Indie Lens Pop-Up Series with WMHT Starts Dec. 6
Enjoy the Indie Lens Pop-Up series with APL and WMHT Public Media starting in December at the Pine Hills Branch. Each session includes a documentary film screening and moderated conversation about important cultural topics. The sessions are free and open to the public.
Each screening will be accompanied by a moderated discussion featuring panelists, engaged by WMHT in partnership with student organizations at area colleges, who will also help to plan the programs. In addition, APL is preparing book displays and recommended reading and viewing lists from our collections to provide further insight on the topics.
The range of topics includes: Muslim American experience, climate gentrification, race and gender equity in mainstream media, personal perspectives on what it means to live with Parkinson’s disease, and how the Deaf and hard of hearing community redefine listening.
“We look forward to bringing people together in an open and safe forum to discuss these important topics, and to furthering our efforts to engage with, listen to, and learn from members of our community,” said Anthony Hayes, President and CEO of WMHT Public Media. The sessions are part of INDEPENDENT LENS, PBS’s nationwide, award-winning documentary anthology series.
The Indie Lens Pop-Up series sessions at the Pine Hills Branch are:
“A Town Called Victoria” | Dec. 6 (Wed) | 6 pm | Film by Li Lu and Anthony Pedone | When the local mosque is burned to the ground in an apparent hate crime, the town of Victoria, Texas, must overcome its age-old political, racial, and economic divides to find a collective way forward.
“Razing Liberty Square” | Jan. 3 (Wed) | 6 pm | Film by Katja Esson and Ann Bennett | Liberty City, Miami, is home to one of the oldest segregated public housing projects in the United States. Now with rising sea levels, the neighborhood’s higher ground has become something else: real estate gold.
“Breaking the News” | Feb. 7 (Wed) | 6 pm | Film by Heather Courtney, Princess Hairston, Chelsea Hernandez, and Diane M Quon | Frustrated by the lack of representation in the media, a group of women and LGBTQ+ journalists launched The 19th*, a digital news startup whose work is guided by elevating the voices often left out of the American story.
“Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s” | March 13 (Wed) | 6 pm | Film by Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green | Three people – a political cartoonist, a mother turned boxing coach, and an optician – navigate their lives with resourcefulness and determination in the face of a degenerative illness, Parkinson’s disease.
“The Tuba Thieves” | April 24 (Wed) | 6 pm | Film by Alison O’Daniel | Between 2011 and 2013, tubas were stolen from high schools across Southern California. Against this backdrop, hard of hearing filmmaker Alison O’Daniel generates new sensitivity to sound and meaning in an unconventional documentary experience.
Our Pine Hills Branch is an accessible building and there are several handicapped spaces in the parking lot. It can also be reached by bus (via Routes 10, 11, 114, 138, and 763). Films include closed captioning. If other accommodations are needed, please contact Mara Drogan, WMHT Director of Community Engagement & Education, at mdrogan@wmht.org.
Stephanie Simon
Stephanie Simon is manager of APL's Communication and Creative Services Department, which provides content and information for the library's website, social media, publications, videos, podcasts, and other outlets. Stephanie also manages APL's public relations and marketing efforts.