"A Night of Independent Film" Monthly Series

Black Wave: The Legend of the Exxon Valdez
Sunday, May 23 – 7:00, with a post-film discussion

Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, marine biologist Riki Ott and the fishers in the town of Cordova, Alaska remind us that the biggest environmental catastrophe in North American history is still with us. Their story is outlined in the documentary Black Wave: The Legend of the Exxon Valdez.

Distributed by Bullfrog Films, Black Wave: The Legend of the Exxon Valdez examines how the consequences from the Mar. 24, 1989 accident have become all the more apparent and painful. The spill has profoundly altered the lives of tens of thousands of people, reducing them to poverty and despair.

Split Estate
Sunday, April 25 – 7:00, with a post-film discussion

Narrated by Ali MacGraw, Split Estate is a compelling documentary that shows the dirty side of natural gas, an energy source the industry touts as a clean alternative to fossil fuels.

Imagine discovering that you don't own the mineral rights under your land, and that an energy company plans to drill for natural gas two hundred feet from your front door. Imagine another shocking truth: You have little or no recourse to protect your home or land from such development.

Split Estate maps a tragedy in the making, as citizens in the path of a new drilling boom in the Rocky Mountain West struggle against the erosion of their civil liberties, their communities and their health.

 The film will be followed by a discussion with Brady Russell, Eastern PA Director of Clean Water Action.

The Yes Men Fix the World
Friday, Feb. 26 – 6:10
Saturday, Feb. 27 – 12:15 & 6:10
Sunday, Feb. 28 – 12:15 & 7:00, with the post-film discussion at 7 with Al Walentis

The Yes Men Fix the World is a screwball true story about two gonzo political activists who, posing as top executives of giant corporations, lie their way into big business conferences and pull off the world's most outrageous pranks.

Brüno meets Michael Moore in this gut-busting wake-up call that proves a little imagination can go a long way towards vanquishing the Cult of Greed.

Who knew fixing the world could be so much fun?

For the Love of Movies
Sunday Jan. 24, 2010
7:00 PM at RC Reading Movies 11 & IMAX

"For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism" is the first documentary to dramatize the rich saga of American movie reviewing. Directed by The Boston Phoenix critic, Gerald Peary, “For the Love of Movies” offers an insider’s view of the critics’ profession, with commentary from America’s best-regarded reviewers, Roger Ebert (The Chicago Sun-Times), A.O. Scott (The New York Times), Lisa Schwarzbaum (Entertainment Weekly), Kenneth Turan (The Los Angeles Times) and more!

Special guests John Nelka, host of the BCTV series Cinema Chat, and Patty Mahlon, cult movie writer/researcher, will be featured during a discussion following the screening moderated by Al Walentis.

Films of Jim Hubbard - Oct. 25

Local filmmaker Jim Hubbard will be the focus of the next “A Night of Independent Film” at the R/C Reading Movies 11 & IMAX on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.  Ticket cost is $7.00.  Mr. Hubbard has selected four short films for this event, representing a cross-section of his long career as an independent filmmaker, and will lead a post-film discussion following the screening, moderated by Al Walentis.

 Mr. Hubbard moved to Reading in 2004, and his filmmaking career spans four decades.  His work includes various feature films, many television specials (The National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian Institute), commercials and news features.  He served on the film production faculty of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, the School of Visual Arts, and the New School of Social Research, all in NYC.

 The films selected for this special night include “Iceland,” a 28-minute short film on which Mr. Hubbard served as a cameraman; “Railroaded,” a nine-minute comedy short directed by Harrison Engle, with music by Phillip Glass, on which Mr. Hubbard served as director of photography; and “Gold: The Sacred Metal,” a 14-minute documentary film from Columbia, on which Mr. Hubbard served as producer.

 The evening’s final screening will be Mr. Hubbard’s critically-acclaimed 29-minute black-and-white short documentary “The Turtle Hunter,” about Otis Terrell Overland, a southern farmer who makes his living hunting giant alligator snapping turtles in the Louisiana swamps.  Mr. Hubbard wrote, produced and directed this moving documentary, listed by the Oxford American as “one of the 13 essential southern documentaries of the 20th century.”

