Join us on October 16 to watch A World of 3 Zeros and stay after for a Zoom Q&A with the Co-Directors, Áine Clark and Michel Van Der Veken. ABOUT Poverty, unemployment, and carbon emissions are global problems. A World of 3 Zeros explores the ability of social entrepreneurship to address these issues and bring them to zero. This documentary takes the audience on the journey undertaken by filmmakers Áine and Michel, to shed light on the works of this new type of business. A concept purposely designed to address social and environmental problems with entrepreneurs who joyfully aim for impact over profit maximization, with solutions that can be shared or adopted elsewhere in the world for the common good. ÁINE CLARKE ÁINE CLARKE (born 1963, Belfast, Northern Ireland) Graduated from the University of Ulster with a degree in Environmental Physics in 1987. Until 2016, Áine served as the commercial and marketing business developer for Azimut Company, building client relationships and managing business growth. Her passion for listening, and commitment to authentic representation though storytelling drives her approach to documentary filmmaking. MICHEL VAN DER VEKEN MICHEL VAN DER VEKEN (born 1961, Liège, Belgium) Graduate of L'IAD Film Institution (1985). Michel brings technical precision and creative vision developed through 25 years of commercial filmmaking to documentary work. His cinematography reveals the humanity in each subject while creating visual cohesion across diverse global settings.

On the last day of World War II in a small town somewhere in Poland, Polish exiles of war and the occupying Soviet forces confront the beginning of a new day and a new Poland. In this incendiary environment we find Home Army soldier Maciek Chelmicki, who has been ordered to assassinate an incoming commissar. But a mistake stalls his progress and leads him to Krystyna, a beautiful barmaid who gives him a glimpse of what his life could be. Gorgeously photographed and brilliantly performed, Ashes and Diamonds masterfully interweaves the fate of a nation with that of one man, resulting in one of the most important Polish films of all time.

In 1943, Julien is a student at a French boarding school. When three new students arrive, including Jean Bonnet, Julien believes they are no different from the other boys. What Julien doesn't know is that the boys are actually Jews who are evading capture by the Nazis. While Julien doesn't care for Jean at first, the boys develop a tight bond -- while the head of the school, Père Jean, works to protect the boys from the Holocaust.

Before the Rain tells the stories of an orthodox Christian monk, a British photo agent, and a native Macedonian war photographer to paint a portrait of simmering ethnic and religious hatred about to reach its boiling point. This gripping triptych of love and violence is also a timeless evocation of the loss of pastoral innocence, and remains one of recent cinema's most powerful laments on the futility of war.

ABOUT THE FILM Thirty years ago, Gail Ritchey, a young woman from a conservative Christian community in rural Ohio, had a stillborn birth alone and left the evidence in the woods. Now a devoted mother of three, her quiet suburban life is shattered when DNA evidence links her to the infamous cold case of “Geauga’s Child,” leading to her arrest for murder. Facing a possible life sentence, Gail must confront the weight of societal and religious pressures—and her own long-buried shame—to fight for her freedom. PANEL DISCUSSION FOLLOWS Following the screening, join a conversation with director Jessica Earnshaw and WBUR host Deborah Becker on the making of the film and the questions it raises about maternal mental health, the criminal justice system, and the untold stories of women in crisis. JESSICA EARNSHAW Director and Producer, BABY DOE Jessica Earnshaw is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and photojournalist whose work focuses on criminal justice, family, and the lives of women. Her first feature, JACINTA, won the Albert Maysles Best New Documentary Director Award at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and received two Cinema Eye Honors nominations. Her photography has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR. She was named one of DOC NYC's "40 Under 40" in 2020. DEBORAH BECKER Deborah Becker is a senior correspondent and host at WBUR. Her reporting focuses on mental health, criminal justice and education, helping to produce and report for various WBUR special projects. Deb has received numerous awards for her hosting, newscasts, reporting and investigative reporting from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTNDA), Public Radio News Directors Incorporated, National Education Writers Association, Associated Press, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Parent/Professional Advocacy League and United Press International. She has also completed several fellowships on addiction, mental health, juvenile justice and journalism and the law.

