Spring 2019

Special Summer Screening

WOODSTOCK: THREE DAYS THAT DEFINED A GENERATION

Monday, July 29

7:00 PM Theatre Three

412 Main Street, Port Jefferson, New York, 11777

Guest Speaker: Don Kleszy, Co-Screenwriter/Editor

Moderator: Tom Needham, Host of THE SOUNDS OF FILM on Stony Brook University’s Own Radio Station, WUSB

Presented in collaboration with Theatre Three and co-sponsored by the Long Island Music Hall of Fame and the Long Island Blues Society

We have all heard of it. Many of us know someone who was there or were actually there ourselves. Many almost made it, wish we had made it or wish it would happen again so we could go. WOODSTOCK: THREE DAYS THAT DEFINED A GENERATION is a film for all of us.

“In August 1969—against a backdrop of a nation in conflict over sexual politics, civil rights, and the Vietnam War—half a million people converged on a small dairy farm in upstate New York to hear the concert of a lifetime. What they experienced was a moment that would spark a cultural revolution, changing many of them and the country forever.

With never-before-seen footage, WOODSTOCK: THREE DAYS THAT DEFINED A GENERATION tells the story of the political and social upheaval leading up to those three historic days, as well as the extraordinary events of the concert itself, when near disaster put the ideals of the counterculture to the test. What took place in that teeming mass of humanity — the rain-soaked, starving, tripping, half a-million strong throng of young people — was nothing less than a miracle of unity, a manifestation of the “peace and love” the festival had touted, and a validation of the counterculture’s promise to the world. Who were these kids? What experiences and stories did they carry with them to Bethel, New York that weekend, and how were they changed by their time in the muck and mire of Max Yasgur’s farm? Directed by award-winning filmmaker Barak Goodman and written by Goodman and Don Kleszy, WOODSTOCK takes us back to the three days that defined a generation.” -PBS

Spring 2019 Season

THE PANAMA PAPERS

Monday, March 4

7:00 PM Theatre Three
412 Main Street, Port Jefferson, New York, 11777

Guest Speaker: Kevin Hall, Chief Economics Correspondent & Pulitzer Prize-Winning Senior Investigator for McClatchy Newspapers, Washington DC

Moderator: Tom Needham, Host of “The Sounds of Film” on Stony Brook University’s Own Radio Station, WUSB

Leaked by an anonymous source to journalists in 2015, the Panama Papers were an explosive collection of 11.5 million documents, exposing the use of secretive offshore companies to enable widespread tax evasion and money laundering. Widely viewed as the largest data leak in history, the release of the Papers had wide-reaching implications, incriminating 12 current or former world leaders, 128 politicians or public officials and various celebrities and public figures. In his expansive documentary, THE PANAMA PAPERS, director Alex Winter speaks to the journalists who worked to ensure the release and examines how it reshaped our understanding of corruption in the highest tiers of government, along with the ongoing effects on global inequality. The film intertwines the story of these reporters with that of the anonymous source (narrated by LORD OF THE RINGS star Elijah Wood).

Time: 100 minutes

UNDER THE WIRE

Monday, March 11

7:00 PM Charles B Wang Center
Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

Guest Speakers: Catherine Colvin, Marie Colvin’s sister; Paul Conroy, Photojournalist (via Skype)

UNDER THE WIRE is a chilling and inspiring documentary about Marie Colvin, the celebrated Sunday Times correspondent, and photojournalist Paul Conroy as they enter war-ravaged Syria in February of 2012 to cover the plight of trapped and slaughtered civilians in Homs, a city under siege by the Syrian Army. For Colvin, who constantly tested her limits in conflict zones across the globe, this was to be her last mission. Deliberately targeted by Syria’s top leaders, she was killed in a rocket attack that also gravely wounded Conroy, who eventually managed to escape. As he recounts in his memoir, Under The Wire, he reluctantly left behind many others in desperate need, but was urged to “go out and tell the world.” Using contemporaneous footage, much shot under siege and on the run, Colvin, Conroy and others recall in the film the terrors they endured, the events leading up to Colvin’s death and Conroy’s hair-raising and courageous escape. It is a powerful reminder that journalists who put themselves in harm’s way to expose the truth about war and genocide are not the enemies of the people but are their voices and champions.

Time: 95 minutes

Co-sponsored by the Stony Brook University’s School of Journalism’s Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting

WEED THE PEOPLE

Monday, March 18

7:00 PM The Long Island Museum (Gillespie Rm.)
1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook, New York, 11790

Guest Speakers: Abby Epstein, Director; Jill Fagin, cancer survivor and co-founder of NYC Botanics

Through the emotional stories of children fighting cancer, WEED THE PEOPLE educates mainstream audiences about medical cannabis as a human rights issue. Cannabis has been off-limits to doctors and researchers in the US for the past 80 years, but recently scientists have discovered its anti-cancer properties. Armed with only these scientific studies, desperate parents obtain cannabis oil from underground sources to save their children from childhood cancers. WEED THE PEOPLE follows these families through uncharted waters as they take their children’s survival into their own hands. Some of their miraculous outcomes beget the unsettling question at the heart of the film: if weed is truly saving lives, why doesn’t the government want people to access it?

