By Michele Marchetti

Posted: 01.27.10 | Tagged: consumption, recycling, waste

If you want people to pay attention to your cause, just give them popcorn.

Since 2005, more than 2,500 community-based organizations, including The Nature Conservancy and Amnesty International, have done just that, hosting free screenings of controversial films in libraries, art centers and small theatres throughout the country. Each month, the Community Cinema program partners with such groups to present a different documentary from the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Independent Lens. Discussions are also held in conjunction with the films in order generate awareness, and more importantly, change.

"Film is a powerful form of storytelling and a vehicle for inspiring action because it reaches audiences on an emotional level," says Roseli Ilano, the National Community Engagement Coordinator for The Independent Television Service (ITVS), which funds, presents and promotes the Independent Lens series. "Not only do these films present timely social issues, but they present compelling stories." Past events have attracted diverse audiences, she says, with people from age 7 to 77.

The goal is to engage people in ways that are meaningful to their lives. For example, throughout January ITVS is screening the film Garbage Dreams, which takes a look at the world's largest garbage village on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt--and the people who recycle 80 percent of its trash. At events in 55 cities throughout the country, ITVS is co-presenting the screenings with Working Films, a company dedicated to linking documentaries to activism, and helping communities to put a local spin on this global issue. The Chicago event will feature a 7th grader who started a recycling program at her junior high, while the screening in Nashville is connected to a fashion and art show featuring recycled materials. (If you're interested in hosting your own Garbage Dreams screening, contact Working Films.)

The screenings are a nod to the power of film to inspire—and the power of regular people to turn that spark into their own compelling stories. "We present these important films, but they're just a catalyst," Ilano says. Each film has an impact on the viewers—after an event featuring a movie about organ donation, one community decided to start a support group that included both donors and recipients.

People can dive deeper into the issues highlighted in the movies on Community Cinema's blog and Facebook page. Each movie also has a discussion guide, which can be downloaded off of the Community Cinema site.

To find a Community Cinema event near you and link your pet cause to Garbage Dreams or another film (the pick for March is the film Dirt, about one of our most underrated—and possibly mistreated—resources), check out the Independent Lens Web site.