ABOUT THE FILM: Based on H.G. Bissinger's book, which profiled the economically depressed town of Odessa, Texas and their heroic high school football team, The Permian High Panthers. PANEL DISCUSSION FOLLOWS STEVE BURTON Steve Burton is the Sports Director for WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV in Boston. He also anchors the weekly programs Sports Final, Patriots Game Day, All Access, and the Patriots 5th Quarter show. Steve is a graduate of and a former quarterback for Northwestern University holding a bachelor of science degree in Communications and a master's degree in Broadcast journalism. Football is in Steve’s DNA, being the son of former Boston Patriots player Ron Burton. DAN SHAUGHNESSY Dan Shaughnessy is a sports columnist and associate editor at the Boston Globe. He has been named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year 14 times and 12 times has been voted one of America's top ten sports columnists by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In 2016 Shaughnessy was the recipient of the BBWAA Career Excellence Award for "meritorious contributions to baseball writing,'' presented at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Shaughnessy has written thirteen books, including New York Times bestseller "Francona,'' "The Curse of the Bambino,'' and "Senior Year." He most recently wrote "Wish It Lasted Forever -- Life With The Larry Bird Celtics", a book about his days covering the 1980s Bird Celtics.

A complex look at one of the greatest figures in 20th century classical music, Leonard Bernstein, whose passion and creativity guided him well beyond the concert hall.

ABOUT THE FILM BrainStorm follows six compelling people living with bipolar on their journeys from devastation to recovery. The film connects their experiences with the latest bipolar brain science to shed light on potential causes and successful treatments. The film closes with a message of hope, showing that it is possible to thrive while living on the bipolar spectrum. POST SCREENING PANEL DISCUSSION BONNIE WALTCH Bonnie Waltch is the director, producer, and writer of BrainStorm, a feature-length documentary film about the bipolar spectrum. She is the award-winning senior producer and writer of the one-hour PBS and international broadcast documentary, Earth Emergency and series of five short films, Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops, narrated by Richard Gere. She has worked on a variety of television science series for PBS and the Discovery Channel, and has produced, directed, and written short films for museums around the U.S. SARA SCHLEY Sara Schley, Co-Producer, Co-Writer of the film and Author of the memoir BrainStorm, is a business consultant, social change entrepreneur, speaker, and author. Sara lives with Bipolar II, a secret she kept for more than four decades. Her memoir BrainStorm: from Brokent to Blessed on the Bipolar Spectrum is the inspiration for the film. Sara serves on the board of the International Society for Bipolar Disorder, the advisory network for CREST.BD, and FITT.BD and as an Expert by Experience for the Bipolar Action Network. HOLLY A. SWARTZ M.D. Holly A. Swartz, M.D. is professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Director of the Center for Advanced Psychotherapy at Western Psychiatric Hospital. With Dr. Trisha Suppes, she is co-editor of Bipolar II Disorder: Recognition, Understanding, and Treatment from APA Publishing. Dr Swartz is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Psychotherapy and President of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders.

Join West Newton Cinema for the silent film, CAPTAIN JANUARY, with live harp and viola score! ABOUT THE FILM During a tempestuous storm, a lighthouse keeper finds an infant girl who washes ashore tied to some wreckage. He adopts her and they become inseparable. Eventually her real family finds her and wants her to live with them. Like all silent films, CAPTAIN JANUARY was made on flammable nitrate film stock. Fortunately, prints of this movie were saved in museum archives, and the Library of Congress painstakingly restored the film a few years ago. Upon the film’s re-release, former child star Baby Peggy, now known as the well-regarded author and historian Diana Serra Cary, was once again celebrated by fans for her spunky, trailblazing work from the dawn of cinema. LIVE MUSIC LESLIE McMICHAEL and BARBARA McMICHAEL Harpist-composer Leslie McMichael will perform her original score live on the concert harp for the 63-minute film, accompanied by her sister Barbara McMichael on viola. The score uses recurring musical themes for each character.

After decades of being blown to bits by bombs, demolished by dynamite, mangled by magnets, battered by boulders, trampled by trains, tricked by tunnels, sprung by springs, steamrolled by steamrollers, maligned by misfires, bedeviled by bungees, rattled by rockets, backstabbed by bat suits, rocked by rocket skates, upended by unicycles, quaked by quake pills, rubberized by rogue bands, and hurled headlong off every cliff in the Southwest, Wile E. Coyote (Genius) finally fights back. Teaming up with billboard accident lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte), he takes on slick corporate counsel Buddy Crane (John Cena) and ACME, Inc., the profit-obsessed conglomerate behind every one of the Coyote’s chaotic catastrophes.

