The Department of Communication and Visual Arts at Grove City College and Grove City ArtWorks are hosting the Creating Communities Film Fest from April 25 to 29 at the Guthrie Theatre in Olde Town Grove City.
Students in Dr. Dann Brown’s Principles of Media class conceived and planned the festival, which will feature a different award-winning documentary screened at 5 p.m. each day of the festival in the historic movie theater at 232 S. Broad Street.
The intent of the Creating Communities Film Fest is to strengthen the town-gown relationship between Grove City College and the Grove City community. Students chose films they think will appeal to the community in one way or another, Anna Jorgenson ’17, one of the organizers, said.
“For each documentary, students reached out to the members of the Grove City community who they think would be interested in the topic of that film. In order to further our reach into the community, we’ve paired up with the Grove City ArtWorks,” she said. “We hope that there will be a greater relationship between the college and the community – and not just the community on Broad Street,” Jorgenson said.
A discussion will follow each film at Sweet Jeanie’s, at 241 S. Broad St., across from the Guthrie.
Films to be screened are:
• “Alive Inside” on April 25. Dan Cohen, founder of the nonprofit organization Music & Memory, fights against a broken healthcare system to demonstrate music's ability to combat memory loss and restore a deep sense of self to those suffering from it.
• “Food, Inc.” on April 26. The film is an unflattering look inside America's corporate-controlled food industry.
• “Salam Neighbor” on April 27. Two filmmakers fully embed themselves in a Syrian refugee camp, providing an intimate look at the world's most dire humanitarian crisis.
• “Cyber-Seniors” on April 28. A film about senior citizens learning about computers from teenage mentors and the connections made on and offline.
• “Poverty, Inc.” on April 29. Drawing on perspectives gathered from over 150 interviews shot over four years in 20 countries, Poverty, Inc. explores the hidden side of doing good – the butterfly effect of good-intentioned efforts.
Admission is free, but a $5 suggested donation will be collected to benefit Grove City United Way.
For more information on Grove City College’s Department of Communication and Visual Art: www.gcc.edu/comm.