on Sunday, September 27th at 11am at Sag Harbor Cinema in partnership with Wainscott Heritage Project
Free Program Includes Film Screening & Moderated Panel Discussion
Sag Harbor, NY — Sag Harbor Cinema continues its “Projections” series on Sunday, September 27th at 11am with “Wainscott Reframed: Narratives of Place and Preservation,” presented in partnership with Wainscott Heritage Project. The free program will feature a screening of The Windmill Movie (2008) on 35mm followed by a moderated conversation exploring Wainscott’s history and how the ways we picture and remember a place can shape its future.
Directed by Alexander Olch, The Windmill Movie grew out of an autobiographical film that filmmaker Richard P. Rogers worked on for nearly two decades but never completed. Following Rogers’ death in 2001, his wife, acclaimed photographer Susan Meiselas, asked Olch, Rogers’ former student, to create a film from the footage he left behind. Beginning in Wainscott, the film considers memory, authorship and the complicated act of constructing an image of a life. This special 35mm presentation will be screened from a print from Olch’s personal archive.
Following the screening, Susan Meiselas, President of the Magnum Foundation and a producer of The Windmill Movie, will join Esperanza León, President of Wainscott Heritage Project and Director of Education & Community Engagement at LongHouse Reserve, and Andrew Fierberg, founding Board Member of Sag Harbor Cinema and fellow producer of the film, for a conversation about Wainscott’s past and how its history can inform the way its future is imagined. Mark Lubell, Sag Harbor Cinema’s Executive Director, will moderate the discussion and audience Q&A.
“The Windmill Movie captures how deeply a place can shape memory and identity. It underscores how fragile our history can be if we don’t document and protect it,” said León, “echoing the mission of Wainscott Heritage Project to protect our rapidly shifting landscape where iconic viewsheds, historic structures, and open fields face intense development. As we bring our community together for this screening and dialogue, we are reminded that reclaiming our local narrative is the first step toward saving the historic character of the place we call home.”
“I always hoped that the Wainscott community would have access to the rich archive of local history Dick created there,” said Susan Meiselas. “Bringing the film into conversation with Wainscott Heritage Project gives us an opportunity to look again at that history and consider what it means for the community today.”
“We’re delighted to continue the Projections series in partnership with Wainscott Heritage Project,” said Lubell. “Wainscott Reframed offers a wonderful opportunity to bring people together around the history of this community and the importance of preserving it for the future.”
Sag Harbor Cinema founded the “Projections” series in 2021 with the goal to amplify the work of East End non-profit organizations and cultural initiatives by providing a space to have conversations and to build audiences using the Cinema’s facility, network, and digital presence.
It was created by Bill Collage, SHC Education Committee Chair, and is led by Dr. Meghan McGinley Arnone, SHC Director of Education & Grants Management.
This event is free to the public, but space is limited. Reserve a spot to attend this community program at www.sagharborcinema.org.
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ABOUT THE FILM
THE WINDMILL MOVIE on 35mm
Directed by Alexander Olch
USA | 2008 | 82 mins | English
Filmmaker Richard P. Rogers tried for twenty years to make a documentary about his own life. He died in 2001, leaving the project unfinished, until his widow, acclaimed photographer Susan Meiselas, commissioned his former student Alexander Olch to make a film out of the pieces. Starting in the Hamptons, in the town of Wainscott, the film weaves Rogers’ footage into a journey through childhood memories, a less than encouraging mother, a family background of privilege, and Rogers’ persistent, dogged attempts to document his own life. Rogers’ friend, actor and writer Wallace Shawn, joins in the process, as the film investigates the differences between documentary and fiction, and tells the tragic story of Rogers’ life – a uniquely cinematic experience.
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About Sag Harbor Cinema
As a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) community-based organization, Sag Harbor Cinema (SHC) is dedicated to presenting the past, present, and future of the movies and to preserving and educating about films, filmmaking, and the film-going experience in its three state-of-the-art theaters. The Cinema engages its audiences and the community year-round through dialogue, discovery, and appreciation of the moving image—from blockbusters to student shorts and everything in between. Revitalized and reimagined through unprecedented community efforts to rebuild the iconic Main Street structure after a fire nearly destroyed it in 2016, SHC continues a long historic tradition of entertainment in the heart of Sag Harbor Village. Visit sagharborcinema.org for more information.
About Wainscott Heritage Project
Wainscott Heritage Project is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, formed in 2021 by a group of concerned citizens committed to preserving the history and cultural character of Wainscott. Its founding effort to save the “Little House,” which served as tenant housing for African American farm workers at the former Strong Farm on Wainscott Hollow Road, grew into a broader mission to protect Wainscott’s historic structures and significant viewsheds and to foster appreciation for the hamlet’s traditions and sense of community. Visit wainscottheritageproject.org for more information.