Atheneum hosts adventurous film series
BY MARLI GUZZETTA
Every life is its own movie, even though most people generally don’t have movie cameras following them around. But sometimes, the adventures and challenges of real people — your friends and neighbors and maybe even you — are echoed in films writ large, and some of those films will be screened at the Nantucket Atheneum through the winter and into spring.

In conjunction with the Atheneum, the Nantucket Arts Council, Sustainable Nantucket and veteran birder Ken Blackshaw are each organizing a film series introduced by Nantucketers with a connection to their subjects.

Now in its third year, the NAC’s string of films is a book-to-film series. Each film is introduced by a community member with a related specialty. Last year, Sconset Market owner and African travel guide author Mark Donato introduced the movie “Out of Africa.” Nantucket Wine Festival president Dennis Toner introduced “Mondovino” (with samples!), John West, co-owner of Sweet Inspirations, brought chocolate for “Chocolat,” and Nantucketer Reva Schlesinger introduced the film “Tomorrow,” for which she worked as an editor.

Hit films “Seabiscuit” (above) and “March of the Penguins” (below) kick of the Atheneum’s “series of series” this weekend.

This year, MSPCA veterinarian Bill Mentes kicks off the series by introducing the movie “Seabiscuit” — “a true story about an undersized Depressionera racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but those of the nation as well,” as the Atheneum summarized.

Mentes has a connection to horseracing many islanders may not know. While home for a summer in between years of veterinary school at Washington State University, Mentes worked at the Foxborough harness raceway, living in a little room in its stables while he rode and trained the horses. After graduate school, Mentes was stationed with the Army in Boston in the late 1970s; he often returned to the track to fraternize with and assist the veterinarians there. “I spent a lot of time behind the scenes, which is what makes me appreciate that movie even more. It’s well done and realistic,” said Mentes, who still has friends working as vets in racing stables all over the country.

There are six dates scheduled in this series: Jan. 6, Feb. 3, March 3, March 10, April 7 and April 14. NHA Executive Director Bill Tramposch will introduce “To Kill a Mockingbird” on March 10, while concert pianist Tinka Esteban will discuss “The Piano.” An optional discussion follows each film.

Sustainable Nantucket has pursued a wide variety of ventures since its inception — including founding the Nantucket Housing Office and the Nantucket Shellfish Association. But public programming is new for the organization, which is bringing documentaries to the island this winter in consort with the Atheneum and the Nantucket Historical Association.

“These will all be documentaries with themes in line with Sustainable Nantucket’s mission, which is economic sustainability — a downtown that’s not just for the tourists — as well as agricultural and fishery sustainability. They also take into account environmental issues dealing with beach erosion and climate control,” said Atheneum Programming Director Amy Jenness. The Sustainable Nantucket series begins on January 13 with the film “Independent America,” a documentary by former network journalists Hanson Hosein and Heather Hughes who “pack up their car and drive around documenting what the chain store and big box retail stores are doing to mom and pop retailers and independently owned businesses,” summarized Jenness. “What’s compelling for me is that they talk about the economics of shopping locally, and how the money you spend in a locally owned store is three times more powerful, because that money gets put back into the community two more times, whereas with a chain store it just goes away.” This film also coincides with and dovetails what Sustainable Nantucket will be doing with their Buy Local campaign.

Also on the docket for this series is “The Future of Food” (Feb. 7), a film about the global implications of patenting genetically modified food. “A Lot in Common” (March 7) will focus on a group in Berkeley, Calif. that tried to start a community garden and spurred controversy over issues like access to growing one’s own food, common land and city planning. “My Father’s Garden” (March 21) is a documentary filmed by Miranda Smith, whose father, a Florida orange grower, died after developing cancer related to the chemicals he used in his growing. The filmmaker looks at her father’s life against the life of Fred Kirschenmann, who is considered by many to be the father of organic farming.

In April, the film series will focus on city planning and building issues, beginning with “Subdivide and Conquer” (April 4). Narrated by Dennis Weaver (who played McCloud on television), the film looks at the consequences of suburban sprawl, especially as it is driven by the notions of an endless frontier and rugged individualism. “Designing a Great Neighborhood” (May 2) follows the progress of a co-housing project in Boulder, Colo. that allows future residents to design their whole community, and “Architecture to Zucchini” (May 23) that addresses the principles of sustainability in nationally recognized companies.

(To see an updated list of titles in this series, go to SustainableNantucket.org; the organization will also be screening three films at the Nantucket Historical Association.)

The three films hosted by birder extraordinaire Ken Blackshaw will appeal to anyone who has a love of nature. His series begins on Jan. 7 with the 2005 sleeper hit “The March of the Penguins,” about the touching struggles young families of penguins must face to stay alive.

On Saturday, Jan. 14, Blackshaw shares his travelogue of a September trip to Attu Island in the Aleutian chain. Avian interpreter, naturalist and author of over 10 titles, Blackshaw traveled with Victor Emannuelle Tours to what he calls “the birding Mecca.”

“You get a lot of birds there where it’s the only pace they appear in North America,” Blackshaw said. “Everything you see is likely to be unique.” At a particular moment during the trip, the group had sailed into the Bering Sea north of the Aleutians. “We had over 1.5 million Short-tailed shearwaters all around us, and over 50 humpback whales that continued diving and breaching and sprouting. It was almost a dead calm, the sea was quiet, and the light was reasonable, so everyone got to participate,” remembered Blackshaw, who will be sharing photos of this moment during the screening of his travelogue.

On Feb. 4, Blackshaw will introduce “Fly Away Home” — a fictional film about a 13-year-old girl and her estranged father who re-connect when they adopt an orphaned flock of geese.

All films will be projected in the Great Hall with a surround-sound system, and a little nosh of popcorn and cider.

“SEABISCUIT” with an introduction by MSPCA vet

Bill Mentes, hosted by the Nantucket Arts Council When: Saturday, Jan. 6, 7 p.m. Cost: Free

“THE MARCH OF THE PENGUINS”

hosted by Ken Blackshaw When: Sunday, Jan. 7, 1 p.m. Cost: Free

“INDEPENDENT AMERICA”

hosted by Sustainable Nantucket When: Saturday, Jan. 13, 7 p.m. Cost: Free

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