Free screening of "Knock Down the House" on Friday, November 15, Axinn 232, 7:30 p.m., Middlebury College
Four exceptional women mount grassroots campaigns against powerful incumbents in "Knock Down the House" (Rachel Lears, USA, 2018, 90 mins.), an inspiring documentary that takes a look at the 2018 midterm elections that tipped the balance of power. When tragedy struck her family in the middle of the financial crisis, Bronx-born Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had to work double shifts as a bartender to save her home from foreclosure. After losing a loved one to a preventable medical condition, Amy Vilela didn't know what to do with the anger she felt about America's broken health care system. Cori Bush, a registered nurse and pastor, was drawn to the streets when the police shooting of an unarmed black man brought protests and tanks into her neighborhood. A coal miner's daughter, Paula Jean Swearengin was fed up with watching her friends and family suffer from the environmental effects of the coal industry. Q&A with interviewee Shannon Thomas after the screening.

Jan 29, 2025, 5:30 to 6:30 PM

Feb 3, 2025, 6:30 to 8 PM

Feb 4, 2025, 2 to 4 PM