Published February 28th, 2024
Town Hall Theatre presents film in honor of International Women's Day
By Sharon K. Sobotta
International Women's Day is on March 8 and Town Hall Theatre is honoring the day with a 7 p.m. screening of `100 Years from Mississippi' with Director Tarabu Betserai Kirkland and Nobuko Miyamoto, who appears in the film. Miyamoto will be signing copies of her book "Not Yo' Butterfly" ahead of the show between 6-7 p.m.
Kirkland's film centers around the life of his mother, Mamie, who, at the age of 108, travels back in time and space to Mississippi, the place she fled at the age of 8 due to the threat of lynchings. Kirkland weaves together the threads of Mamie's life as a woman who, after being widowed at a young age, provided for her children as an Avon lady, and the lived history that seeps back into the ugliest part of America's past.
Kirkland says this is an important film to watch while celebrating International Women's Day.?
"There are countless `sheros' in towns and villages around the world whose lives and everyday legacies form the backbone of powerful movements through their extraordinary commitment and vision of how the world should exist and walk that reality every single day. It is an honor to celebrate the life of one of those sheros (my mother)."?
Town Hall Theatre Managing Director Dennis Markam says that it's important to honor ordinary yet extraordinary women like Mamie Lang Kirkland, the star of Kirkland's film and others within our own community. "It is important to remember that women's lives intersect with all the other elements of who they are. Their life and identity is also affected by their race, their nationality, their religion, their gender expression, and countless other things. I think as we recognize International Women's Day in our own ways, we also have to recognize the complexity and diversity of the lives of women."?
Miyamoto will read an excerpt from her book "Not Yo' Butterfly" dedicated to Mamie Lang Kirkland to start the film and Tarabu Betserai Kirkland will engage in a Q&A following the film. There will be a no-host bar and time to mingle with the guests as well as a chance to buy signed copies of Miyamoto's book.
To reserve your seat, visit www.townhalltheatre.com/100-years

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