Change Agent Film Festival
September 15, 16, 17
A weekend event to inspire people to become agents of constructive change in their local communities and beyond. The festival features four films about real heroes’ journeys—individuals from around the world who stand up, speak out and make the world a better place. Other events will include guest speakers, panel discussions, beer tasting with Rek’-Lis Brewing and outdoor activities intended to re-charge one’s batteries. Join us to share great films, good conversation, experiences and fun.
For more information about the Change Agent Film Festival please visit their website HERE.
Festival Passes (includes admission to all four films and events)
Sponsors Festival Pass: $50 (includes complimentary festival poster)
Festival Pass: $30, Under 30 Festival Pass: $15
Single Film Admission: $8 General Admission, $6 Colonial Members, $5 Under 30
Friday, Sept. 15
CITIZEN JANE
5:30 PM: Film
Directed by Matt Tyrnauer; 92 min, (NR)
Citizen Jane: Battle for the City offers a compelling overview of an influential activist’s importance—and underscores why the spirit of her work remains crucial today. Citizen Jane is a timely tale of what can happen when engaged citizens fight the power for the sake of a better world. Arguably no one did more to shape our understanding of the modern American city than Jane Jacobs, the visionary activist and writer who fought to preserve urban communities in the face of destructive development projects. Director Matt Tyranuer (Valentino: The Last Emperor) vividly brings to life Jacobs’ 1960s showdown with ruthless construction kingpin Robert Moses over his plan to raze lower Manhattan to make way for a highway, a dramatic struggle over the very soul of the neighborhood. “In the context of today’s stymied political trench wars, there is inspiration to be found in Jacobs’ example of local activism, original thinking, and rational argument blossoming into useful change.” —Gary Thompson, Philadelphia Inquirer
New Hampshire Premier
DOLORES
7:30 PM: Film
9:15 PM: Opening Night Reception on the patio and beer tasting with Rek’-Lis Brewing Company (and cash bar)
Directed by Peter Bratt; 95 min, (NR)
Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. Raising 11 children while wrestling with gender bias, union defeat and victory, and nearly dying after a San Francisco Police beating, Dolores Huerta bucks 1950s gender conventions to co-found the country’s first farmworkers union with Cesar Chavez. Her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century-and she continues the fight to this day, at 87. With intimate and unprecedented access to this intensely private mother to eleven, the film reveals the raw, personal stakes involved in committing one’s life to social change. “Exuberantly inspiring… makes you want to march and dance.” —David Talbot, San Francisco Chronicle
Saturday, Sept. 16
New Hampshire Premier
ADA FOR MAYOR
11:30 AM: Balance Bethlehem is offering Festival attendees an hour long Yinyasa yoga class.
2:30 PM: ChangeAgent Fair on the patio
with Granite State Progress; 603 Forward; League of Women Voters; WREN; Habitat for Humanity; Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust; Open Democracy/NH Rebellion
4:00 PM: Reception and panel discussion
featuring Steve Marchand, former Mayor of Portsmouth now running for Governor of NH; Jill Brewer, Franconia Select Board member; and Emily Jacobs, Chair of the Coos County Dems
5:30 PM: Film
Directed by Pau Faus; Winner Gaudi Award for Best Documentary, Best Director Malaga Spanish Film Festival; Spanish & Catalan with English subtitles; 88 min. (NR)
“Ada for Mayor” follows Ada Colau for one year, from her time spent organizing the anti-eviction fight in Barcelona to the day she is sworn-in as its mayor. The intimate chronicle—featuring Colau’s own video diary—and privileged access to the inner-workings of a new citizen platform reveal an extraordinary journey in which two prevalent themes are united: a historic victory illustrative of the political changes taking place in southern Europe, and the inner struggle of someone who fears becoming what she has so often questioned. “An essential film.” —Adrian Mack, Georgia Straight
New Hampshire Premier
WAKING THE SLEEPING GIANT: THE MAKING OF A POLITICAL REVOLUTION
7:30 PM: Film
9:00 PM: Special Guest, Filmmaker Jon Erickson
9:30 PM: Post film discussions (cash bar)
Directed by Jon D. Erickson, Jacob Smith; Writers: Jon D. Erickson, Jacob Smith; Featuring: Kai Newkirk, Bernie Sanders, Sabrina Shrader, Jan Williams & Elise Whitaker; 90 min, (NR)
“Waking the Sleeping Giant: The Making of a Political Revolution” is the story of the attempt to build a 21st century progressive movement in the United States. Five remarkable individuals wrestle with persistent racial injustice, growing economic inequality, and the corrupting influence of money in politics against the backdrop of an extraordinary 2016 presidential race. From the presidential campaign trail with Senator Bernie Sanders to a local race in the failing economy of rural West Virginia, from a mass sit-in on the U.S. Capitol steps to racially charged police commission hearings in Los Angeles, Waking the Sleeping Giant makes sense of this moment in American politics, probing widespread discontent during the 2016 election cycle, Donald Trump’s dramatic electoral victory, and the challenges ahead for those building a re-energized progressive movement. At the crossroads of the 2016 presidential race and the fight for civil rights, economic fairness, and a democracy that works for everyone. “These are the movements that rock the planet… These are the movements that will save us, and these movements don’t stop on Election Day. In fact it’s that point that has to be their launching pad.” —Amy Goodman, Democracy Now
Sunday, Sept. 17
CITIZEN JANE
2:30 PM: Film
4:00 PM: Closing Reception and discussion (cash bar)
WAKING THE SLEEPING GIANT: THE MAKING OF A POLITICAL REVOLUTION
5:30 PM: Film
ADA FOR MAYOR
7:30 PM: Film
Festival Sponsored by Balance Bethlehem, Cold Mountain Café, Elise Drake, The Franconia Inn, Les Fauves Donuts, MLK & Company, Rek’-Lis Brewing Company, Official Beer of the Change Agent Film Festival, and WREN