Williamstown — The Oakley Center at Williams College is the sponsor of a film festival of local artists, titled "Homegrown: Film and Video from North Berkshire County." The festival will take place on Sunday, March 12, beginning at 7 p.m., at Images Cinema on Spring Street. The event will last approximately three hours, with Q&A sessions with the filmmakers at the halfway point and at the end. "Homegrown" is free and open to the public.
Later in the spring, the Oakley Center will present "Extreme Documentary," which will bring to Williamstown documentary talent from around the world. "Homegrown," on the other hand, is in recognition of work being done by a number of local filmmakers. It will include a variety of film genres, from comic micro-shorts to feature-length documentaries. Each participant will screen a work of approximately 10 to 15 minutes in length. The program will include:
Deborah Brothers, costume director and lecturer in theatre, will present an excerpt of her film "Four Episodes from A New Orleans Mardi Gras."
Benjamin Brown '06 will show a 15-minue clip from "Pasajes de Junin." The film follows the struggles of five activists from a mining town in rural Ecuador.
Sandra Burton, Lipp Family Director of Dance, will show an excerpt of her work on the life and career of the legendary dancer and choreographer Chuck Davis.
Paula Consolini, coordinator of experiential education, will present an excerpt from her film "Breaking the Mold," the story of an employee buyout and the transformation of the people involved.
David Edwards, the Carl W. Vogt '58 Professor of Anthropology, will present an excerpt from his documentary "Kabul Transit," an associative -- at times surreal -- film about contemporary Afghanistan and the ways in which multiple and conflicting elements of the past persist in its present.
Liza Johnson, assistant professor of art, will show her short film "Desert Motel." The film is centered on a weekend getaway in the California desert, where the protagonist, Leslie, and her girlfriend run into Connor, a friend from home. Leslie stuns everyone when she crosses a line trying to understand the new kind of manhood that Connor introduces.
David Lachman, a North Adams resident, will present three of his short films: "Flower to Flower," "This is Art my Friend," and "Homemade."
Julia Morgan-Leamon, a local artist and member of the Williams College Museum of Art's staff, will show her video "Looking for Betty." Oblivious to the U.S. military exploits that frame her, the film's protagonist, Betty, inspects herself in the mirror of the video camera.
Amy Podmore, associate professor of art, will present her series of comic shorts, "Disappearing Acts." A humorous portrayal of "loss of self," it brings attention to the negotiation necessary between give and take that we experience in daily life.
Shawn Rosenheim, professor of English, will show an excerpt from his feature-length documentary on Biosphere 2, "Home Sick." As Rosenheim describes it: "8 people, two years, three acres. Grow your food. Recycle your waste. Breathe your own air. No one ever said paradise was fun."
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Lanesborough Considers Keeping Keeler Island
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The town is considering keeping a Pontoosuc Lake island as its own.
Last week, the Select Board voted to consider selling three tax title properties and maintaining Keeler Island, located on Pontoosuc Lake. New statewide tax title laws that went into effect on Nov. 1, 2024, altered some options available to towns, and officials see this as a way to raise some funds.
Treasurer Jodi Hollingsworth explained that these properties have gone through the land court process, and with the new laws, the town needs to determine if it wants to keep or sell them. This includes lots on South Main Street (Parcel ID: 116-17), Chickatabot Avenue (114-8), C Street (112-140), and Keeler Island (115-1).
"These properties have been in the system through the changes in legislation," Town Administrator Gina Dario said. "And so this really is the first point that they're coming to the town for consideration of how to maintain."
Keeler Island, with an assessed value of $48,700, and the parcels on Chickatabot and C Street had been owned by Franklin Perras of North Adams, who died in 2017. Perras had owned properties across the county that have been tied up in Land Court for years as attorneys have tried to find any heirs.
According to documents on file at the Registry of Deeds, Perras purchased the island and the Chickatabot property with a building together in 1998 and the C Street lot the same year.
Lanesborough has about 15 properties in various stages of tax title. This is a way for the town to start recovering money that has been deferred and ultimately determine whether or not there's any public value to the properties, Dario explained.
"I think the town should maintain Keeler Island," Selectman Timothy Sorrell said.
"I use the lake. I boat on it, I fish on it. Hey, be nice for the town to have a piece of property out there on that island so people can swim from Narragansett Park out to the island, if that's what they want to do."
During his time on the police force, he heard multiple complaints about trespassers on the island, and "If we own that property, the island, at least people would be able to use it from Narragansett Park." He pointed out that town property can be posted as no use after dark, similar to town parks.
"But also give a place for some of our fishermen, too, if they want to go out and leave their boat on the island to walk around the shore and fish from there," Sorrell said.
Ashlyn Lesure scored 18 points, and Regan Shea and Emma Meczywor added 15 and 11, respectively, as the Hurricanes successfully defended their 2024 state crown and won the program’s fourth state title in a run that has seen Hoosac Valley go to the state final nine times since 2014. click for more
Pittsfield High's Matt Dupuis and Lee's Devyn Fillio Sunday won the boys and girls individual high school bowling State Championships at Spare Time.
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Capped by Sam St. Peter’s come-from-behind win in the final bout of the day to win the 285 crown, the Spartans placed second at the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Championships at Mount Greylock. click for more
