films
The Dennos Museum Center presents films during the year sourced from the Smithsonian Channel, WCMU, and Indie Lens Pop-Up. Most films are free of charge, but do require registration. Films are generally screened with captions. Milliken Auditorium features a T-coil loop for those with hearing impairments. Additional arrangements for a sign language interpreter can be made by contacting Liz Celeste at eceleste@nmc.edu or by calling 231-995-1029.
Young Hemingway: The Path to Paris screening
Tuesday, May 21st — 4:00PM
GET TICKETS
The Young Hemingway: The Path to Paris project was launched to coincide with the 2012 biennial conference of the International Hemingway Society, meeting for the first time in Petoskey. The conference sessions held in the historic summer community of Bay View focused on young Hemingway’s early observations and writings – as does the documentary.
The documentary was produced by Contemporary Learning Systems (CLS), a Michigan-based non-profit company. Its production partner, Starbright Media Corporation (SMC), based in Petoskey, Michigan, contributed all overhead costs to the project. Dr. George Colburn, a historian, and SMC’s executive producer, wrote and directed the production of Young Hemingway. Dr. George Colburn passed in December of 2022. The film will be introduced by Christopher Struble -content producer for the film and President of the Michigan Hemingway Society. This film is the definitive summary of the influence Michigan had on young Ernest Hemingway during his 23 formative summers spent on Walloon Lake.
The ticket price reflects the cost of admission to the museum. Please register in advance. Limit of 34 people, please limit groups to four people.
2023 - 2024 Indie Lens Pop-Up Lineup
The Tuba Thieves fREE sCREENING
Thursday, May 23rd — 4:00 PM
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What is the role of sound and what does it mean to listen? Hard of hearing filmmaker Alison O’Daniel uses a series of tuba thefts in Los Angeles high schools as a jumping-off point to explore these questions. Through several d/Deaf people telling stories in a unique game of telephone, the central mystery of The Tuba Thieves isn’t about theft of instruments; it’s about the nature of sound itself.
Dennos will provide space and time for community dialogue after the film for those who wish to stay.
This free film screening is part of our Indie Lens Pop-Up Series, featuring documentaries seen on PBS’s Independent Lens. Please register in advance. Limit of 34 people, please limit groups to four people.
about indie lens pop-up
Indie Lens Pop-Up is a community series that brings people together for film screenings and conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on PBS's INDEPENDENT LENS, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws local residents, leaders, and organizations to discuss what matters most. Learn more at pbs.org/indielenspopup
PAST FILMS
marqueetown screening
Sunday, April 14th — 4:00PM | Doors — 3:30 PM
Followed by a Cast & Crew Q&A
No one fights to preserve a multiplex, but some people will risk everything to save a marquee. Through booms and busts, Delft Theatres Inc. - and its innovative gem, The Nordic - endured in Marquette Michigan for almost 100 years, even as the world changed endlessly around them. Local kid Bernie Rosendahl’s modern crusade to restore the historic arthouse to its former glory leads filmmakers to discover a hidden cinema empire in the Upper Peninsula. Portraying the fascinating history of motion pictures through one iconic screen - and featuring dozens of Michigan locations and characters - Marqueetown is a true story of chasing your dreams, redefining failure and success, and reembracing the enduring magic of cinema.
Matter of mind fREE sCREENING
Thursday, April 11th — 4:00 PM
Three people—a political cartoonist, a mother turned boxing coach, and an optician—navigate their lives with resourcefulness and determination in the face of a degenerative illness, Parkinson’s disease.
We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Torrey Davenport PT, DPT to the film screening where she will lead a community discussion following the film. Torrey is a lifelong Michigander and works for the Michigan Parkinson Foundation as Northern Michigan Program Manager. Additionally, she is a certified PWR! Moves physical therapist at Fyzical Therapy and Balance Centers and has a grandfather with Parkinson’s Disease.
This free film screening is part of our Indie Lens Pop-Up Series, featuring documentaries seen on PBS’s Independent Lens. Please register in advance. Limit of 60 people, please limit groups to four people.
Jumanji (1995) screening
Friday, March 29th — 1:00PM
Rated PG | Run Time: 1h 44m
Join us in Milliken Auditorium for a spring break screening of Jumanji (1995).