Join us on October 1 to watch SITUATIONS and stay after for a Q&A with the Director, Greg Vrotsos. ABOUT Three months after a painful breakup, a Los Angeles based photographer drifts through Silverlake’s creative chaos—dodging well-meaning friends, career pressures, and fleeting flings—until an unexpected connection forces him to confront what he truly wants from love, art, and himself. GREG VROTSOS Greg Vrotsos is a Norwood-born, bi-coastal filmmaker known for his dynamic storytelling and keen eye for character-driven narratives. With over a decade of experience in the film and television industry, Greg has built a reputation for collaborating with some of the most respected talents in Hollywood. His acting work spans acclaimed television series such as Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black, HBO’s Vinyl, and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return, as well as major studio films including Empire State and The Boston Strangler. Greg’s creative vision extends behind the camera, where his short films have been recognized on the festival circuit for their authenticity and emotional depth. With SITUATIONS, Greg makes his feature debut as a writer and director, bringing a fresh, insightful perspective to stories of love, ambition, and self-discovery in Los Angeles.

WEST NEWTON CINEMA PRESENTS: MUSICAL MATINEES Join West Newton Cinema for a musical matinee! Our monthly pick will vary from beloved classics to jazz, from vaudeville to psychedelic rock, brought to you by the imaginative skill of artists able to make scenes look the way great music feels. We'll feature films from the Golden Age of Hollywood musicals, with surprises that transcend the era and define others. The cinematic brilliance of these films has never left us. In fact, seeing them again, or for the first time, will reinvigorate your love for the movie musical and send you out of the theater tapping your feet. HIGH SOCIETY C. K. Dexter Haven (Bing Crosby) arrives at the lavish property of his ex-wife, Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly), just in time to see her get married to George Kittredge (John Lund). Can C. K. convince Tracy it’s all a mistake before the wedding? Equally smitten tabloid reporter Macauley Conner (Frank Sinatra), with pining photographer Liz Imbrie (Celeste Holm) in tow, certainly won’t make the scheme any easier. Which of these high-flying society suitors will win? A musical remake of screwball classic The Philadelphia Story, High Society is one of the best excuses to just hang out with some screen legends for two hours. Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly are at their most charming, and the music, consisting of jazz-inflected standards accompanied by the one and only Louis Armstrong, is a joy. The film lives up to its title, offering an elevated and thoroughly entertaining glimpse at life on a gorgeous Rhode Island estate.

In the remote South Korea village of Hope Harbor, police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung- min) and officer Sung-ae (Hoyeon) are called to find a mysterious creature that has wreaked havoc on the village. In the nearby forest, a coterie of hunters, including Sung- ki (Zo In-Sung) set out to track the beast and find themselves hunted instead. But all is not as it seems, and perceptions can be misleading. What begins as ignorance plants the seed of disaster, escalating through human conflict into a tragedy of cosmic proportions.

Join us for screenings of Buster Keaton's ONE WEEK (1920) and Mary Pickford's STELLA MARIS (1918) with live musical accompaniment. ABOUT THE FILMS: ONE WEEK, Buster Keaton- A newly wedded couple attempts to build a house with a prefabricated kit, unaware that a rival sabotaged the kit's component numbering. STELLA MARIS, Mary Pickford- Two young women - a paraplegic girl sheltered by her wealthy guardians and a more experienced orphan - fall in love with a man separated from his violent wife. LIVE MUSIC BRUCE VOGT Bruce Vogt is a Canadian pianist who has devoted a distinguished career to performing and teaching. He has toured cities and towns of all sizes throughout North America, Europe, and Asia as a soloist and chamber musician. He has mentored generations of young artists in his role as professor of piano at the University of Victoria, and has lectured widely, leading master classes, workshops, and adjudicating for festivals. Bruce has sustained an interest in exploring the many conversations to be found between music and film, literature and painting. This has evolved into an unusual side hustle: improvising accompaniments for the great films of the silent era. He has developed a robust career in this multimedia sphere bringing sound to many masterpieces -- by Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Griffith, Sjöström, Von Sternberg and many others. In movie theaters across Europe, Asia, and North America, he has provided for audiences a greater intimacy with these films, transforming the silence of the medium into another sphere.

