Established during the Winter of 2006, the Ministry for Earth Film Series is sponsored by both Arlington Street’s Green Sanctuary Committee [about] and Social Action Committee [about]. The series explores environmental concerns and a discussion follows each film. All films are free and open to the public (a donation will be accepted). Films will begin at 12:45pm in the Clarke Room. Enter from 351 Boylston Street, Boston, and walk up to the second floor (limited seating).

The Friday Night at the Movies series presents films of social and political significance. The series began in the Autumn of 2006 and is sponsored by Arlington Street's Social Action Committee [about]. See the Friday night movies on our big screen the second Friday of each month! Films are followed by a discussion. Free admission. Donations gratefully accepted for Jubilee, our generosity initiative.

2008 Series

FNMov:Detained: The New Bedford Immigration Raid
Friday, October 10th, 2008

On March 6th, 2007, workers at a New Bedford factory producing vests for the U.S. military were arrested in a raid conducted by Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officers. Of the 361 undocumented immigrants arrested that day, the majority were women, many with small children. Detained is a documentary film that follows families affected by the immigration raid.

2007 Series

MforE: Dimming the Sun
Sunday, March 18th, 2007
(2006, Duncan Copp, 56 min.)

In a stunning investigation, NOVA reports on the discovery that the amount of sunlight reaching Earth is dropping—a big surprise given international concern over global warming. Less sunlight might hardly seem to matter when our planet is stewing in greenhouse gases, but the discovery of global dimming has led some scientists to claim that the Earth’s climate is heating up much faster than most previous predictions.

visit the film's web page

FNMov: The Revolution Will Not be Televised
Friday, April 13th, 2007
(2003, Kim Bartley & Donnacha O'Briain, 74 min.)

Hugo Chavez elected president of Venzuela in 1998, is a colorful, unpredictable folk hero, beloved by his nation's working class and a tough-as-nails, quixotic opponent to the power structure that would see him deposed. Two independent filmmakers were inside the presidential palace on April 11, 2002, when he was forcibly removed from office. They were also present 48 hours later when, remarkably, he returned to power amid cheering aides. Their film records what was probably history's shortest-lived coup d'état. It's a unique document about political muscle and an extraordinary portrait of the man The Wall Street Journal credits with making Venezuela "Washington‚s biggest Latin American headache after the old standby, Cuba."

visit the film's web page

MforE: The Greening of Cuba
Sunday, April 15th, 2007
(1996, Marilyn Brochardt, 38 min.)

When trade relations with the socialist bloc collapsed in 1990, Cuba lost 80 percent of its pesticide and fertilizer imports and half its petroleum--the mainstays of its highly industrialized agriculture. Challenged with growing food for 11 million in the face of the continuing US embargo, Cuba embarked on the largest conversion to organic farming ever attempted. "The Greening of Cuba" profiles Cuban farmers and scientists working to reinvent a sustainable agriculture based on ecological principles and local knowledge rather than imported agricultural inputs. In their quest for self-sufficiency, Cubans combine time-tested traditional methods with cutting edge biotechnology.

FNMov: The Day I Became a Woman
Friday, May 11th, 2007
(2000, Marzieh Meshkini, 78 min.)

This is the story of women at three stages of life in Iran. The first part centers on a young girl on her ninth birthday who is told that she can no longer play with the boys she had been playing with only the day before because she is now a "woman". Told from the perspective of a nine year old "woman" who does not feel like or know what that label refers to, we see how devastatingly this affects both the girl and the boy with whom she had been friends. The second part is about a young woman who decides to enter a bicycle race against her husband's wishes. As first the husband and then increasing numbers of men from the village ride beside her to convince her to return home, the race begins to symbolize a freedom she desperately wants from the limitations which have been placed on her. Finally, the third part shows us an old woman who has come into some money and is now free to do what she wants. The way she chooses to use this freedom, however, makes one wonder just how free she is.

MforE: Here’s My Question: Where Does My Garbage Go?
Sunday, May 20th, 2007
(2000, Muffie Meyer, 26 min.)