"Voices from Charlottesville" Presentation and Panel Discussion

Thursday, September 28th 2017, from 6:30-8:30pm, at the Main Branch of the Richmond Public Library (101 East Franklin Street, Richmond VA), the Bijou Film Center and Richmond Peace Education Center are holding a presentation and panel discussion on the events of August 12th in Charlottesville. The event will begin with an exploration of the media perception of the Unite the Right rally and the counterprotests, followed by a panel discussion featuring those who were there. The discussion will cover approaches to opposing racism and fascism.

Free. For more information and to RSVP, see the link.

Screening of "The Prison in 12 Landscapes" followed by Q&A with Director Brett Story

Wednesday, February 8th 2017, from 7-9pm, at the Bijou Film Center (304 East Broad Street, Richmond VA), there will be a screening of award-winning documentary "The Prison in Twelve Landscapes," followed by a Q&A and discussion with the director, Brett Story. From the event description: 

"A meditation on the prison system in the era of mass incarceration, THE PRISON IN TWELVE LANDSCAPES unfolds as a journey across the USA where prisons do work and affect lives: from a California mountainside where incarcerated women fight raging forest fires; to a Bronx business which helps families send approved care packages to loved ones behind bars; to an Appalachian coal town betting its future on the promise of prison jobs. Without showing an actual prison, the film explores the ways in which the prison system is deeply entrenched in American society, and the pervasive (but not always visible) ways it affects policy-making, policing, the economy, and the shaping of places where we live."

Free, open to the public. This event is co-sponsored by the VCU Department of Sociology and the VCU Common Book Program. 

For more information and to RSVP, see this link. If you can't make it to this showing, there will be an identical event the next day, Thursday February 9th: see this link. To add this event to your Google Calendar, click here. 

Showing of "Out in the Night," with Director Blair Doroshwalther and Renata Hill: Sistah Sinema- Richmond

Wednesday, October 19th 2016, from 7-10pm, at the Bijou Film Center (304 East Broad Street, Richmond VA), Sistah Sinema-Richmond and the Afrikana Independent Film Festival are holding a showing of Out in the Night (2014). Following the film Blair Doroshwalther, director, and Renata Hill, one of the New Jersey 4, will take questions.

The film is a documentary on the case of the New Jersey 4. In 2006, seven black lesbians walking in the Greenwich Village were sexually harassedand then attacked by a man, Dwayne Buckle. A fight broke out, and they defended themselves; Buckle received minor injuries. The media sensationalized the case as one of violent lesbians prowling for men to brutalize at random, and three of the women plead guilty to the charge of attempted assault. The remaining four- Renata Hill, Patreese Johnson, Venice Brown, and Terrain Dandrige- were charged with second degree gang assault, convicted, and sentenced to several years in prison. Hill's conviction was overturned, Dandridge successfully appealed, and Brown and Johnson's cases are pending appeal.

Free to students, $10 ticket price for all others. See the link for more information.