Arkansas PBS > Engage > Pressroom > Community Cinema offers free screening of As Goes Janesville in Fayetteville Oct. 14
Posted 13 Nov 2012
CONWAY, Ark. (AETN) The Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN), Fayetteville Public Library and KUAF 91.3FM invite the public to a free screening of As Goes Janesville as part of Community Cinema Sunday, Oct. 14, at 2 p.m. at the library, 401 West Mountain Street.
As Goes Janesville reports from recession-ridden Janesville, Wis. In 2008, after bankrupt General Motors (GM) shut down the communitys century-old plant the oldest GM plant in North America thousands of Janesville residents lost their jobs.
While many workers were forced to leave their families to search for decent jobs elsewhere, local business leaders worked to bring new companies to town with promises of lower wages, reduced regulation and tax breaks. In this process, they formed a powerful alliance with newly elected Republican governor Scott Walker, whose pro-business, anti-union stance ripped the state apart and triggered a historic recall election. The recall thrust the conflict into the nationwide spotlight, highlighting a civil war between workers and the business and political power elite.
Shot over the course of three years, As Goes Janesville follows the lives of four Janesville residents struggling with the towns economic changes: Cindy Deegan, former GM Alcoa Plant employee; Gayle Listenbee, former GM employee who accepts an out-of-state transfer; Mary Wilmer, local Janesville bank president; and state Sen. Tim Cullen, the lone Democrat standing in Janesville on election day.
Director Brad Lichtenstein, whose wife is a Janesville native, created As Goes Janesville to tell an intimate story about how a community attempts to reinvent itself during economic crisis. Lichtenstein hopes the documentary will provoke dialogue that will allow individuals from different political and ideological backgrounds to rediscover their shared interests and encourage them to unite to improve their communitys economic health.
A community discussion will follow the screening. Panelists include: Dr. Margaret Reid, professor and chair of political science, University of Arkansas; Chung Tan, manager of economic development for Fayetteville; and Susanna Brinnon, resource support specialist for the Arkansas Workforce Center.
Additional information is available by calling AETN at 800-662-2386 or visiting aetn.org/communitycinema.
Community Cinema, a free monthly screening series engaging communities through films produced by the Independent Television Service (ITVS), features monthly screenings followed by panel discussions with leading organizations, local communities and special guest speakers. The program is designed to help people learn about and get involved in the social issues raised in the documentaries.
The Fayetteville Public Librarys mission is to strengthen the community, empower citizens with free and public access to knowledge, inspire imagination, foster learning, be powerfully relevant and be completely accessible. Additional information is available at faylib.org.