Tuesdays at Two: American Through Film

Join us as we celebrate our history through a captivating and educational PBS film series. Participants are welcome to bring lunch or a snack and sit back and relax.  Registration begins the first of each month. Sponsored by the Marion Wm. & Alice Edwards Fund, a fund of Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation. 
 
The Race Underground (1 hour)
Tuesday, January 9th at 2:00-3:00
In the late 19th century, as America's teeming cities grew increasingly congested, the time had come to replace the nostalgic horse-drawn trolleys with a faster, cleaner, safer, and more efficient form of transportation. Based in part on Doug Most's acclaimed non-fiction book of the same name.
 
Jackie Robinson (4 Hours)
Tuesday, February 13th at 2:00-4:00 Part I
Tuesday, February 20th at 2:00-4:00 Part II
JACKIE ROBINSON rose from humble origins to cross baseball's color line and become one of the most beloved men in America. A fierce integrationist, Robinson used his immense fame to speak out against the discrimination he saw on and off the field, angering fans, the press, and even teammates who had once celebrated him for "turning the other cheek." "Jackie Robinson," Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "was a sit-inner before sit-ins, a freedom rider before freedom rides.
 
The Dust Bowl (4 hours)
Tuesday, March 13th at 2:00-4:00  Part I
Tuesday, March 20th at 2:00-4:00  Part II
THE DUST BOWL chronicles the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history, when a frenzied wheat boom on the southern Plains, followed by a decade-long drought during the 1930s, nearly swept away the breadbasket of the nation. Menacing black blizzards killed farmers' crops and livestock, threatened the lives of their children, and forced thousands of desperate families to pick up and move somewhere else. Vivid interviews with more than two dozen survivors of those hard times, combined with dramatic photographs and seldom seen movie footage, bring to life stories of incredible human suffering and equally incredible human perseverance. 
 
The Talk: Race in America (2 hours)
Tuesday, April 10th at 2:00-4:00
The Talk: Race in America documents the increasingly common conversation taking place in homes and communities across the country between parents of color and their children, especially sons, about how to behave if they are ever stopped by the police. In many homes, "The Talk," as it is called, usually contains phrases like this: If you are stopped by the police: Always answer 'yes sir, no sir'; never talk back; don't make any sudden movements; don't put your hands in your pockets. A diverse set of filmmakers speak to parents, children, family members, academics, police force members, and community activists, to illustrate the issue from multiple points of view and bring the discussion out of the kitchens and living rooms and into the public sphere. 
 
The Mine Wars (2 Hours)
Tuesday, May 8th at 2:00-4:00
At the beginning of the 20th century, coal was the engine of American industrial progress. Nearly three quarters of a million men across the country spent ten or twelve hours a day underground in coal mines. The Mine Wars brings to life the struggle that turned the coalfields of southern West Virginia into a blood-soaked war zone where basic constitutional rights and freedoms were violently contested.
 
Projections of America (1 hour)
Tuesday, June 12th at 2:00-3:00
During the darkest hour of the WWII, a team of idealistic filmmakers hoped the power of the movies could reshape the world. Led by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Robert Riskin, the filmmakers created 26 short documentaries about American life shown to millions of people around the world. The "Projections of America" films told stories of cowboys and oilmen, farmers and window washers, immigrants and school children, capturing the optimism and messiness of American democracy. The gorgeously crafted films were idealized versions of what America could be. 

Secrets of the Dead: Jamestown’s Dark Winter (1 hour)
Tuesday, July 10h at 2:00-3:00
A team of archaeologists excavating the site of an early American colony discovers something surprising: the remains of a young woman, dating back to 1609, buried in the trash layer of a cellar. Now, 400 years later, a cellar excavation has uncovered numerous bone fragments - all belonging to this adolescent female.
 
Lennon NYC (1.5 hours)
Tuesday, August 14th at 2:00-3:30
Following the breakup of the Beatles, the film follows John Lennon and Yoko Ono as they moved to Manhattan in 1971, where Lennon sought to escape the mayhem of the Beatles era and focus on his family and private life. LENNONYC features never-before heard studio recordings and never-before-seen outtakes from Lennon in concert and home movies that have only recently been transferred to video. It also features exclusive interviews with Yoko Ono, as well as with artists who worked closely with Lennon during this period, including Elton John and photographer Bob Gruen.
 
A Class Apart (1 hour)
Tuesday, September 11th at 2:00-3:00
Built around the landmark 1954 legal case Hernandez v. Texas, the film interweaves the stories of its central characters with a broader story of the civil rights movement. It also brings to life the heroic post-World War II struggle of Mexican Americans fighting to dismantle the discrimination targeted against them.
 
