Saturday, October 8,2022, the WCR Center for the Arts is excited to host an exclusive screening event of the New York Times Op-Docs documentary ‘Takeover’. Director Emma Francis-Snyder, Producer Tony Gerber, Executive Producers Luis A. Miranda and Lynn Nottage.
Takeover explores the twelve historic hours on July 14, 1970, in which fifty members of the Young Lords Party stormed the dilapidated Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx, drove out their administrative staff, and barricaded entrances and windows, and made their cries for decent healthcare known to the world. They raised the Puerto Rican flag atop the building and a banner reading “The People’s Hospital” – a nom de guerre still used today. Through archival footage, seamless reenactments, and modern-day interviews, we follow the Young Lords’ resistance against institutions curated by wealth and white supremacy, and their fight for the most basic of human rights: the right to accessible, quality healthcare.
Takeover made its world premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and has since screened at festivals across the country, including:
- AFI Fest
- Montclair Film Festival
- International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival (awarded Best Short Documentary)
- Montana International Film Festival (awarded Special Jury Award)
- Newburyport Documentary Film Festival (awarded Best Short)
- New Faces New Voices Festival (awarded Best Documentary)
- San Francisco Latino Film Festival
- El Festival de Cine y Derechos Humanos de Vieques
Two Showings:
- 2:00 PM: Free Community Partner/Public Screening and talkback panel moderated by Patty Torres, (Organizing Director of Make the Road PA)
- 7:00 PM: Ticketed Event including a talkback panel moderated by Anthony Orozco (Latino Communities Reporter for WITF), and meet & greet reception with the director, producer, and one of the original Young Lords who took part of the action.
The WCR located at 140 North 5th Street in downtown in Reading. Parking is available at the Abraham Lincoln parking garage located on the corner of 5th and Washington Street downtown Reading. Please note that while every effort is being made to become accessible, the WCR Center is not currently wheelchair accessible.
Special thanks to our sponsors: Berks County Community Foundation, Mi Casa Su Casa, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Reading, Louise and Judge Arthur Grim, Dr. Neil A. Hoffman, Dr. Michael Baxter.
Community Partners: Barrio Alegria, Berks Stands Up, Building Justice in Berks, Bullfrog Films, Fall Festival of the Arts, Centro Hispano, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Berks County, John Gancar & Richard Bradbury, Make the Road PA, Mrs. Meggan Kerber, NAACP Reading Branch, Reading FilmFest, Reading Public Library, Village Library, Wyomissing Public Library
[About WCR Center for the Arts] — WCR Center for the Arts is a non-profit community organization focused on promoting the arts, serving the community, and enhancing the revitalization efforts in Reading, Pennsylvania. Our primary goal is to preserve the facility to serve the Reading community as it has done for over 150 year
Tickets for 7PM event: $35 (Limited Seating). Get tickets here: https://wcr-center-for-the-arts.square.site/product/takeover/8
