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In support of Black History Month, the nonprofit Circle Cinema will offer a variety of special screenings throughout February.
Viewers can honor the life and legacy of Sidney Poitier through three of his finest films. They can celebrate the work of tennis icon and activist Arthur Ashe with a free documentary screening. Additionally, they can jam with stars Jimi Hendrix and Poly Styrene in two new music documentaries.
The month will culminate with daily screenings of the film Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America. All tickets for this film are just $5. The showing also offers the opportunity to engage in discussion about issues of racism and injustice people of color continue to face daily.
The screenings include:
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché – Wed 2/2, 7:00p – $11 Circle Members, $13 not-yet Members
The Black History Month screening includes a special introduction from Briana Wright, vocalist of Tulsa band Cliffdiver. Poly Styrene was the first woman of color in the UK to front a successful rock band with X-Ray Spex in the 70s. Narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary follows Poly’s daughter Celeste as she examines her mother’s unopened artistic archive to better understand Poly the icon and Poly the mother.
Sidney Poitier Tribute Series – All tickets $8
Mon 2/7, 7:00p – In the Heat of the Night (1967) – introduced by Justin Rawlins, PhD, TU Assistant Professor of Film Studies
Mon 2/14, 7:00p – To Sir, With Love (1967)
Mon 2/21, 7:00p – Lilies of the Field (1963) – Oscar-winning role!
Circle Cinema will pay tribute to Sidney Poitier and the talents he had as an actor and the influence he left on the industry during Black History Month.
Music, Money, Madness…Jimi Hendrix in Maui – Thu 2/10, 7:00p – $11 Circle Members, $13 not-yet Members
This new doc takes an LSD-infused flashback to the 1970s in Maui as Jimi Hendrix and his band film the movie Rainbow Bridge. It incorporates never-before-released original footage and breathtaking renditions of crowd favorites like ‘Foxey Lady’, ‘Purple Haze’ and ‘Voodoo Child (Slight Return)’.
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America – Opens Fri 2/25 – All tickets only $5
All screenings will include a special video introduction from writer of the film Jeffery Robinson. Interweaving lecture, personal anecdotes, interviews, and shocking revelations, in Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, criminal defense/civil rights lawyer Jeffery Robinson draws a stark timeline of anti-Black racism in the United States, from slavery to the modern myth of a post-racial America.
Citizen Ashe – Mon 2/28, 7:00p – Free admission for all during Black History Month
Tennis legend Arthur Ashe’s work as a humanitarian and athlete are explored in a film as elegant, meaningful, and poignant as the life he lived. Ashe’s family, friends, and contemporaries describe the key events that shaped his quiet determination to “use what he had to do what he could.”