The Athena Cinema is preparing to host the “Heroes in Color” film series each week in February, featuring movies that provide classic heroic action and celebrate people of color in the film industry. Students, Athens residents and movie lovers alike are all invited to have a drink, a box of buttery popcorn and enjoy these upcoming beloved films.
According to The Athena’s website, its mission for the “Heroes in Color” series is to show “a kaleidoscope of cinematic heroes who reflect the spectrum of human stories, backgrounds and aspirations, we strive to redefine heroism, proving that anyone, regardless of their origin, can rise to greatness.”
The film series kicks off with its first showing, “Black Panther,” on Feb. 1, followed by “Blade” on Feb. 7, “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once” on Feb. 15, “Spiderman: Across the Spider-verse” on Feb. 22 and “The Last Dragon” on Feb. 29. Admission is $7.50 for all the films, and they will all start at 7:30 p.m. on the designated dates.
The series is supposed to spark the imagination and also encourage the viewers to learn something new, according to Alexandra Kamody, director of The Athena.
“A lot of different venues talk about entertainment and engagement, where we can learn, we can make learning fun and we can make learning happen through something like going to the movies, that we just all see as an exciting, fun opportunity,” she said.
Gordon Briggs and Brandon Thompson came to Kamody with the idea for the series. The trio wanted to include both fan-favorite movies and films that some people may not have seen before. In addition to coming up with the list of movies, they also worked to create themed trivia, drinks and raffles for each viewing to give this series the classic Athena touch.
Briggs, an English professor at the University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College, came to Athens in 2005 with a passion and love for films. He said he believes The Athena is one of the crown jewels of Athens.
“We are so blessed, and we are so grateful that we have the state of cinema back open, first of all, that they are showing movies from all around the world that tell all these different stories from all different kinds of people, foreign films, small films, short films, animation, so they are a place for the community to come,” said Briggs. “And they're a place for people to see stories from all different types of people, which I think is very important.”
Thompson has a multitude of jobs around Athens, including working as an outreach coordinator for the Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program, but his love for film has been present since his childhood. Organizing this series has been an exciting experience for him, and he looks forward to seeing how Athens will respond, hopeful people will want more events like these in the future.
“I grew up in Athens, going to The Athena way back in the day, and I have been watching movies my entire life,” said Thompson. “Typically, it's been the same type of person on screen, you know, not a person of color. And if they were, there weren't a lot of roles. And so, giving all these movies together allows people of color something different to see and root for.”
Briggs emphasized the importance of having film series such as “Heroes in Color,” not only for its educational aspects, but also for the pure enjoyment and entertainment that a movie brings forth.
“Usually superhero films, or historically superhero stories, have revolved around strong white men,” he said. “I love Batman, I love Superman, but if the superhero is aspirational and inspirational, there's something wrong if they only look a certain type of way. So we're giving stories from people who are LGBT, who are people of color or people who are immigrants.”
Kamody, Briggs and Thomspon all emphasized the uniqueness of this series and for anyone interested to come and take part in the festivities.
“I think (everyone) should come because they will have a wonderful experience,” Kamody said. “This will probably be the highlight of their week. I think it's going to be something that … you won't have the chance to do. It's not happening anywhere else.”
“Heroes in Color” is looking to show some highly acclaimed films with a chance to experience them on the big screen all over again at The Athena.
“There are ways where these kinds of superhero stories become metaphors,” said Briggs. “I can think of them as mirrors that reflect something about our own experiences and are sometimes not shown in other movies.”
