F.Y.I
WORKING FILMS, NORTH CAROLINA NAACP &
ALLIES PRESENT MORAL MOVIES FILM SERIES
WILMINGTON, NC - You’ve heard about Moral
Mondays, but what about Moral Movies?
Working Films, NC-NAACP, and state and local
organizations from around North Carolina
are partnering to present MORAL MOVIES – a
four month series of award-winning films to
jumpstart community dialogue and action on
social, economic, and environmental issues
relevant to the state.
The series of free screenings kicked
off on April 29th with American Teacher,
a documentary that follows the lives and
careers of four teachers and offers an
opportunity to spotlight teacher pay and
public education in North Carolina, which
recently dropped to 46th nationally in
rankings of teacher salaries.
MORAL MOVIES will take place
the last week of each month until July in
Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro,
Greenville, Raleigh, and Wilmington. The
Durham screenings are hosted by the Durham
People’s Alliance and those in Raleigh are
hosted by Action NC. (See the schedule below
for details on exact locations in each city).
In addition to Working Films and
the NC-NAACP, collaborating organizations
include: North Carolina Association of
Educators, Tarheel Alliance of Classroom
Teachers, NC AFL-CIO, Democracy NC, NC
Justice Center, The Durham People’s Alliance,
The Mountain People’s Assembly, Beloved
Community Center, Action NC, Pitt County
NAACP, New Hanover County NAACP, and the
Black Arts Alliance.
Films that are part of the series
include:
American Winter – American Winter
tells the interwoven stories of eight families
living in and
around Portland,
Oregon, each
of whom called
211info, a
nonprofit referral
organization, in
search of help
with paying bills,
finding housing,
or getting
advice on how
to weather the
current financial
downturn. In
addition to vérité footage of each family, the
documentary includes insights from several
local officials and businesspeople; screenings
32
presented by the NC AFL-CIO.
Freedom Summer - Written and
directed by veteran documentarian Stanley
Nelson (“The Black Press: Soldiers Without
Swords”), “Freedom Summer” expertly
combines
archival footage
and photos with
contemporary
interviews to
recall the pivotal
10-week period
in 1964 when
hundreds of
activists, black
and white –
but primarily
enthusiastic young
white supporters,
worked together
to register African-American voters in
violently segregationist Mississippi. Airing in
June to commemorate the 50th anniversary
of the events, and certain to become a
widely employed educational tool thereafter,
Nelson’s film is a well-shaped and powerful
reminder of a time in recent American history
when white supremacy was decisively and
courageously undercut; screenings presented
by Democracy NC.
Inequality for All - A passionate
argument on behalf of the middle class,
Inequality for
All features
Robert Reich
– professor,
best-selling
author, and
Clinton cabinet
member
– as he
demonstrates
how the
widening
income gap
has a devastating impact on the American
economy. The film is an intimate portrait of a
man whose lifelong goal remains protecting
those who are unable to protect themselves.
Through his singular perspective, Reich
explains how the massive consolidation
of wealth by a precious few threatens the
viability of the American workforce and
the foundation of democracy itself. In this
Inconvenient Truth for the economy, Reich
uses humor and a wide array of facts to
explain how the issue of economic inequality
affects each and every one of us; screenings
presented by NC Justice Center
Working Films was inspired to pursue
this series by the unprecedented civic
engagement sparked by the Moral Monday
demonstrations that began at the NC state
capitol last year. As an organization that
has worked nationally for over a decade to
use film to raise awareness and catalyze
community and civic engagement, Working
Films sees an opportunity to use great films
to inspire community dialogue and citizen
action around the critical issues at play in our
home state.
Below is a list of all MORAL MOVIES
Screenings across the state, organized by city.
Freedom Summer: Tuesday, June 24th,
6:30pm
Asheville
Unitarian Universalist Congregation (131
Oakmont Dr.)
Hosted by The Mountain People’s Assembly
American Winter: Thursday, May 29th, 7pm
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of
Asheville (1 Edwin Place)
Freedom Summer: Thursday June 26th, 7pm
International Civil Rights Center and Museum
(134 S Elm St.)
Inequality for All: Thursday, July 31st, 7pm
Central Library Nussbaum Room