Munyurangabo

After a one-year hiatus, the Progressive Film Festival is back. The eagerly awaited event began in 2006 as a combined project of the Progressive Media Network and an upper level English course at UWEC. The festival is a non-profit, independent, community-based event that strives to raise awareness of ideas/issues and hopefully lead to action. To encourage a real engagement with festival attendees, the films are followed by discussions. The lineup is stunning. 1967’s Privilege, which delves into the calculated persona of a charismatic pop star, originally had a limited release and never made it to video, so the recent release to DVD has provoked renewed interest. The World According to Monsanto led to French journalist and filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin’s acceptance of the Rachel Carson Prize in 2009. And Munyurangabo, an organically written film that involved collaboration with its actors, took the Grand Jury Prize at AFI Festival in 2007. This is the sort of event that usually involves a road trip to a major metro area, so take advantage of it! Twenty-one films will be shown at 20 sessions – all free of charge and open to the public.