The Italian Americans (4 Hours)
Tuesday, October 9th at 2:00-4:00  Part I
Tuesday, October 16th at 2:00-4:00 Part II
The Italian Americans reveals the unique and distinctive qualities of one immigrant group's experience, and how these qualities, over time, have shaped and challenged America. At the turn of the 20th century, many Italians immigrants came to work, earn money to support their families, and eventually return home. Nearly half of the first generation Italian immigrants did return to Italy, but for those that made America home, their struggle to maintain a distinct Italian culture was guided by remarkably powerful ideals of family that had always been at the center of their lives. While the power of the Italian family became a source of strength, it also bred suspicion, popularized in popular media as a dark, criminal element. This clash of culture echoed through generations of Italian Americans as they entered positions of political, social, and cultural influence. 
 
The Pilgrims (2 hours)
Tuesday, November 13th at 2:00-4:00
The Pilgrims' narrative has been shrouded in myth, embedded in Thanksgiving Day feasts, football, and parades. Who were the men and women who constituted this band of English Protestants whom we call "the Pilgrims"?
 

PBS Film: Secret of Noah’s Arc
Thursday, July 13th at 6:30
Registration begins July 1st
Held in the Program Room
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Using instructions from an intriguing, 3,700 year-old inscription, a team of historians and expert boat builders investigates a fascinating flood legend and sets out to rebuild a tantalizing, ancient forerunner of the Ark. Register online! 

PBS Film: American Experience Alexander Hamilton
Thursday, June 8th at 6:00
Registration begins May 15th
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Held in the Program Room One of the most controversial men of his age, Alexander Hamilton was a gifted statesman brought down by the fatal flaws of stubbornness, extreme candor and arrogance. His life and career were marked by a stunning rise to power, scandal and tragedy. But his contributions survive. As Secretary of the Treasury during the tumultuous early years of the republic, Hamilton led the transformation of the young country into industrial powerhouse. 

PBS Film: Forgotten Elis Island (60 Min)
Thursday, May 18th at 6:30
Registration begins May 1st
Held in the Program Room
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 This is the first film about the once abandoned immigrant hospital on Ellis Island. In the era before antibiotics, tens of thousands of immigrant patients were separated from family, detained in the hospital, and healed from illness before becoming citizens. 350 babies were born, and ten times that many immigrants died on Ellis Island, 3,500 were buried in pauper's graves around New York City. Register online! 

Bring your own dinner and enjoy a movie that's fit for St. Patrick's Day, The Gnome Mobile, on Thursday, March 17th at 6:00pm.  Perfect for all ages! 

Walter Brennan stars in a dual role, as kindly lumber tycoon D. J. Mulrooney and the irascible (and much tinier) 943-year-old gnome Knobby. Mulrooney likes Knobby and his fellow gnomes, but the feeling isn't reciprocal, since Knobby considers Mulrooney a threat to his beloved forest. Meanwhile, the tycoon's vice-president Ralph Yarby (Richard Deacon), hearing his boss' claims that he's been consorting with gnomes, decides that the old guy is insane and has him committed. Rescued by his grandchildren Rodney (Matthew Garber) and Elizabeth (Karen Dotrice), D.J. seeks out Knobby and Knobby's own grandson Jasper (Tom Lowell), who are hiding somewhere in the woods with gnome-king Rufus (Ed Wynn, in his final film role). There follows an amusing rite of passage wherein Jasper becomes engaged to gnomette Shy Violet (Cami Sebring), leading to a happy ending for all concerned. Rate G; Running Time: 90Min

Registration begins March 1st.  To register, call 860.489.6684 or visit us online! 

BYOD and a Movie: The Martian
Thursday, February 4th at 6:00pm

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Rated PG-13. 144 minutes.

BYOD (bring your own dinner) and we'll have tables set up! This is a must see!

Register today by calling 860-489-6684 or by clicking here! 

From 6:00-7:30 on Thursday, December 17th we will be playing classic holiday films (like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Frosty) and we will have an assortment of holiday wrapping paper and DIY gift tag materials available.

Bring your presents to wrap (we're kindly asking that you limit it to 5 per family), get into the holiday spirit, have some cookies and coco, and make your own special gift tags--most of all--have fun!

Perfect for the whole family and a great way to relax before the holidays! We will provide wrapping paper and supplies!

This is a drop in event anytime between 6:00 and 7:30, but we do ask that you register in advance so we know how many people to expect. Register by calling 860-489-6684 or online!

Join us for the feature film, Cinderella on Thursday, Sept. 17th at 6:00pm.  Registration begins September 1st! 

Kenneth Branagh directs Disney's 2015, live-action take on the classic fairy tale Cinderella, which stars Lily James as the put-upon young woman forced to endure a life of labor at the hands of her stepmother (Cate Blanchett) after her father dies unexpectedly. Forced to do every menial chore imaginable, Ella maintains her good spirits and eventually strikes up a friendship with a stranger in the woods who turns out to be the prince. When the royal court holds a gala ball, Cinderella wants nothing more to attend, and although her stepmother won't allow it, she gets help from a surprising source. 112 Minutes

To register call the library at 860-489-6684 or register online.