We were honored to partner with the Maplewood Memorial Library during its Ideas Festival this year. We screened the award-winning documentary The Librarians, and talked about the importance of protecting all books from censorship.

Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad explained that the 16-time Oscar-nominated film “serves as context for what we talk about today as Black joy. Even in the midst of terrible suffering and oppression, Black people in those days, in those moments of release, and ecstasy, and joy, and music, were able to be human beings in the fullest sense of the world.”

A festive crowd filled the Woodland’s great hall on Friday night, wrapping up Maplewood’s Division of Arts and Culture Coming Out Day festivities with a special film event produced by the Maplewood Film Society. The main attraction was a screening of the 1994 classic The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, along with a few special guests: Artist, costume designer and performer Machine Dazzle was on hand, author Joe Dolce (Modern Psychedelics: The Handbook for Mindful Exploration) and entertainer Harmonica Sunbeam.

More than 220 guests filed into the Woodland for the sold-out screening of Lynch’s film, Wild at Heart, on a big screen. The film’s cinematographer Fred joined author Zach Schonfeld for a post screening discussion. The evening kicked off with a video message from star Laura Dern.

One week before the 2024 election, Maplewood Film Society hosted an incredible event. Over 230 community members turned up to see The Apprentice—a gorgeously written, filmed and acted movie that has struggled to be shown to audiences during this divisive election season. With one week to go before Election Day, we came together as a community to bond over film, hear screenwriter Gabriel Sherman share his journey and insights, and be inspired by the events sponsor SOMA Action Events.

On Friday Sept. 13^th, the Film Society hosted “Backyard Movie Night” to screen the 1980s spooky comedy “Beetlejuice” and to show town leaders and future investors that Maplewood’s community needs a theater in its town center.

Over 200 people, scattered across about 15 backyards, watched the movie simultaneously, with a 7:50 p.m. showtime coordinated via text message. The date of Friday the 13^th was pure coincidence following a postponement from the prior week due to weather.