Please register in advance. Tickets are pay what you wish, limit of 300. This event is general admission. Seats are available on a first come first serve basis. Should you need a wheelchair-accessible seat, please contact us in advance at dmc@nmc.edu or call 231-995-1055.
After the screening, visit the exhibition Young at Art and find a drawing from the Caldecott-winning book that inspired the film.
ABOUT THE FILM
When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped in it for decades - and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game.
bREAKING tHE nEWS fREE sCREENING
Thursday, March 14th — 4:00 PM
Who decides which stories get told? A scrappy group of women and LGBTQ+ journalists buck the white male-dominated status quo, banding together to launch The 19th*, a digital news startup aiming to combat misinformation. A story of an America in flux, and the voices often left out of the narrative, the documentary Breaking the News shows change doesn’t come easy.
Dennos will provide space and time for community dialogue after the film for those who wish to stay.
This free film screening is part of our Indie Lens Pop-Up Series, featuring documentaries seen on PBS’s Independent Lens. Please register in advance. Limit of 34 people, please limit groups to four people.
Razing Liberty Square Free Screening
Thursday, January 18th — 4:00 PM
Liberty City, Miami, is home to one of the oldest segregated public housing projects in the U.S. Now with rising sea levels, the neighborhood’s higher ground has become something else: real estate gold. Wealthy property owners push inland to higher ground, creating a speculators’ market in the historically Black neighborhood previously ignored by developers and policy-makers alike.
Dennos will provide space and time for community dialogue after the film for those who wish to stay.
This free film screening is part of our Indie Lens Pop-Up Series, featuring documentaries seen on PBS’s Independent Lens. Please register in advance. Limit of 34 people, please limit groups to four people.
A Town Called Victoria free screening
Thursday, December 7th — 4:00 PM
When the local mosque is burned to the ground in an apparent hate crime, the town of Victoria must overcome its age-old political, racial, and economic divides to find a collective way forward. A Town Called Victoria is a Reel South and Independent Lens co-production.
Dennos will provide space and time for community dialogue after the film for those who wish to stay.
This film is free. Please register in advance. Limit of 34 people, please limit groups to four people.
THERE ARE NO FAKES
Saturday, November 18th — 2:00 PM
Tickets: $0 - $5
A painting, thought to be the work of the iconic Indigenous artist, Norval Morriseau, leads the rock star who buys it into the tragic and brutal world of an art forgery ring in Canada’s far north.
A virtual Q&A with the director, Jamie Kastner will follow the screening.
The American Buffalo fREE SCREENING
Monday, October 9th — 4:00PM
The American Buffalo is the biography of an improbable, shaggy beast that has found itself at the center of many of the country’s most mythic and heartbreaking tales. This event is a 30 minute preview of the PBS series and will feature remarks from Indigenous chef Sam Anglin, followed by a reception with food.
ABOUT SAMUEL ANGLIN
Chef Sam Anglin, of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, artfully combines indigenous traditions with contemporary tastes. He has previously served as the Head Banquet Chef at the world-class Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, and led the kitchen at Andahwod Continuing Care Community and Elder Services on his reservation for over a decade. Sam has traveled across Turtle Island to exchange food knowledge at Intertribal Food Summits alongside other indigenous culinary visionaries. Whether hunting, fishing, foraging, or crafting a heartfelt meal, his commitment extends beyond the professional kitchen. He believes in nurturing connections through food and cooks for traditional ceremonies, pow-wows, and private cooking demonstrations, helping to spread the healing message of reconnecting with ancestral foods.
hockney: seeing beauty free screening
Tuesday, September 26th — 6:00 PM
Kick off Up North Pride Week with a personal look inside the life and creative mind of one of the 20th century’s greatest British artists: David Hockney. The film looks back at his formative years in the British pop art scene and his experiences as a gay man.
This film is free. Please register in advance. Limit of 34 people, please limit groups to four people.
aerial america: michigan
Sunday, July 16th
1:00 & 4:00 PM
Register Online | Free Admission
Take flight over Michigan, a Midwestern powerhouse, where one man's assembly lines brought the automobile to America and another man's "Hit Factory" brought the Motown sound to the world. Named after the Native American term for "big lake," Michigan is defined not only by the Great Lakes that shape it, but how its residents shaped America. We examine its diverse history and its visionaries who built empires, started unions, and helped win a World War, while witnessing its diverse beauty from thousands of feet in the air.