Meaningful Movies in Ridgefield

in ridgefield

We show a documentary film every month (except December) on the fourth Wednesday at 7 pm, doors open at 630 pm, at The Old Liberty Theater (link) in Ridgefield, Washington. After each film we host a panel discussion with experts in the field. Please join our Facebook group (link). I've started a podcast (link) that will, in addition to other subjects, serve as an introduction to some of the issues that may inform the panel discussion.

Wednesday, November 27, 2010
IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE, doors open at 6:30pm, film at 7 pm; Free.



Following the film. Join Dr. Paul Donavan, a world renowned acoustical engineer, in talking about on how noise affects us and everything around us.

In Pursuit of Silence is a meditative exploration of our relationship with silence, sound and the impact of noise on our lives. Beginning with an ode to John Cage’s ground-breaking composition 4’33”, In Pursuit of Silence takes us on an immersive cinematic journey around the globe– from a traditional tea ceremony in Kyoto, to the streets of the loudest city on the planet, Mumbai during the wild festival season – and inspires us to experience silence and celebrate the wonders of our world.

October 23, 2019
LOVESTRUCK; doors open at 6:30pm, film at 7 pm; Free.

Lovestruck is a three-part documentary about domestic violence. Created in partnership with NO MORE (www.nomore.org), a national campaign to raise awareness about domestic violence and sexual assault.

Here's a podcast of the post screening panel discussion


Guest Speakers: Karyn Kameroff is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. She is the Community Coordinator for Pathways to Healing, a program with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe providing services to victims of crime. Karyn has a Master’s in Social Work from Eastern Washington University, A Master’s in Arts from the University of Kanas in Indigenous Nations Studies and has completed Addiction Studies at Northwest Indian College and a Bachelor of Arts from The Evergreen State College. She is a member of the Local Indian Child Welfare Advisory Committee, Community Action Advisory Board for Clark County, Healthy Living Collaborative and the Native American Advisory Board at Washington State University-Vancouver. Karyn volunteers for projects she is passionate about such as Fences for Fido, animal shelters and is a foster mom for Pit Bulls. Karyn has almost successfully raised three young men and attends pow-wows with her husband for fun.

Ana Sifuentes is the Bilingual Outreach Specialist and Legal Clinic Coordinator for the SafeChoice Domestic Violence Program at the YWCA Clark County. Ana’s outreach focuses on connecting with the Latinx community in Vancouver, and she works closely with the Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program to bring legal resources to survivors of domestic violence. Additionally, Ana coordinates the local Crossing Borders Promotora Project in collaboration with the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Her past work includes supporting survivors of sexual assault, and those experiencing homelessness. Ana is currently working toward a degree from Portland State Universities’ School of Social Work. She has two adorable little boys, and enjoys gardening when time allows.

Olivia Riley is the Volunteer Support and Advocacy Specialist with the SafeChoice Domestic Violence Program at the YWCA Clark County. While earning a Social Work degree from Concordia University Olivia became connected with SafeChoice through her internship, and continued to volunteer after graduation. Her experience as a previous volunteer with SafeChoice informs her current work recruiting and supporting program volunteers and interns. Olivia also oversees the domestic violence support groups at the YWCA Clark County, and works with community partners to bring resources and information to survivors through domestic violence workshops.

This showing is in partnership with the YWCA Clark County. Share thoughts and questions during our moderated post film community discussion. Free, donations appreciated.

Sept. 25, 2019
Digital Disconnect; Doors open at 630 pm, film at 7 pm. Panelists: Craig Brown, Editor, The Columbian Newspaper in Vancouver, Washington (link); and, Cindy Black, Executive Director of Fix Democracy First (link). Podcast (link).

Celebrants and skeptics alike have produced valuable analyses of the Internet’s effect on us and our world, oscillating between utopian bliss and dystopian hell. But according to Robert W. McChesney, arguments on both sides fail to address the relationship between economic power and the digital world.
McChesney’s award-winning Rich Media, Poor Democracy skewered the assumption that a society drenched in commercial information is a democratic one. In Digital Disconnect, McChesney returns to this provocative thesis in light of the advances of the digital age. He argues that the sharp decline in the enforcement of antitrust violations, the increase in patents on digital technology and proprietary systems and massive indirect subsidies and other policies have made the internet a place of numbing commercialism. A handful of monopolies now dominate the political economy, from Google, which garners a 97 percent share of the mobile search market, to Microsoft, whose operating system is used by over 90 percent of the world’s computers. Capitalism’s colonization of the Internet has spurred the collapse of credible journalism and made the Internet an unparalleled apparatus for government and corporate surveillance and a disturbingly antidemocratic force.
In Digital Disconnect, Robert McChesney offers a groundbreaking critique of the Internet, urging us to reclaim the democratizing potential of the digital revolution while we still can.