Film exhibition in Iowa City “elevates” the voices of community-affecting locals

Iowa City, Iowa – Sunday, narratives of individuals striving to create a more self-sufficient and environmentally sustainable environment in Iowa City were displayed on a large-screen television.

Twelve short films produced in collaboration with local filmmakers and Resilient Sustainable Future Iowa City (RSFIC) will be screened at Film Scene over the year. Every film is approximately 90 seconds in length and showcases an individual’s tangible efforts to affect change in the community.

“We’ve got lots of people around town that are working together, but there’s no advertisements for them,” said Riley Eynon-Lynch, Executive Director of RSFIC.

“Many people kind of think of blockbusters when they think big screen, but…I think one of the things that a big screen is made for is to elevate stories that we might otherwise not see in the same way,” said Andrew Sherburne, Executive Director of Film Scene.

Eynon-Lynch stated that the objective of his organization was to achieve local influence.

“We spend, as a town, $70 million a year on Amazon.com, and then sort of fight over $1 or $2 million here or there in our own city budget,” said Eynon-Lynch. “We think we’ve outsourced a lot of our power so that people in Iowa City are often buying a solution to a problem they have or looking to the government or a company to help them…When we talk about resilience, we’re talking about learning to work together…and thinking about reclaiming sources of power to Iowa City like food and shelter and energy, and the things right now we’re dependent on folks outside of Iowa City for.”

According to Eynon-Lynch, these films were a potent illustration of how local investment was already occurring.

“We wanted to show just examples of people working together,” he said.