VCU’s Cinematheque will screen Beasts of the Southern Wild on Tuesday 3/19, 7pm at the Grace Street Theater. FREE!

Producer/Richmonder Michael Gottwald will be the guest speaker.

Faced with both her hot-tempered father’s fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love in order to desperately repair the structure of her world if she is to survive an unstoppable catastrophe of epic proportions. Benh Zeitlin’s masterful directorial debut received world-wide attention.

“One of the most striking narrative films ever to debut at Sundance.” – The Hollywood Reporter

Monday, February 25, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

Directed by Richard Chisolm | 2011 | Documentary | 63 minutes

Screening takes place at the Firehouse Theatre Project (1609 West Broad Street)

Cafeteria Man chronicles an ambitious effort to ‘green’ the public school diet serving 83,000 in Baltimore. Leading the charge to replace pre-plated, processed foods with locally-grown, freshly-prepared meals is New Orleans chef Tony Geraci, whose bold vision includes school vegetable gardens, student designed meals, meatless Mondays, and nutrition education in the classroom.

Presented in partnership with GreenUR

Beginning at 6:30 there will be a Farm to School reception featuring healthy appetizers using fresh local ingredients followed by a screening of the documentary at 7:30 pm. We will round out the evening with a panel discussion and Q&A featuring the film director Richard Chisolm and local school leaders and food advocates, including:

Leanne DuBois, VA Farm to School Program Coordinator
Susan Roberson, Director of School Nutrition Services with Richmond Public Schools
Molly Harris, Owner of Fall Line Farms
Dominic Barrett, Director of Shalom Farms

On Screen/In Person is made possible with support from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program. The series is presented by Modlin Center for the Arts in collaboration with the Firehouse Theatre Project, James River Film Society and UR Film Studies Program.

Ticket Information
Adult: $5
Student: $3
Subscriber: $3

More info here: http://fanofthefan.com/2013/02/cafeteria-man-at-firehouse-theater/

Today’s Featured Film is Chasing Ice, the award-winning film about the effects of Climate Change on the Arctic. This film was released in 2012 and will be the last film shown on Saturday. The following synopsis is from the film’s website:

Chasing Ice

In the spring of 2005, acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog headed to the Arctic on a tricky assignment for National Geographic: to capture images to help tell the story of the Earth’s changing climate. Even with a scientific upbringing, Balog had been a skeptic about climate change. But that first trip north opened his eyes to the biggest story in human history and sparked a challenge within him that would put his career and his very well-being at risk.

Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Within months of that first trip to Iceland, the photographer conceived the boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.

As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural disasters ramps up globally, Balog finds himself at the end of his tether. Battling untested technology in subzero conditions, he comes face to face with his own mortality. It takes years for Balog to see the fruits of his labor. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet.