Clark Art Screens 'The Five Obstructions'

08:02AM / Monday, October 06, 2025Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — On Thursday, Oct. 9 at 6 pm, the Clark Art Institute presents a screening of "The Five Obstructions," the next in a series of films celebrating Mariel Capanna's yearlong public spaces installation Giornata.

The screening takes place in the Manton Research Center auditorium.

Inspired by Capanna's practice of imposing time constraints upon herself while painting, this five-part series showcases films by directors who worked within time constraints.

According to a press release:

One of the great films about filmmaking, The Five Obstructions (2003) is a reflexive marvel of cinematic problem solving. In 1967, Jørgen Leth made The Perfect Human, a short anthropological comedy, which became a favorite of the young Lars von Trier. Decades later, von Trier came to Leth with an offer he couldn't refuse: he would produce five remakes of Perfect Human, each to be directed by Leth according to von Trier's diktat. The heart and soul of the film comes in their interactions: they meet, review the previous effort, and lay down the rules for the next. Von Trier's ruthless instinct for his collaborator's soft spots may be sadistic, but it's vastly entertaining. When he really wants to punish Leth, he gives him complete freedom. (Run time: 1 hour, 30 minutes)

All films in this series are free and screened on select Thursdays at 6 pm. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524.

Tags: Clark Art,

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

Save & Earn with Greylock

3.30% APY 6-month certificate. Click to learn more! Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Williamstown Select Board Evaluates Town Manager

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:39AM / Wednesday, October 28, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — In 2022, the town still was recovering from the twin blows of a global pandemic and a lawsuit that exposed disturbing allegations against the town's police department.

The latter ultimately led to the resignation of the police chief and the town manager. To replace the manager, the Select Board at the time turned to Robert Menicocci.

Menicocci represented a break in style from his immediate predecessor, who was a more prominent voice in town government. That prominence, in part, was a product of the times: When town boards and committees were not meeting in-person and access to town hall itself was limited at the height of the pandemic, the manager's voice in Zoom meetings was more front and center.

In his four years in the corner office, Menicocci has helped shepherd the police department on its path to certification and helped the town weather the fiscal storm of skyrocketing costs linked to inflation – particularly sharp increases in the cost of health insurance that hit hard for a labor-intensive endeavor like municipal government. All the while, he has been a little more taciturn, while always willing to participate, when appropriate, with responsive answers in discussions of the Select Board and Finance Committee.

On Monday, the current Select Board – completely turned over from the 2022 edition – pushed Menicocci to be more of a cheerleader for the town.

"Do you see your role more as a behind-the-scenes guy and our role is to be out in public?" board member Matthew Neely asked Menicocci during the board's review of the manager's job performance. "Or is there more of a role for you in that? So many people, if I say your name, they're like, ‘Who?'

"I would have assumed your role would be more public facing as well, and more, for lack of a better word, leading the charge as opposed to running day-to-day operations. I feel you're strong running day-to-day. But something we all wish is we had a little more of a proactive [manager] …. Since we need development, need all these things in town so much. … I'd love to see more outward energy, I guess.

View Full Story