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Berry College and the Rome International Film Festival hope to harness the power of learning together and seeing others through the lens of their experiences to continue building a strong future for Berry College, Rome, Floyd County and Northwest Georgia. Ongoing research worldwide from 2011 to the present day shows that watching movies together enhances social connections within the audience. The same research also shows that films help people deal with emotions productively and stimulate creative, wide-ranging, collaborative conversations among participants.
Through a Different Lens brings the community together in a series of free film events that show an incredible film about social and restorative impact. For each event there will also be a short Q&A afterwards composed of an academic expert, a local non-profit leader with knowledge of the issues raised in the film and, whenever possible, the film director or producer and one of the leading protagonists within the film.
We'd like to thank the South Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts for making this series possible. We'd also like to give a special thank to the Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation for making this available to our students.
Rome International Film Festival
Black Barbie
January 18, 2024 | 7 pm
Berry College Intercultural Center
When the filmmaker's 83-year-old aunt Beulah Mae Mitchell asks, "Why not make a Barbie that looks like me?" and the story of the first Black Barbie begins.
Butterfly in the Sky
February 8, 2024 | 7 pm
The Rome City Auditorium
Chronicles the journeys of broadcasters, educators and filmmakers who believed television could inspire a lifelong love of reading.
Dadiwonisi (WE WILL SPEAK)
April 2024 | 7 pm
Berry College Intercultural Center
Cherokee activists, artists and educators fight to save the Cherokee language from extinction after generations of assimilation efforts by the United States government and anti-Indigenous stigmas.
Bridge Builder Shorts Series
April 11, 2024 | 7 pm
Berry Intercultural Center
These short films (6-10 minutes each) each address an issue with prison reform and the various non-profits that work to right wrongs.