Submitted by Amy Albert, Buttonwood Tree Board Chair
(September 30, 2022) — The Buttonwood Tree at 605 Main Street in Middletown will show the film Amistad on Thursday, October 6, 2022. The film will be introduced by Charles A. Weisenberger, Mellon postdoctoral fellow in Public History at Wesleyan University, specializing in African-American history, slavery and abolition in the early United States.
The Buttonwood Tree doors will open at 6:00 p.m., and after Professor Weisenberger’s introduction, we will begin the film at 6:30. The running time is 2 hours and 30 minutes, and will end at approximately 9:00 p.m. Refreshments will be available for purchase.
Amistad (1997) was directed by Steven Spielberg and features Morgan Freeman, Nigel Hawthorne, Anthony Hopkins, Matthew McConaughey, and Djimon Hounsou in an Academy Award-nominated performance. The film won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (Hopkins), Best Original Score, Cinematography, and Costume Design.
The Buttonwood Tree is showing this film as a way to participate in the Amistad Journey to Freedom Community Day Celebration. “The Middle Passage and the Amistad Uprising: Stories of Yesterday and Today” will be held on Saturday, October 8, 2022 from Noon to 6:00 p.m. at Harbor Park in Middletown, where the Amistad ship will be open for tours. The Buttonwood Tree also will have a table at the event, which will feature Iddi Saaka, The Lost Tribe, words from the Wangunks, and the 4th Annual Middletown Middle Passage Ceremony.
The event is free.
