Go back
Rita of the Sky
April 17 1-2:30 p.m. • AMC Mainstreet 3
Directed by Kathryn Ferguson
Feature-Documentary • 1:14:31 • U.S.A.
Preceded by: The Littlest Ones: A Dogumentary
Discover the mystery of Rita, a 50-year-old Tarahumara Indian woman who was erroneously placed in a Kansas mental institution because her unrecognized native language was described as “guttural noises” of a mentally ill person. Rita is from Mexico’s rugged Copper Canyon, and walked 1500 miles from her home into the United States. It is a passionate story told quietly about a foreign woman in a foreign land, a journey that haunts the edges between cultures. Through a series of misunderstandings, cultural ignorance, and apathy; a woman disappears for 10 years.
Shot in Kansas and Mexico, it follows the amazing route Rita walked in the Sierra Madre and the trails from the mountains of the Copper Canyon down through the Chihuahuan desert into the flatlands of Kansas.
Rita walked off the street into a private home in Kansas and was eating out of the refrigerator when the owner came home. The homeowner called the Sheriff. They gave her a court-appointed lawyer. Neither her lawyer nor the judge could speak with her so the judge declared her insane and sent her to a mental hospital. For 10 years, she was forced to take psychotropic drugs causing Tartive Dyskenisia. This causes the tongue to swell and the body to convulse. Rita can no longer speak.
The Littlest Ones: A Dogumentary
Grant Babbitt, Kasey Babbitt, Dan Rohrer
Documentary • 0:15:00 • U.S.A.
This is a ‘call to action’ film that addresses the issues of pet overpopulation, unnecessary euthanasia, the economic woes and its effects on animal shelters, kill shelters, puppy mills, animal abuse and so much more. The filmmakers discuss what the present problems are in today’s society, and supply the shocking truths about animals in shelters. Not only does this film address the negative issues, but it also celebrates the heroes that work everyday to save those amazing animals. Can you too be a hero?
Venture through two separate animal shelters and programs to see what some folks are doing to solve these problems. Discover what the Lawrence Humane Society does to keep great pets in good homes. The Safe Harbor Prison Dogs Program rescues dogs from a puppy mill and takes them to a local prison where inmates care for and rehabilitate dogs for adoption. The film shows a spirit and a kind of hope, for these lovable animals, that one day someone will let them share their lives with them. Changing lives one dog at a time.
RSS Feed