When a woman shelters a group of girls from suffering female genital mutilation, she starts a conflict that tears her village apart.

Beautifully shot, with stunning performances by its young cast, the Oscar-nominated Mustang is both a rousing tale of spirited youth and a powerful, moving, and timely work of engaging social cinema. It’s the beginning of summer. In a small village in northern Turkey, Lale and her four sisters are on their way home from school, innocently playing with local boys. But prying village eyes view their games with suspicion and the girls’ behaviour – and refusal to repent – quickly causes a scandal among the family. Soon the sisters find themselves locked in their bedrooms, with sober dress enforced and their schoolwork replaced by cookery classes. Their home now a prison, all the girls have to live for are arranged marriages and family honour. But together, driven by strength, courage, and a desire for freedom, the five sisters fight back against the limits imposed on them and test their family ties to breaking point. Drawing vocal support from critics, festivals, and audiences across the globe, this highly impressive debut from director Deniz Gamze Ergüven is set to be one of the most talked-about and celebrated films of the year.

Starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, Practical Magic 2 returns to a world steeped in moonlit mischief and powerful ancestral magic, as the Owens sisters must confront the dark curse that threatens to unravel their family once and for all in a must-see cinematic event of fun, magic and mayhem.

Come hang out with Brandt and Ellen at this National Punctuation Day grammar extravaganza! Ellen will set up her nationally acclaimed Grammar Table an hour before the show to answer your most pressing grammar questions, resolve long-standing family grammar disputes, and take complaints. After the screening, please stick around for a Q&A with Brandt and Ellen, followed by a book signing of Ellen’s national bestseller, also called Rebel with a Clause. ABOUT Rebel with a Clause is a charming and insightful documentary that follows grammarian Ellen Jovin as she travels the country with her “Grammar Table,” sparking spontaneous conversations about commas, clauses, and the quirks of English with curious passersby. What begins as a playful educational project turns into a moving exploration of civility, curiosity, and the unexpected ways language brings people together.

During the Nazi occupation of Rome in 1944, the Resistance leader, Giorgio Manfredi, is chased by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a way to escape.

Mexican workers at a zinc mine call a general strike. It is only through the solidarity of the workers, and importantly the indomitable resolve of their wives, mothers, and daughters, that they eventually triumph.

ABOUT THE FILM "I watched the movie with awe…" — Ty Burr, The Boston Globe THE AIRWAVES BELONGED TO THE PEOPLE: WBCN AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION tells the story of the legendary Boston rock station that transformed broadcasting through groundbreaking music, fearless journalism, and the counterculture that shaped a generation. Built from rare photographs, unseen footage, and never-before-heard broadcasts, the film captures WBCN-FM from 1968 to 1974: Bruce Springsteen's first radio interview, Patti Smith's first live radio broadcast, Jane Fonda and Abbie Hoffman in the thick of the era, and a time when three dollars got you into the Boston Tea Party to see The Who, the Velvet Underground, or Led Zeppelin. More than rock & roll history, it's an entertaining, music-filled journey through journalism, activism, and free expression—whose themes could not be more timely. PANEL DISCUSSION FOLLOWS Following the screening, director Bill Lichtenstein and executive producer Robert Sennott stay for a conversation and audience Q&A about the station, the era, and why WBCN's story of independent media and free expression feels so urgent today. BILL LICHTENSTEIN Director and Producer, WBCN and the American Revolution Bill Lichtenstein is a Peabody Award-winning journalist and documentary producer and president of Lichtenstein Creative Media. A Newton native who attended Newton South High School, he began working at WBCN in 1970 at age fourteen, while still a student at Weeks Junior High. Over his career he has produced investigative reports for ABC News and public radio and television, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, and The Boston Globe. He is also a Guggenheim Fellow. ROBERT F. SENNOTT Executive Producer, WBCN and the American Revolution Robert F. Sennott is an entrepreneur, investor, and executive producer whose passion for independent filmmaking has helped bring true stories to audiences worldwide. He served as executive producer of WBCN and the American Revolution and, most recently, of 76 Days Adrift, the acclaimed survival documentary considered for the 2026 Academy Awards. Before film, he founded and built several real estate information services companies later acquired by publicly traded firms on the New York Stock Exchange.

