Freedom & Unity: The Vermont Movie Discussion Series
In celebration of the release of Freedom & Unity: The Vermont Movie, the Vermont Humanities Council has launched a film discussion series in partnership with the filmmakers. This series will take place on Sunday afternoons at 2:00 in the Library’s meeting room starting February 1 with Part One. If the weather is stormy, please check our website, marthacanfieldlibrary.org for updates.

Freedom & Unity: The Vermont Movie is a six-part collaborative documentary produced by several dozen Vermont-based filmmakers. Using personal stories, rare footage, compelling interviews, and original reenactments, the film explores the history and contemporary culture of the Green Mountain State. Vermonters past and present — from Abenaki and early settlers, fugitives from slavery, farmers, historians, politicians, and activists, to newcomers moving “back to the land” — tell how one small state has made a very big difference. The Vermont Humanities Council supported Freedom and Unity: The Vermont Movie with a grant.

The complete schedule at Martha Canfield Library is:

• Sunday, February 1 - Part One: “A Very New Idea” explores the Native and Colonial roots from which Vermont grew.
• Sunday, February 15 - Part Two: “Under the Surface” explores labor wars, eugenics, the McCarthy era, and progressive Republicanism.
• Sunday, March 1 - Part Three: “Refuge, Reinvention, and Revolution” explores innovation, interstates, and counter-culture.
• Sunday, March 15 - Part Four: “Doers and Shapers” explores progressivism in education and state law from Act 250 to civil unions.
• Sunday, March 29 - Part Five: “Ceres’ Children” explores participatory democracy and ethics in conservation and farming.
• Sunday, April 12 - Part Six: “People’s Power” explores contemporary tensions over energy, independence, climate, and the state’s future.