Film
The Film Branch is the Art Center’s newest branch and was established in 2010. It hopes to provide an additional opportunity for filmgoers in the Valley to come together and enjoy the art of film and filmmaking.
Our Film Branch, under the direction of Steve Grumette, will present a special screening of The Welcome: A Healing Journey for Veterans and Their Families, on Monday August 13th at 7:00 p.m. This is an important and moving film which won the award for “Best Documentary Feature” at the 2011 Ojai Film Festival. The Welcome offers a fiercely intimate view of life after war: the fear, anger and isolation of post-traumatic stress that affects vets and family members alike. As we join these vets in a small room for an unusual five day healing retreat, we witness how the ruins of war can be transformed into the beauty of poetry. Here our perceptions are changed, our psyches strained, and our hearts broken. And at the end, when this poetry is shared with a large civilian audience, we begin to understand that all of us are a vital piece of The Welcome as veterans try to find the way back home. Their examples of unflinching honesty, courage and love lift us up, inspiring all of us once again to feel our common humanity, always the first casualty of war. Refreshments will be provided. Suggested donation is $5.
