Documentary Film “Far Out: Life On & After the Commune” to Screen at Arlington Common
ARLINGTON, VT — The Arlington Common is proud to present a special screening of the acclaimed documentary “Far Out: Life On & After the Commune” on Thursday, May 14th at 6:00 PM. This 85-minute film chronicles the fifty-year odyssey of the writers, activists, and artists who founded two rural New England communal farms, offering a rare look at a movement that reshaped Vermont’s cultural landscape.
The evening will feature a live Q&A session with the film’s director, Charles Light, and renowned poet and activist Verandah Porche, a central figure in the communal story.
The story begins in the turbulent summer of 1968, when a group of radical journalists from the Liberation News Service left the city to establish communes at Packer Corners in Guilford, VT, and in Montague, MA.
After leaving the city and turning away from national politics, the group of mostly young city slickers became pioneers in the back-to-the-land and organic farming movement. With the help of their neighbors, they spent the first five years learning rudimentary agricultural skills and how to live and work together as a communal family. The Packer Corners farm turned to politics, aiding in the anti-nuclear fight. In 1979, they teamed up with Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, John Hall, Graham Nash, and other committed rock stars to help produce five nights of sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden and a 250,000-person rally in New York City.
Far Out has seen overwhelming success, recently drawing the largest audiences to the Latchis Theatre in five years. Margot Harrison of Seven Days praises the film’s relevance to modern audiences:
“The counterculture — the insistence on rethinking and questioning — has an energy that could inspire young activists despondent about American institutions to do some community building of their own.
The event is at the Arlington Common Performance Hall, Route 7A, Arlington, VT, on Thursday, May 14th at 6 pm. To buy tickets, go to the Arlington Common website or at the door the day of the screening.
The Arlington Common is a community hub dedicated to fostering creativity, wellness, and local engagement through the arts and education.
Media contact:
Chris Carpenter, Programming Coordinator
programming@arlingtoncommon.org
If you would like a full press kit with photos, please go to the website, www.gmpfilms.com and/or contact Charles Light at (413) 348-9005 or clight@gmpfilms.com