Join Penn State Sustainability for the latest screening in its “Mind Over Matter” film series as part of its ongoing Intersections sustainability film program. Fire Through Dry Grass is a riveting documentary account of the experiences of the “Reality Poets,” a group of African American men who have been paralyzed due to gun violence but now travel New York City as poets and artists and deliver talks to NYC schoolchildren. When COVID hits, however, they are trapped in their city-run nursing home, scared and helpless as bad management and policies leave them exposed to COVID patients, overworked and underresourced staff, and feeling neglected and forgotten by their community and country. A searing look at how COVID disproportionately impacted low-income communities, the disabled, and communities of color, the film was shot first-hand mostly by the poets themselves and is a necessary conversation about the trauma from COVID that still pervades our country today.

The screening builds on our Colloquium for the Environment event from the prior week on February 5, featuring sociologist and author Eric Klinenberg, who will introduce this screening. Following the film, we will host an expert panel discussion of Penn State faculty and community experts. Join us for this important conversation!

Film and discussion are online and free and open to all. Pre-registration at this link is required.