Escape the heat with indie film as part of Community Cinema

Posted on 16 Jun 2011

If you haven’t been to a Community Cinema yet this season, you have one last chance.

We’ll be screening “Two Spirits” on Thursday, June 23, at 6 p.m. at the Faulkner County Library in Conway. If you can’t make it to that screening, we’ll have another on the following Monday, June 27, at Roosevelt Thompson Library in Little Rock, also at 6 p.m.

“Two Spirits” is the story of Fred Martinez, a Navajo boy who felt that he was also a girl. In traditional Navajo culture, a person with a male body who has a female nature is known as nadleehi and holds a revered position in the community. However, mainstream American culture isn’t often as accepting—which led to Fred being bullied, harassed and led ultimately to his brutal murder at age 16—making him one of the youngest hate-crime victims in modern history. In “Two Spirits,” Fred’s mother, friends, and experts in two-spirit culture describe Fred and the reality that many people express gender across a spectrum from masculine to feminine, both historically and in contemporary society.

Each and every one of our Community Cinemas have been thought-provoking and big conversation starters, but this one should be particularly fascinating.

The Little Rock screening is partnered with KUAR FM 89.1, and will feature panelist Sarah Beth Estes, associate professor of Sociology and coordinator of Gender Studies at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She’ll help answer audience questions about cultural norms and give us some other neat tidbits of information to chew on.

As always, refreshments will be served, particularly cookies and lemonade at the Conway screening; popcorn and drinks at the Little Rock screening. Escape the heat and feed your brain with some thought-provoking independent film—bring your friends and family to Community Cinema featuring “Two Spirits.”

The new season of Community Cinema will kick-off in the Fall. Stay tuned for updates about the upcoming season.