VoV Supports Community Cinema Vashon

Community Cinema Vashon presents free monthly screenings and moderated discussions of documentaries at the Vashon Theatre with the enthusiastic support of Voice of Vashon. On Tuesday June 25, Community Cinema Vashon will host the season finale of the series with a screening and discussion of the film "Love Free or Die" about the challenges faced by a gay Catholic priest.
 
Community Cinema is a groundbreaking civic engagement initiative featuring films from the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens. Every month in over 100 cities nationwide, community members come together to learn about, discuss, and get involved in key social issues of our time.
 
Speaking about Community Cinema’s local screenings, Voice of Vashon Community Organizer Susan McCabe says "Voice of Vashon’s goal is to be a forum where our community can gather, share what is best about us and enrich what we have. The Community Cinema Vashon project fulfills all those objectives by sharing the ideals of community and expanding our horizons with stories of communities around the world who have applied collective creativity to solve problems and thrive. We are delighted to support the efforts of Community Cinema Vashon and honored to be part of their program."
 
Community Cinema Vashon was begun in 2011 after Islander Jane Berg saw the documentary "For Once In My Life" on PBS. She was moved by the story of the 28 physically and mentally disabled musicians who form the Spirit of Goodwill Band and thought "We need to bring this movie to Vashon". Berg’s efforts led to the Island taking part in the very popular Community Cinema series that is presented locally thanks to the combined efforts of Independent Television Service, Island GreenTech, The Vashon Theatre and Voice of Vashon.
 
Current CCV organizer Janet Felicity Welt says about the series "I’ve always believed in the power of film to inform and inspire, so being able to provide a catalyst for community connection and involvement is a very fulfilling role. Month after month, Islanders come together to discuss how we, as individuals and as a community, are addressing the critical social issues raised in these important films. It’s wonderful to see and experience the formation of friendships, the hatching of ideas and plans, the sharing of information and resources, and the collaborations that occur at the Community Cinema Vashon screenings."
 
Community Cinema Vashon’s final free screening and discussion of the season will feature the film "Love Free or Die" at 6PM on June 25 at the Vashon Theatre. The documentary is about Bishop Gene Robinson whose two defining passions much of the world cannot reconcile: his love for God and for his partner Mark. It is about church and state, love and marriage, faith and identity — and one man’s struggle to dispel the notion that God’s love has limits. Even as he has pushed for greater inclusion within his own church, Bishop Robinson has become a standard bearer in the fight over the rights of LGBT people to receive full acceptance in church and state. He was invited by Barack Obama to give the invocation at the opening inaugural ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial on January 18, 2009.
 
The nationwide Community Cinema 2013-2014 season will begin in September. More information about the program is available at VoiceOfVashon.org and CommunityCinema.org.