Hair India

Sunday Sept. 27, 2009
7:00 PM at RC Reading Movies 11 & IMAX

"Hair India" explores how Indian women have always been praised for their idyllic standard of beauty, from women's saris to her skin and hair. But now, even India has undergone a Western makeover. This in-depth film depicts how outsourcing has been taken to a new level in this fascinating exposé of a lucrative Indian export: hair.

A post-film discussion will follow the screening featuring John Zinger, Educational Director at Hair on the Avenue, and moderated by Al Walentis.

The Dhamma Brothers

Sunday Aug. 23, 2009
7:00 PM at RC Reading Movies 11 & IMAX

"The Dhamma Brothers" tells a dramatic tale of human potential and transformation as it closely follows and documents the stories of the prison inmates at Donaldson Correction Facility. An overcrowded maximum-security prison is dramatically changed by the influence of an ancient meditation program.

A post-screening panel discussion will follow, led by internet blogger Al Walentis. Dr. John Sellers has kindly agreed to be one of the panelists.  

The Brothers Warner

Sunday July 26, 2009
7:00 PM at RC Reading Movies 11 & IMAX

An intimate portrait of the four film pioneers who founded and ran Warner Bros. for over 50 years. From opening their first storefront theater by hanging a sheet on the wall and borrowing chairs from a funeral parlor to creating one of the top studios in America – four brothers built an empire on a dream and revolutionized Hollywood creating the first major studio with a social conscience.

A post-screening panel discussion will follow, led by internet blogger Al Walentis.

Passage

Sunday June 28, 2009
7:00 PM at RC Reading Movies 11 & IMAX

Filmmaker John Walker brings to life the incredible multilayered story of John Rae. Using a unique blend of dramatic action and behind-the-scenes documentary footage, Walker pulls back the curtain on his own research into Rae’s life and that of his actors, as they determine how to portray the characters and scenes in the film. The line between real and dramatic begins to blur as we move closer and closer to the film’s climax.

Guest speaker: Al Walentis.

Torturing Democracy

Sunday May 24, 2009
7:00 PM at RC Reading Movies 11 & IMAX

Narrated by Peter Coyote, "Torturing Democracy" investigates the harsh interrogations of prisoners in U.S. custody. Timely and powerful, at its heart the film is about the rule of law - and how the government pushed it aside despite the fierce resistance of many on the inside.

Guest speakers: Rev. Dr. Harry Serio and Al Walentis.

Richie Ashburn: A Baseball Life

Sunday April 26, 2009
7:00 PM at RC Reading Movies 11 & IMAX

Richie Ashburn is arguably the most beloved figure in the long and storied history of Philadelphia sports. RICHIE ASHBURN: A Baseball Life chronicles an amazing journey that takes us from his humble beginnings in Nebraska all the way to his enshrinement in the halls of baseball immortality at Cooperstown New York.

Guest speakers: Jason Weitzel and Al Walentis.

Milking the Rhino

Sunday March 22, 2009
7:00 PM at RC Reading Movies 11 & IMAX

Milking the Rhino examines the deepening conflict between humans and animals in an ever-shrinking world. It is the first major documentary to explore wildlife conservation from the perspective of people who live with wild animals.

Beyond the Call
Sunday Feb. 22, 2009 7:00 PM at RC Reading Movies 11 & IMAX

In an Indiana Jones meets Mother Teresa adventure, three eccentric middle-aged men travel the world delivering life-saving humanitarian aid directly into the hands of civilians and doctors.

Written and directed by Adrian Belic, the film traces the steps of three middle-aged friends and ex-soldiers who travel the world delivering humanitarian aid to the war-torn areas.

A panel discussion led by local humanitarian volunteer Dr. Timothy E. Ring and Reading Eagle Weekend section DVD reviewer Al Walentis will follow the screening.

Tickets are $7.

For more information, call 610-898-1930.

'Crawford' kicks off new Berks Movie Madness film series

The Berks Movie Madness film festival will present the documentary "Crawford" on January 25 at 7 p.m. at R/C Reading Movies 11, Second and Washington streets, downtown Reading.

The screening marks the debut of a monthly series called "Berks Movie Madness Presents: A Night of Independent Film."

"Crawford," directed by David Modigliani, chronicles the impact on residents of a Texas town - population 705 - that gets thrust into the national spotlight when then-Gov. George W. Bush buys a ranch there and then declares his candidacy for president.

For more information call 610-898-1930.