When M. Geneva Murray and some colleagues saw a collection of short films at a conference in Lancaster, she approached the founder of the series to ask when it could come to Athens.
The Athena Cinema, 20 S. Court St., will screen Pens to Pictures on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free. A discussion with the founder Chinonye Chukwu some of the filmmakers will follow the screening.
“It was such a powerful, evocative, empowering, thought-provoking series of short films,” Murray, the director of the Ohio University Women’s Center, said.
Pens to Pictures is a series of short films made by incarcerated women. The collection was made in partnership with the Dayton Correctional Institute and artists in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania.
Murray said the screening is a “phenomenal opportunity” for students interested in many fields, especially those related to the justice system. Murray warned that some of the films contain graphic elements of sexual and drug abuses.
Two of the women who made the short films will be in Athens on Monday to conduct a workshop at 6:30 p.m. in Schoonover Center 450, which will give students a chance to talk to women who have served time in prison.
“You don’t have to be a big-budget filmmaker in order to use film to communicate the importance of social justice issues,” Murray said.
Thanae Austin, an employee at the Athena, said the films could be an “eye-opener” for students. The films also give a voice to women who have been incarcerated, she added.
“I don’t think they ever get a chance to tell their story,” Austin, a senior studying communication, said.
