Wednesday marks the start of the Athena Cinema’s seventh Spring Sustainability Film Series.
Showing a total of six films, the Athena Cinema, 20 S. Court St., aims to educate the public on the topic of sustainability through free screenings of new release documentaries. Regularly scheduled every Wednesday, screenings will include additional events such as Q&A’s, guest speakers and discussion panels. Each film’s discussion panel includes faculty, students and Athens residents, ensuring diverse perspectives.
A number of factors go into the programming of the Sustainability Film Series, but the coordinators of the event try to primarily focus on showcasing current documentaries that focus on solutions and positive outlooks to the challenges presented.
Loraine McCosker, co-coordinator of the Sustainability Film Series and instructor, advisor and outreach coordinator in environmental studies at the Ohio University Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, said her and Lorraine Wochna, her co-coordinator of the Sustainability Film Series, compile the list of films to show by reviewing environmental film festivals.
“(We) attempt to provide an overview of diverse films, challenges and successes,” McCosker said in an email.
This semester, McCosker explained that the film series aims to highlight women in conservation, celebrate the 50th anniversary of Appalshop Films, show a film on plastics and provide information on the threat of the Petrochemical Hub. Wochna said the film series also tries to focus on women of color and international filmmakers.
Events will be held in the lobby before each film, including multiple educational tables. McCosker believes an average of 120 people regularly attend each film, with students making up two-thirds of the crowd Athens residents and faculty making up one-third of the crowd.
“I… believe film is a great way to learn,” Wochna, who is also the subject librarian at Alden library for performing arts, African American studies and English, explained in an email. “People go to movies! Especially when they are free.”
McCosker added that film is an excellent medium to educate and engage in a very short span of time.
“We believe it has an impact,” McCosker said. “The films offer an opportunity to share information on the environment, both challenges and solutions. We have a great number of students attend and many tell me how much they learn from it. Environmental Sustainability is critical at this time. We have so many environmental challenges and solutions ahead of us.”
All films included in the series are purchased and held in Alden library, making them accessible to faculty and students unable to make the showings. The last film, “Honeyland,” is an award-winning documentary that will be shown on April 15.
“We believe this series has had an incredible impact on our community and it is one of the cornerstones of our programming,” Alexandra Kamody, director of the Athena Cinema, said in an email. “Creating a space for dialogue and raising awareness around these topical issues is very important to our community.”
More information can be found on the Athena Cinema’s website.
