Firefighters Select and Artists’ Choice Film Series

In recognition of the contributions and sacrifices of first responders, PS21 has invited members of the local fire companies and other first responders to select films for our “Firefighters Select” film series, which will open on July 16 with Catnip Nation, a documentary about stray cats (selected by Chatham Rescue Squad), and culminate in a screening of Miloš Forman’s classic The Firemen’s Ball.

Following “Firefighters Select” will be “Artists’ Choice,” a series of cinematic works chosen by local artists of various mediums that illustrates how films have inspired the arts. Francine Prose, Ian Buruma, Nicole Ansari, and Joan Juliet Buck are among those who will be selecting films for these showings.

All screenings will be in our Pavilion Theater (with modified seating), and first responders will be invited as honored guests.

Artists’ Choice Series

Cinematic works chosen by a variety of notable artists of various disciplines living and working in the Hudson Valley, illustrating how cinema has inspired their work. Participating Artists: Joan Juliet Buck, Francine Prose, Ian Buruma, Nicole Ansari, Winsome Brown, and Brian Cox

Where: PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century open-air pavilion theater
When: Monday nights at 7PM August 17- September 21st.

Screening and panel discussion of Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” with Oscar-nominated film editor and Spike Lee’s long time collaborator Barry Alexander Brown, James Powell, Art + Culture editor of the Tenth Magazine, and other panelists (TBA). Nicole Ansari will introduce the film.

Audience members are encouraged to picnic and walk the trails and meadows prior to the program.

Barry Alexander Brown grew up in the Deep South and attended high school in Montgomery, Alabama. Last year he returned to direct his most recent film, “Son of the South” (2020). As a young director, he was nominated for an Oscar for his first film, “The War At Home” (1979), a feature-length documentary about the rise of the anti-Vietnam War movement. Not long after, he met then unknown filmmaker Spike Lee and began a decades-long association with the iconic director, editing such now-classic films as “Do The Right Thing,” “Malcolm X,” “25th Hour,” and “Inside Man.” Most recently, Spike and Barry teamed up for “Blackkklansman” (2018), for which Spike won the 2019 Academy Award for best adapted screenplay Oscar and Barry was nominated for best editor.

James Powell, a graduate of Hampton University, is the Art + Culture Editor for The Tenth Magazine, a biannual publication that documents the history, ideas, and aesthetics of the African LGBTQ+ diaspora. Recently, he has led efforts to launch Tenth Academy, a program for talented and gifted high school students formed in partnership with the Spark of Hudson. James is a key organizer of the Hudson Emergency Artist Response Team (HEART), which awards grants to help Hudson-based BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) artists weather the COVID-19 crisis. He serves on the Program Committee for the Hudson Area Library, has curated artist talks for MoMA PS1, The Hudson Eye, and PS21, and is a contributing writer to the International Review of African American Art. James previously worked at the Clinton Foundation and served on the young patron board of the VH1 Save the Music Foundation. He was also a special projects advisor to the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art.

Firefighters Select Film Series