Friends of the Ashland Library - Events

The Big Sellout and No Logo, May 8 and 27

 

Don’t miss this month’s Documentary Film & Discussion Series as it explores privatization and globalization and how they impact our lives. The films will be shown at 7:00 pm in the Library’s Community Room, and are free and open to the public. Viewers are invited to stay for discussion or to just listen.

 

Thursday, May 8 –The Big Sellout (95 min) offers an empathetic and sobering study of the human impact of global economics. Has the practice of privatization become similar to warfare, dehumanizing us and reducing us to mere statistics? Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and former chief economist at the World Bank, thinks so, as does Simon, a train driver who has worn the uniform of countless firms since his beloved British Rail was privatized, recounts the steady decline in service and maintenance and the sharp increase in accidents that have followed. Winner of the 2007 Chicago International Documentary Film Festival.

 

Tuesday, May 27 –No Logo (42 min), based on the best-selling book by Canadian journalist and activist Naomi Klein, reveals the reasons behind the backlash against the increasing economic and cultural reach of multinational companies. Analyzing how brands like Nike, The Gap, and Tommy Hilfiger became revered symbols worldwide, Klein argues that globalization is a process whereby corporations discovered that profits lay not in making products (outsourced to low-wage workers in developing countries), but in creating branded identities people adopt in their lifestyles.

 

The Documentary Film & Discussion Series meets every 2nd Thursday and 4th Tuesday of the month for an in-depth look at important topics of our day and, their impact on our lives. Discussions are often lively and thought-provoking. For more information, go to http://friendsoftheapl.com

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Display Case & Main Circulation Hall

RETE-CHROMES by JANET SHAPERO
April 1– June 14
The upstairs hall of the library will be an explosion of color as we feature the unique Rete-Chrome creations of  Newton/Waltham artist Janet Shapero. These brightly colored and highly textured hanging pieces change appearance as the light changes during the day. The library is a very special place to view the magic of these works of art.

DISPLAY CASE
COLLECTORS SERIES DISPLAY
A HISTORY OF NURSING BOTTLES
April 15 – May 31
Southborough resident Joan Ready is displaying a most unique collection of antique glass baby feeding bottles spanning several centuries. 

Downstairs Picture Gallery

PAINTINGS IN WATERCOLOR & PASTEL by RICK CARDOZA
May 1 – June 10
Working with strong contrasts of light and color, award winning regional artist Rick Cardoza portrays nature’s untamed forms, textures, and space in his vibrant and visually exciting paintings. 

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Supported by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and Audience Donations
7:00pm in the Large Meeting Room

May 2 Michael Clayton

This fine Hollywood movie about legal shenanigans involving corporations vs.
the little guy is taut and absorbing. GEORGE CLOONEYand Tilda Swinton in a
film that earned 7 Academy Award nominations.

May 9 The Golden Door

A Sicilian peasant and a mysterious Englishwoman meet as they make the
voyage by boat to Ellis Island. This amazing film documents the tests to
enter the New World and gives an intimate sense of the journey for so many
immigrants in this era. Martin Scorsese introduces the film.

The following three films star Romain Duris, multi-Cesar nominated French
actor.

May 16 Moliere

Colorful, fanciful comedy that relates Moliere's life to his great satire
"Tartuffe." Beautiful costumes and settings and love story. Leonard Maldin:
"Richly funny and unexpectedly moving.a masterful love story spiced with
wit."

May 23 L'Auberge Espagnole

A straight-laced student goes to Barcelona for a year to study. Sharing
cramped quarters "with students from all over Europe quickly leads to
multi-cultural chaos as he gets a hilarious, eye-opening lesson on how to
live, laugh, and love.and party."

May 30 Russian Dolls

Five years later the student Xavier from L'Auberge Espagnole is now thirty
years old. "An aspiring novelist, his greatest achievement is a co-credit on
a TV soap, and his romantic life is equally disappointing. .. His lack of
direction (and will-power) threatens to turn his good fortune into ultimate
heartbreak." Fun to watch the now-older students meet again and go on with
their lives.

June 6 The Silk Road

"Based on a best-selling novel by Alessandro Baricco, Silk is a visually
stunning epic spanning two continents. [A young man's] devotion to his
beautiful bride (Keira Knightly) is tested when he must make several
dangerous trade missions in search of silkworms for his town's survival.
From his journeys to Japan, he brings great wealth for his village, but with
each trip he becomes torn by the temptation of a local warlord's sensuous
concubine and his love for his bride."

*The film series started April 7, 2006

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