TEXT: Images Cinema awarded Civic Engagement Grant

The following is text of a news release from Images Cinema.

Contact: Janet Curran, 413.458.1039
Date: June 25, 2007
Images Cinema awarded Civic Engagement Grant

Williamstown, Mass. -- Images Cinema is one of 215 non-profit organizations to be awarded a Patrick-Murray Inaugural Committee grant for civic engagement in Massachusetts, and one of nine in Berkshire County.

The grant money, over $500,000 total, was leftover funds raised for the inauguration of Governor Deval Patrick and Lt. Governor Tim Murray. Each awardee will receive a grant of $2500. Massachusetts-based, non-profit organizations were chosen based on their ability to foster local civic engagement, promote personal development, and emphasize individual responsibility, with annual operating budgets below $3 million.

Images Cinema collaborates with a variety of community groups and individuals to exhibit a wide range of programming. We are honored to be one of the recipients of this grant, says Sandra Thomas, Executive Director of Images Cinema. Over 1500 organizations submitted applications and a 400 person grant committee was assembled.

Thomas continues, Images Cinema has become a gathering place for the community who bring ideas to us about films they would like to see based on what is happening in the world or in our region. In addition to our weekly films, we screen numerous documentaries in collaboration with community organizations that include the filmmaker or someone knowledgeable on the topic. Some of the special screenings Images Cinema has screened include TALKING TO THE WALL about one mans quest to stop a Wal-Mart from being built in Greenfield, MA and the DARFUR DIARIES about the political and humanitarian crisis in Darfur, both with the filmmakers in attendance. THE END OF SUBURBIA with author James Howard Kunstler and THE FUTURE OF FOOD with filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia addressed the energy crisis and the genetic modification of food. Most recently, with the Williamstown Film Festival, Images Cinema screened the documentary GOD GREW TIRED OF US about the Lost Boys of the Sudan with the fi!
lmmaker in attendance. All screenings are open to the public and include a post-film discussion.

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH was a two-week opportunity to collaborate and engage the community, says Thomas. We partnered with the Williamstown COOL Committee who led a community conversation with the Center for Ecological Technology and who staffed a table with information and tools for people to take away with them.

Images Cinema has collaborated with the Bennington Energy Committee, Genetic Engineering Action Group, the Williamstown COOL Committee, the Williams College Students for Social Justice, Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation, the Berkshire Vegetarian Network, the Student Global AIDS Campaign, Amber Chand Collection: Global Gifts for peace and Understanding, and others.

Thomas adds, Images Cinema is not just a movie theater. We are a community arts organization that thrives because of the commitment, interest and involvement of people living in our region.

The only one of its kind in Berkshire County, Images Cinema is a year-round non-profit, member-supported community film house that presents a wide range of films that impact filmmaking and our culture. Images continuously seeks to entertain, educate and engage the community with quality programming, while maintaining its dedication to independent film and media. Check for up-to-date happenings at www.imagescinema.org <http://www.imagescinema.org/>.