The film program at the Muhammad Ali Center provides a space where community, education, and film meet. We collaborate with individuals, local organizations, and educational institutions to offer accessible experiences and develop meaningful conversations around issues impacting our community. We present the best in independent, international, and classic cinema, as well as screenings that enhance our temporary exhibits and celebrate our permanent collection.
All films are FREE unless otherwise noted and shown in the Muhammad Ali Center Auditorium. Light refreshments will be served.
Paul Laurence Dunbar: Beyond the Mask
Saturday, October 15th , 3:00pm to 6:00pm
Join us for a screening of “Paul Laurence Dunbar: Beyond The Mask” a feature length documentary on the life and legacy of the first African American poet/writer to gain international fame. The filmmaker, Frederick Lewis, a professor at Ohio University, will be on hand to introduce the film and lead a post-screening discussion.
Born to former slaves in Dayton, Ohio, Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) is best remembered for his poem “We Wear The Mask” and for lines from “Sympathy” that became the title of Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.” A clip of Angelou reciting Dunbar’s poem is featured in the film. Dunbar’s story is also the story of the African American experience around the turn of the century. The man abolitionist Frederick Douglass called “the most promising young colored man in America” wrote widely published essays critical of Jim Crow laws, lynching and what was commonly called “The Negro Problem.” More than eight years in the making, “Beyond The Mask” received major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional support from Ohio Humanities.
This event is free but registration is required! Please register here.
For more information, please contact Ashleigh Hazley (ahazley@alicenter.org).
Resilience: The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope
October 12th, 6:00pm to 8:00pm
YMCA Love Notes, in partnership with BOUNCE and the Muhammad Ali Center will host a viewing of Resilience: The Biology of Stress and The Science of Hope. This one-hour documentary delves into the science behind how extreme or prolonged stressful experience in childhood can affect brain development, leading to health and social problems across the lifespan. After the viewing will be a panel discussion led by BOUNCE.
This event is appropriate for teens and adults. Please register here.
For more information, please contact Ashleigh Hazley (ahazley@alicenter.org)
Move Me
October 20, 2022
5:30 PM
Description: Beneath the waters of Lake Superior, off the shore of Wisconsin, Kelsey Peterson underwent a transformation. On the eve of Independence Day 2012, she dove in and hit the lake bottom headfirst, suffering a life-altering spinal cord injury that takes away both function and sensation from the chest down, essentially robbing Kelsey of her self-identities as an athlete and dancer. Alongside peers and allies in the spinal cord injury community, she seeks to answer the question “Who am I now?” As she grapples with the ebb and flow of hope and acceptance, Kelsey talks to researchers and meets with people who belong to this community and who help give her the strength and the will to return to dance. When a cutting-edge clinical trial surfaces, it tests her expectations and her faith in the possibility of a cure, forcing her to evaluate the limits of her recovery—in body and spirit.
Move Me will premiere on PBS (locally KET) on November 7, 2022.
Filmmakers: Kelsey Peterson (Director, Producer) and Daniel Klein (Co-Director, Producer)
To Register: https://19291.blackbaudhosting.com/19291/Film-Series---Move-Me
