Monday, April 21

12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center

1118 Fourth St.

San Rafael

Please note:  We will begin at 12:00 pm.This film is 90 minutes long + discussion / q&a

                       Click photo to view trailer                     

Years ago, Medora was a booming rural community with prosperous farms, an automotive parts factory, a brick plant, and a thriving middle class. The factories have since closed, crippling Medora's economy and its pride. The population has slowly dwindled to around 500 people. Drug use is common, the school faces consolidation, and as one resident put it, “This town's on the ropes.”

Medora follows the down-but-not-out Medora Hornets varsity basketball team over the course of the 2011 season, capturing the players’ stories both on and off the court. The Hornets were riding a brutal losing streak when we arrived, and the team’s struggle to compete bears eerie resonances with the town’s fight for survival.

Medora is an in-depth, deeply personal look at small-town life, a thrilling, underdog basketball story, and an inspiring tale of a community refusing to give up hope despite the brutal odds stacked against them. On a grander scale, it’s a film about America, and the thousands of small towns across the country facing the same fight. As one towns-person told us, “Once we lose these small towns, we can't get them back."

About the Filmmakers: ANDREW COHN
(Director/Editor/Producer) is a screenwriter and documentary filmmaker originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan. His first feature-length film Medora premiered at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival and aired on PBS' critically acclaimed Independent Lens series. He is also the creator and producer of the off-Broadway play FOUND: People Find Stuff. Now It’s a Show. In 2009, he directed the documentary-short Dynamic Tom which was featured on McSweeney's Wholphin No. 12 DVD of short films. He has directed material for Comedy Central, Fuse and most recently, ESPN Films' 30 for 30 series.


DAVY ROTHBART (IN PERSON)

(Director/Producer) is the creator and editor of FOUND Magazine, author of My Heart is an Idiot, a book of personal essays, and The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas, a collection of stories, and a frequent contributor to public radio’s This American Life. Rothbart’s work also appears in GQ, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Grantland. He's directed two documentaries about the punk rock band Rise Against, videos for Dan Savage's It Gets Better Project, and two other documentaries now in post-production. In 2010, the film Easier With Practice, adapted from one of his GQ articles, and starring Brian Geraghty (Flight, The Hurt Locker) as Davy, won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. 

Q & A immediately following the film with:     Davy Rothbart Filmmaker (see above)


  Teresa Ashby
 Teresa has worked in many capacities with young people throughout Marin for thirty years.  From working with youth in crisis at 9 Grove Lane, establishing Teen Peer Health Educator programs, developing San Quentin HIV Peer Education Program and Trainings, and providing numerous support services and programming to high-risk youth with Juvenile Probation and Marin County Community School.  Teresa was instrumental in getting Social Issues and Peer Resource programs into Marin high schools and also founded and runs Young Moms Marin, a support and resource group for teen and young parenting moms.  Currently, Teresa is Youth Director at LIFT-Levántate and supervises LIFT's SMART League.


Tony Williams

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   Tony has been a coach and mentor for ten years, working with children and teens from all backgrounds. Tony has a BA in Physical education and is an immigrant from Korea, who was adopted by a single parent, Tony's unique upbringing has allowed him to develop a powerful connection, and valuable insight, for reaching at-risk youth.  He's worked at After School Probation Programs for High-Risk Youth with the YMCA and was a Campus Supervisor for high and at-risk youth at the Marin County Community School.  In the past, Tony has been a small business and restaurant owner.  Currently, Tony serves many programs at LIFT-Levántate. He is the Sports Coach and Mentor for LIFT-Levántate's SMART League, which he helped design and implement since its inception, and he works as the Health Hub Manager for Marin and Contra Costa, working with at-risk communities and veterans.


This screening is  co-sponsored by :

      www.lift-levanate.org
    Our mission is to educate and motivate children and families to engage in healthy activities.  We are specifically focused on proper nutrition, gardening, physical activity, chronic illness and positive life choices.

Free ticket reservations to this screening available
ONLY through this EVENTBRITE invitation

FIRST COME - FIRST SERVED

SEATING IS NOT GUARANTEED

If after reserving tickets you find that you or your group cannot attend, please cancel your reservation.

Community Cinema is a ground-breaking public education and civic engagement initiative featuring monthly screenings of films from the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens. For more information about Community Cinema and for study guides visit www.pbs.org/independentlens/communitycinema

For information about CFI Education visit www.cafilm.org/education