“The Boston Bulldogs” is a documentary film interviewing 5 people from a running club for addiction recovery, interconnected by one woman’s story from finishing the Boston Marathon after her first full year of sobriety to her relapse 24 hours later, and now her recovery 10 years later. The West Newton Cinema will be donating $4 from every Adult Ticket and $2 from every Child and Senior Ticket to the Boston Bulldogs Running Club. PANEL DISCUSSION The screening will be followed by a panel discussion composed of leaders in Boston's recovery community. More info to come!

Explores the romantic journey of PK Mahanandia, a Delhi street artist who trekked 6,000 miles by bicycle in 1977, venturing across continents to reunite with the woman he loved.

A middle-aged couple who are feeling stagnant in their relationship invite the younger and livelier couple from the apartment upstairs for a get-together that takes an unexpected turn.

In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police, conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover, finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.

A 19-year-old Anthony Bourdain travels to Provincetown and stumbles into the chaotic world of a restaurant kitchen, setting off a summer that will shape the course of his life.

Francis Ford Coppola's epic masterpiece features Marlon Brando in his Oscar©-winning role as the patriarch of the Corleone family. Director Coppola paints a chilling portrait of the Sicilian clan's rise and near fall from power in America, masterfully balancing the story between the Corleone's family life and the ugly crime business in which they are engaged. Based on Mario Puxo's best-selling novel and featuring career-making performances by Al Pacino, James Cann and Robert Duvall, this searing and brilliant film garnered ten Academy Award® nominations, and won three including Best Picture of 1972.

As the world's largest package delivery company, UPS moves millions of packages across more than 200 countries and territories each day - and its workforce holds the power to bring that machine to a halt. Who Moves America follows a UPS driver in California casting his first strike vote, a Teamster in New York who walked the picket line during the historic 1997 strike, and a warehouse worker in Kentucky balancing night shifts with community college, weighing whether she can afford to say no, as well as access to the General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Sean O'Brien. As they and their co-workers organize, argue, and campaign across the country, the film builds toward a single, high-stakes vote: accept the deal, or risk everything for a strike that could reshape the American economy. Through intimate access and on-the-ground storytelling, Who Moves America reveals the human stories behind the single largest collective bargaining agreement in North America and explores the power and complexity of collective action in modern America. Executive produced by filmmaker and writer Astra Taylor and Academy Award-winner Steven Bognar.

As the world's largest package delivery company, UPS moves millions of packages across more than 200 countries and territories each day - and its workforce holds the power to bring that machine to a halt. Who Moves America follows a UPS driver in California casting his first strike vote, a Teamster in New York who walked the picket line during the historic 1997 strike, and a warehouse worker in Kentucky balancing night shifts with community college, weighing whether she can afford to say no, as well as access to the General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Sean O'Brien. As they and their co-workers organize, argue, and campaign across the country, the film builds toward a single, high-stakes vote: accept the deal, or risk everything for a strike that could reshape the American economy. Through intimate access and on-the-ground storytelling, Who Moves America reveals the human stories behind the single largest collective bargaining agreement in North America and explores the power and complexity of collective action in modern America. Executive produced by filmmaker and writer Astra Taylor and Academy Award-winner Steven Bognar. We will be joined by Producer Yoni Golijov for a post-film Q&A YONI GOLIJOV (PRODUCER) is an Academy Award-nominated producer. Most recently, Golijov produced Cover-Up (2025, dir. Poitras & Obenhaus) about the work of journalist Seymour Hersh; the film premiered at Venice and was acquired by Netflix. Previously, Golijov produced two features, three shorts, and three exhibitions by Laura Poitras, including the Oscar and BAFTA-nominated film All the Beauty and the Bloodshed about Nan Goldin. It won the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Venice International Film Festival. He has received fellowships from Sundance, Impact Partners, The Gotham, and NBC Original Voices, has been nominated for an Academy Award, two BAFTAs, a Gotham, and a PGA award, and has won a Peabody and an Independent Spirit Award. He previously worked across features and shorts at Field of Vision. We will also have Labor organizer Rand Wilson joining for the Q&A.