Time: 97 minutes

LIYANA

Monday, April 1

7:00 PM Robert Cushman Murphy Jr. High School
351 Oxhead Road, Stony Brook, New York, 11790

Guest Speaker: Susan MacLaury, Executive Producer

LIYANA, winner of 31 awards, including the Best Documentary at both the Los Angeles and Miami Film Festivals, is a touching and unique film set in Swaziland (now Eswatini) in South Africa. Told by five children who were orphaned by the AIDS Epidemic, this extraordinary film uses animation and narrative to illustrate their plight. Liyana, a fictional character created by the children to tell their stories, perseveres through a perilous quest to save her young twin brothers. Ultimately hopeful, this is a visually beautiful and unforgettable film presented in a poetic and creative style. LIYANA has recently been nominated for the prestigious 2019 Cinema Eye Honors Award for Nonfiction Filmmaking for the Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation Award.

Time: 77 minutes

CITY OF JOEL

Monday, April 8

7:00 PM Theatre Three
412 Main Street, Port Jefferson, New York, 11777

Guest Speaker: Jesse Sweet, Director

50 miles north of New York City lies the town of Monroe, where one of the fastest-growing Hasidic communities in the country thrives deep within the Hudson Valley. As the 25,000+ population within the village of Kiryas Joel looks to expand their city, the neighboring villages of non-Hasids see the encroaching community as a burgeoning power grab, leading to an increasingly tense standoff between locals. Shot over several years with seemingly boundless access, Emmy®-winning Director Jesse Sweet’s documentary observes the simmering tensions that have come to define the community of Monroe, and the myriad ways in which the town’s divide echoes the country’s as well.

Time: 83 minutes

Co-sponsored by Temple Isaiah, Stony Brook
temple isaiah logo

EMANUEL

Monday, April 15

7:00 PM The Long Island Museum (Gillespie Rm.)
1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook, New York, 11790

Guest Speakers: Dimas Salaberrios, Producer and family members of one of the victims

On June 17, 2015, national headlines blazed the story: Churchgoers gunned down during prayer service in Charleston, South Carolina. After a 21-year-old white supremacist opened fire in Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, nine African Americans lay dead, leaving their families and the nation to grapple with this senseless act of terror. Executive produced by NBA All-Star Stephen Curry and Oscar winner Viola Davis, EMANUEL is a poignant story of justice, faith, love and hate. Featuring intimate interviews with survivors and family members, this film examines the healing power of forgiveness.

Time: 77 minutes

This screening will be held in collaboration with the Long Island Museum’s Long Road to Freedom: Surviving Slavery on Long Island exhibit and will include admission. The film is sponsored by The Law Offices of Michael S. Ross, 453 Veterans Memorial Highway, Smithtown, NY, 11787, 631.569.5885 plus Community Sponsors: Building Bridges in Brookhaven, the Bethel AME Church and the Multicultural Solidarity Group.

HORN FROM THE HEART: THE PAUL BUTTERFIELD STORY

Monday, May 20

7:15 PM Theatre Three
412 Main Street, Port Jefferson, New York, 11777

Guest Speaker: Sandra Warren, Executive Producer/Producer

Moderator: Tom Needham, Host of “The Sounds of Film” on Stony Brook University’s Own Radio Station, WUSB

Grammy-nominated filmmaker John Anderson’s HORN FROM THE HEART: THE PAUL BUTTERFIELD STORY is the complex story of a man many call the greatest harmonica player of all time. A white teenager from Chicago’s South Side, Paul Butterfield learned the blues from the original black masters, like Muddy Waters, performing nightly in his own backyard. The interracial Paul Butterfield Blues Band added a rock edge to the Chicago blues, bringing an authenticity to its sound that struck a chord with the vast white rock audience and rejuvenated worldwide interest in the blues. The film features Butterfield’s music and words, along with first-hand accounts from his family, his band mates and those closest to him, with appearances by David Sanborn, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Elvin Bishop, Maria Muldaur, Paul Shaffer, Michael Bloomfield, Todd Rundgren and Bob Dylan. The Paul Butterfield Band was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

Time: 95 minutes

SPECIAL EVENT! Pre-film Blues Concert @ 6pm with:

Kerry Kearney (Lead guitars, dobro, vocals)
Gerry Sorrentino (Bass)
Mario Staiano (Drums)
And Special Guest Harpist: Frank Latorre

Please note:

  • Film will start at 7:15
  • Combo concert, film and Q&A ticket – $15
  • Film Only and Q&A ticket – $8

Only season pass holders will have the opportunity to buy $7 tickets online for just the concert before the screening of HORN FROM THE HEART: THE PAUL BUTTERFIELD STORY. Pass holders will be guaranteed seating to the concert and/or film, as long as they arrive at least 15 minutes before start time (5:45PM for concert or 7PM for film).

Co-sponsored by the Long Island Blues Society and the Long Island Music Hall of Fame

long island blues society port jeff long island music hall of fame port jeff documentary