WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Images Cinema announced a new film series, Civic Cinema, which examines American society through a hopeful and pragmatic lens. 

 

The series consists of three films fresh off the film festival circuit: "Bad Faith" (9/23), "Join or Die" (9/30), and "Girls State" (10/7). All three films are solutions-oriented documentaries aimed to prompt conversation and deliver real world steps to improve civic bonds in our communities, and are presented free and open to all. 

 

Images Cinema is located at 50 Spring Street, Williamstown.

 

"There's a lot of talk about how polarized American politics is, about how autocracy is on the rise around the world,," said Dan Hudson, executive director of Images Cinema. "But on the flipside, there are recommendations from scientists, historians, and other thought leaders on how the American experiment of a multicultural, pluralist society can not only survive but thrive. We know the solutions, it just takes will and action to make meaningful change." 

 

Civic Cinema is a nonpartisan series, and will not be fundraising for nor promoting any particular political candidates or parties. The series' intention is to catalyze discussion with local community leaders and organizers in a post-screening talkback. Additionally, different nonprofits and grassroots organizations will be present each evening to table before the screening in Images Cinema's new lounge.

 

"This is one of the most direct examples of Images Cinema living our mission of cultivating an engaged community through film," said Hudson.

 

Timeline for each evening:

 

"Bad Faith"

Monday, 9/23 at 7pm

 

Co-sponsored by the Williams College Chaplains' Office and First Congregational Church Williamstown

 

Bad Faith reveals how Christian Nationalist leaders have spread fear and anger for decades, distorting political issues into Biblical battles between good and evil. Financed through the secretive Council for National Policy, Christian Nationalists have succeeded in taking over the Republican Party, turning it into a powerful weapon to demolish democracy from within. Discover the origins of this organized grasp for power and the grassroots coalition of secular and interfaith leaders bravely confronting the unholy forces threatening democracy.

 

"Join or Die"

Monday 9/30 at 7pm

 

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?

 

"Girls State"

Monday, 10/7 at 7pm

 

A look at what American democracy would look like in the hands of teenage girls. Young female leaders from wildly different backgrounds navigate an immersive experiment to build a government from the ground up.