Jamie Foxx voices the character Joe Gardner, center, in “Soul.” The award-winning animated fantasy comedy adventure is the debut screening of Movies With Spirit’s 15th season on September 18, 7 p.m., at New Progressive Baptist Church, 8 Hone Street in Kingston. (Disney/Pixar)
Movies with Spirit returns with Pixar Animation Studios’ animated fantasy/comedy/adventure Soul on September 18 at 7 p.m. at the New Progressive Baptist Church at 8 Hone Street in Kingston. The screening, open to the public, marks the community film series’ return after an 18-month COVID-19 hiatus.
“We’re thrilled to be back. We’ve had a lot of requests to return, but we wanted to do it only when it was safe,” said Movies with Spirit voluntary organizer Gerry Harrington of Kingston. “The series will comply with all federal, state and local health and safety protocols, including those of each screening venue.”
Soul, released by Walt Disney Pictures, tells the story of Joe Gardner (the voice of Jamie Foxx), a middle-school band teacher in New York City who gets the chance of a lifetime to play in the band of jazz great Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett). The 2020 movie won 116 film festival and critic awards, including two Academy Awards: one for Best Animated Feature Film and the other for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score).
The screening will be followed by a facilitated discussion. Refreshments will be served. Attendees over age 12 are asked to contribute $10 a person.
The monthly Movies with Spirit series seeks to stimulate people’s sense of joy and wonder, inspire love and compassion, evoke a deepened understanding of people’s integral connection with others and with life itself and support individual cultures, faith paths and beliefs while simultaneously transcending them. The films are screened in diverse places of worship and reverence – and this season, in a place for art, too – across Ulster and Dutchess Counties on the third Saturday of every month.
The schedule:
September 18: Soul, New Progressive Baptist Church, Kingston
October 16: The Insult, Rondout Valley United Methodist Church, Stone Ridge
November 20: Pain and Glory, the DRAW, Kingston
December 18: Lost Christmas, St. James United Methodist Church, Kingston
January 15: Indian Horse, Old Dutch Church, Kingston
February 19: Arrival, Woodstock Jewish Congregation, Woodstock
March 19: Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, Episcopal Church of the Messiah, Rhinebeck
April 23: The Father, Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Kingston
May 21: Woman at War, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, New Paltz
June 18: Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times, Vivekananda Retreat, Stone Ridge
July 16: The Man from Earth, Congregation Emanuel, Kingston
August 20: Blinded by the Light, Holy Cross Episcopal Church, Kingston
For more information about Soul and the rest of the series, contact Harrington at (845) 389-9201 or at gerryharrington@mindspring.com. Details are also available at facebook.com/movieswithspirit.