allison Inman welcome the audience, as did Nashville Film Festival executive director Sallie Mayne. Following the screening, audience members engaged with a panel comprised of disability advocate Lorre Mendelson, Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee’s Career Solutions development director Debbie Grant and music therapist Tina Haynes. Vicki Yates of NewsChannel5 moderated.

To learn more about the film, visit the Independent Lens website. Tune in to Nashville Public Television on February 1 at 9:00 p.m. for the national broadcast.

Photos by volunteer photographer extraordinaire Frank Keesee and and NPT/NaFF’s Joe Pagetta as indicated.

Panelists from left: music therapist Tina Haynes; moderator Vicki Yates of NewsChannel5; disability advocate Lorre Mendelson and Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee's Career Solutions development director Debbie Grant. Photo by Frank Keesee.