Free Film at Jacob Burns Center April 18 at 7:00 pm

Films on Purpose in partnership with Saw Mill River Audubon and the Jacob Burns Film Center will host a free screening of Albatross, a new film from internationally-acclaimed photographic artist Chris Jordan on April 18 at 7:00 pm. Jordan, a powerful speaker and advocate for the environment, will give a presentation after the screening.

This filmmaking debut from Jordan is equal parts exquisitely beautiful and heartbreaking. On Midway island in the North Pacific, tens of thousands of Laysan albatross chicks lie dead on the ground, their bodies filled with plastic. Jordan visited Midway over many years with his team, documenting the cycles of life and death, capturing stunning and intimate portraits of these magnificent seabirds. Albatross paints an arresting image of devastation, while delivering a profound message of reverence and renewal.

Jordan’s style intentionally avoids the conventions of traditional documentary filmmaking, and lets the photographic portrait of the albatross on Midway speak directly to the viewer without the mediation of the author. Jordan has offered his film as a public work of art and releases it for free screenings only. Admission charges are not permitted.

Tickets can be reserved at burnsfilmcenter.org. The theater has just released additional tickets for the previously sold-out event and has moved the venue to a larger theater to accommodate the demand.

“I saw this film at Telluride Mountainfilm Festival last year, before it was released, and I was overcome by the extraordinary beauty and extraordinary sadness that come through simultaneously in this powerful portrait of environmental catastrophe,” says Films on Purpose co-founder Andrea Garbarini. “We are tremendously lucky to be able to screen the film in Pleasantville and to have this brilliant filmmaker with us to speak about his work.”

This event is the first time that Films on Purpose has partnered with the Jacob Burns Film Center. “The Burns has been enormously generous in offering this film in a free community screening,” says Claire Schiffman, another Films on Purpose founder. “Working with the Burns allows us to extend our reach and offer our audience the viewing experience that the Burns provides and that this work of art deserves.”

Films on Purpose is a grass-roots organization screening documentary films on important contemporary issues that are hosted at venues throughout the community. The group seeks to foster community engagement by keeping the conversation going after the film and providing avenues for involvement and activism to interested audience members.

Saw Mill River Audubon has been connecting people with nature for 65 years in northern Westchester County: protecting eight wildlife sanctuaries. offering free public field trips and programs as well as field trips for area schools, and advocating for healthy habitats that benefit birds, other wildlife and people. More information is available at www.sawmillriveraudubon.

Background on Films on Purpose

Films on Purpose, founded in 2016, is an all-volunteer organization created by a group Pleasantville residents with a vision to use film to bring community members together around an issue, to foster in-depth discussion and provide avenues for local activism. The group screens films at a variety of locations in Pleasantville, often hosted in ad-hoc partnerships with local groups that share an interest in the film’s subject. Each screening includes a reception before the film, and a discussion with local experts afterwards. The panel discussions are designed to educate audience members on ways they can engage with the issues locally and have an impact in their own community. Receptions preceding the films are intended to enhance the sense of fellowship and shared purpose.

Since its inaugural screening of Bidder 70 on July 7, 2016, the group has shown films on the environment, food waste, the worldwide refugee crises, and the use of toxic chemicals in consumer products. Subsequent films included the following:

• Just Eat It, with St. John’s Church and the Pleasantville Community Garden
• Salam Neighbor with the Mount Pleasant Public Library
• Before the Flood, with the Emmanuel Lutheran Church Committee on Environmental Stewardship
• Don't Tell Anyone (Non le Digas a Nadie) with Neighbors Link
• Audrie and Daisy, with Pleasantville STRONG, Mount Kisco Partners in Prevention and the Mount Pleasant Public Library
• Stink with Arc Stages
• Food Choices, with the Pleasantville Community Garden and the Pleasantville Tennis Club
• 13th, with Holy Innocents Church
• A Plastic Ocean, with Pleasantville Recycles and the Mount Pleasant Public Library
• Which Way Home, with Neighbors Link and the Pleasantville Presbyterian Church