WestportREADS: Miracle at St. Anna – January 9th 4pm

WestportREADS 2016 MOVIE: SPECIAL SCREENING & TALKBACK OF MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA – JANUARY 9

As part of WestportREADS 2016, the Westport Library and Westport Cinema Initiative will present a special screening of Miracle at St. Anna, directed by Spike Lee and written by the book’s author James McBride, on Saturday, January 9, at 4 pm in the Westport Town Hall Auditorium. The movie chronicles the story of four African-American soldiers who are members of the U.S. Army as part of the all-black 92nd Buffalo Soldier Division stationed in Italy during World War II. They find themselves trapped behind enemy lines after one of them risks his life to save an Italian boy. Separated from their unit in a remote Tuscan village, they experience the tragedy and triumph of the war.

Purchase $10 tickets at westportcinema.org. Tickets will also be available at the door.  

The film will be introduced by Trey Ellis, a novelist, screenwriter, playwright, essayist and Associate Professor at Columbia University. He is the author of the novels Platitudes, Home Repairs and the American Book Award-winning Right Here, Right Now, as well as the memoir Bedtime Stories.  His extensive work for the screen includes the Peabody-winning and Emmy-nominated HBO film The Tuskegee Airmen. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, GQ. Playboy and Vanity Fair.  Douglas Tirola will lead a discussion  with Ellis after the screening.

Director Spike Lee said of the film, “It’s a World War II film-a brutal mystery that deals with historic events and the stark reality of war. But it’s also a lyrical, mystical story of compassion and love,” said director Spike Lee.

Find more information about WestportREADS at westportlibrary.org. WestportREADS is funded by the estate of Jerry A. Tishman.